Folk music is hard to define. Wikipedia really struggles but does identify some characteristics for folk or traditional music:
It was transmitted through an oral tradition.
The music was often related to national culture.
They commemorate historical and personal events.
The songs have been performed, by custom, over a long period of time.
There can be a fusion of cultures as people with different background mix together.
There was a significant revival in the interest in folk music after World war 2 creating what some people call contemporary folk music. This was originally acoustic based but from the mid 1960s onwards with The Byrds and Bob Dylan, it was electrified to create folk rock.
Folk and Folk Rock Live Albums Of The 1970s
Albion Band Vintage Albion Band On The Road 1977 1981 1982
The Albion Band Live at the Cambridge Folk Festival 1977 1987
The Albion Band BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert 1977 1982
The Band Rock Of Ages 1971
The Band Live At The Academy Of Music 1971
The Band Carter Barron Amphitheater Washington DC July 17th 1976
The Band The Last Waltz 1976
The Bothy Band BBC Radio One Live In Concert 1976 1978
The Boys Of The Lough Live At Passim 1974
The Byrds Live At Royal Albert Hall 1971
Sandy Denny Live At The BBC 1966 to 1973
Sandy Denny Gold Dust Live At The Royalty 1977
Donovan Rising / Atlantis / The Classics Live / 25 Years In Concert 1971 1981
Fairport Convention Live At The BBC 1968 to 1974
Fairport Convention House Full Live At The LA Troubadour 1970
Fairport Convention Fairport Live Convention 1973 1974
Fairport Convention with Sandy Denny Ebbets Field 1974
Fairport Convention Before The Moon 1974
Grateful Dead Skull & Roses 1971
Grateful Dead Europe 72
Grateful Dead Europe 72 Vol. 2
Grateful Dead Steppin Out With The Grateful Dead England 72
The Holy Modal Rounders Bird Song Live 1971
Horslips Live 1976
Bert Jansch The River Sessions 1974
Jethro Tull Bursting Out 1978
Nic Jones Unearthed
Nic Jones Game Set Match
Lindisfarne Live 1971
Lindisfarne City Song BBC Sessions 1971 1972
Lindisfarne Magic In The Air 1977
Magna Carta Live At The Royal Albert Hall 1971
Magna Carta In Concert 1971
Magna Carta Live In Bergen 1978
McGuinn Clark Hillman Live At The Boarding House 1978
Shawn Phillips At The BBC 1971 to 1974
Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie Together In Concert 1975
Strawbs Just A Collection Of Antiques And Curios 1970
Strawbs Live At The BBC Volume 1 In Session
Steeleye Span Live At Last 1978
Richard Thompson Live At The BBC 1973 to 2009
Richard & Linda Thompson In Concert November 1975
Steve Weber Holy Modal Rounders BC 1976
Jesse Colin Young On The Road 1976
You can get these albums from Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk
The All Time Best Live Folk And Folk Rock Albums
I don’t have a readers poll to find the best live folk albums for this decade but I do have a poll to find the all time best folk and folk rock live albums.
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Folk and folk rock live albums by decade – 1950s – 1960s – 1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s – 2010s –
Fairport Live Convention is a live album by Fairport Convention.
It was recorded at the Sydney Opera House, the London Rainbow and the Fairfield Halls, Croydon between December 1973 and January 1974. It was released in July 1974.
This is from the time when Sandy Denny had rejoined the band.
The original album had nine songs bit it has since been extended by another five songs.
Continue reading Fairport Convention Fairport Live Convention 1973 1974
Gold Dust Live At The Royalty is a live album by Sandy Denny.
It was recorded at the Royalty Theatre, London (now renamed as the Peacock Theatre) on 27 November 1977. She died a few months later on 21 April 1978.It wasn’t released until 1998.
The original recording had problems with the acoustic guitars and backing vocals. These were redone to make the album fit for release by different people than who played at the original concert.
Continue reading Sandy Denny Gold Dust Live At The Royalty 1977
House Full Live At The LA Troubadour is a live album by Fairport Convention.This features Richard Thompson before he left for his solo career.
It was recorded in September 1970 but not released until1986. There is another recording, Live At The Troubadour that pulls songs from the same concerts. It would be good if the two albums were properly consolidated into one.
Continue reading Fairport Convention House Full Live At The LA Troubadour 1970
Live is a live album by English folk rock band Lindisfarne.
It was recorded at the City Hall In Newcastle, England on December 4, 1971 and was released in 1973. Lindisfarne built up a tradition of playing terrific concerts in their home city of Newcastle around Christmas time.
This was the year the group consolidated the success of the Lady Eleanor single in 1970 by releasing the studio album Fog On the Tyne. This went to #1 in the album charts in the UK.
Steppin Out With The Grateful Dead England 72 is a live album compiled from the concert performance in England by the Grateful Dead in April & May 1972.
Europe 72 was an extremely successful live album for the Grateful Dead but it excluded many of the classic songs. While these have been picked up on Europe 72 volume 2, the albums lack a concert feel.d
Grateful Dead Steppin Out With The Grateful Dead England 72
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Continue reading Grateful Dead Steppin Out With The Grateful Dead England 72
Europe 72 Vol. 2 is a second live album by the Grateful Dead to come from the European tour after the highly regarded Europe 72.
Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux, who produced this 20-track compilation, says he only chose song titles that did not appear on Europe ’72 as a way to complement the original.
“I think this album, coupled with Europe ’72, represents a complete overview of the tour in every way,” he says. “In fact, songs like “Beat It On Down The Line,” “Next Time You See Me” and “Sing Me Back Home” were selected by the Grateful Dead for the first set, but were left off because there wasn’t enough room.”
This has the more psychedelic songs on it like Dark Star.
The European tour of 1972 is a high point in the history of the Grateful Dead but it was also the last time Pigpen was a functioning member and he died the following year.
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Skull & Roses is a live album by the Grateful Dead.
It was recorded in March and April 1971 including the Fillmore east concerts in April 1971 that provided songs for the four CD album Ladies and Gentlemen…the Grateful Dead.
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Europe 72 is a live album by Grateful Dead which captures the group in concert in Western Europe in April and May 1972.
A second volume of recordings Europe 72 volume 2 has been released in 2011. There is even a release of the complete Europe ’72 shows – all 22 concerts on 73 CDs.
Grateful Dead had released two of their most popular and critically acclaimed studio albums – Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty – which go back to the roots of American music.
This may be too “country” for music lovers primarily looking for guitar improvisations. Most of us are going to find this much more approachable and easier to listen to because of the strong song structures.
The title Richard & Linda Thompson In Concert November 1975 describes this album perfectly. It was recorded on the Pour Down Like Silver Tour at several venues.
Continue reading Richard & Linda Thompson In Concert November 1975
Bursting Out is the first live album by progressive folk and blues group Jethro Tull that was recorded on the European leg of the Heavy Horses tour in 1978.
Jethro Tull are a hard band to classify but I’ve found over the years that I’ve acquired quite a few of their studio albums.
