When I think of a singer-songwriter, my first thoughts turn to someone strumming a guitar or playing the piano while singing songs that he or she wrote.
Of course, it isn’t quite that simple. What happens when someone else also plays or sings?
I’ve found that it’s a grey area when we start adding other people because ultimately it gets tough to distinguish singer songwriters from groups where one person tends to write and sing their songs. I’ve tried to be reasonably consistent as people move from pure singer songwriting to rock and pop groups.
I also discovered that there’s an issue of crossover between singer-songwriters and folk and country artists. To find what you’re looking for, I’ve given you various links at the bottom if you don’t find it on this page.
Live Albums By Singer Songwriters In The 1970s
Joan Armatrading Steppin Out 1979
Jackson Browne & David Lindley Live At The Main Point 15th August 1973
Jackson Browne Live At The Main Point September 7th 1975
Jackson Browne Running On Empty 1977
Leonard Cohen Live Songs 1970 1972
Ry Cooder Broadcast From The Plant 1974
Ry Cooder Showtime 1976
Elvis Costello Live At The Nashville Rooms 1977 (With My Aim Is True Deluxe)
Elvis Costello Live At The El Mocambo 1978
Elvis Costello Live At The Hollywood High 1978
Jim Croce Live The Final Tour 1973
John Denver An Evening With John Denver 1974
Neil Diamond Hot August Night 1972
Donovan Rising / Atlantis / The Classics Live / 25 Years In Concert 1971 1981
Ian Dury Live At Rockpalast 1978
Bob Dylan Before The Flood 1974
Bob Dylan Live 1975 The Rolling Thunder Revue
Bob Dylan Hard Rain 1976
Bob Dylan Shelter From A Hard Rain 1976
Bob Dylan At Budokan 1978
Gallagher & Lyle BBC Live In Concert 1973 to 1978
Roy Harper Flashes From The Archives Of Oblivion 1974
Joe Jackson Live At The BBC 1979 to 1983
Elton John 17-11-70
Elton John Here And There 1974
Carole King The Carnegie Hall Concert 1971
John Lennon Live In New York City 1972
Nils Lofgren Back It Up 1975
Nils Lofgren Live Sausalito 1975
Nils Lofgren Live From Tower Theater Philadelphia PA Sep 6, 1976
Nils Lofgren Live On The Test 1976 to 1979
Nils Lofgren Night After Night 1977
Nils Lofgren Hanging Tough 1977
John Martyn BBC Live In Concert 1971 1977 1981
John Martyn On Air 1975
John Martyn Live At Leeds Deluxe 1975
John Martyn Live At Leeds & More 1975
Don McLean Live In New York 1971
Joni Mitchell Miles Of Aisles 1974
Joni Mitchell Shadows And Light 1979
Van Morrison It’s Too Late To Stop Now 1973
Van Morrison at the Winterland Feb 2, 1974
Van Morrison Live at the Capitol Theatre Passaic NJ 1979
Randy Newman Randy Newman Live 1970
Laura Nyro Spread Your Wings and Fly Live at the Fillmore East May 30 1971
Laura Nyro Seasons Of Light 1976
Laura Nyro Live at Carnegie Hall The Classic 1976 Radio Broadcast
Graham Parker The Bootleg Box 1975 to 2004
Graham Parker Live At Marble Arch 1976
Graham Parker Not If It Pleases Me 1976 1977
Graham Parker Official Bootleg Box 1976 to 2012
Graham Parker Live On The Test 1977 1978
Graham Parker BBC Live In Concert 1977-1991
Graham Parker The Parkerilla 1978
Graham Parker Live At Rockpalast 1978 1980
Graham Parker Live Sparks 1979
Graham Parker Live In San Francisco 1979
Graham Parker Live In America 1979
Tom Petty Official Live ‘Leg 1976
Tom Petty The Live Anthology 1976 to 2007
Tom Petty Anything That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Live At My Fathers Place Roslyn New York City 1977
Tom Petty The New York Shuffle 1977
Shawn Phillips At The BBC 1971 to 1974
Dory Previn Live At Carnegie Hall 1973
Lou Reed Transmission Impossible New York 1971 Roxy LA 1976 Albury Australia 1977
Lou Reed Ultrasonic The New York Broadcast 1972
Lou Reed American Poet 1972
Lou Reed Rock N Roll Animal 1973
Lou Reed Live Extended Versions 1973
Lou Reed Thinking Of Another Place 1976
Lou Reed Winter At The Roxy The 1976 LA Broadcast
Lou Reed Live Take No Prisoners 1978
Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson It’s Your World 1976
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson Live At The Bottom Line Aug 20, 1977
Bob Seger Live Bullet 1976
Bob Seger Live Boston 1977
Paul Simon In Concert Live Rhymin’ 1973/74
Bruce Springsteen Live At The Main Point Bryn Mawr 1975
Bruce Springsteen Hammersmith Odeon London 75
Bruce Springsteen Tower Theater Pennsylvania 1975
Bruce Springsteen Live 1975 – 85
Bruce Springsteen 1978/08/09 Cleveland Ohio
Bruce Springsteen Agora Ballroom 1978
Bruce Springsteen The Fox Theatre Atlanta 1978
Bruce Springsteen Live At The Capitol Theater, Passiac NJ 1978
Bruce Springsteen Live At The Roxy 1978
Bruce Springsteen Winterland Night 1978
Al Stewart Time Passages Live 1978
John Stewart Complete Phoenix Concerts 1974
Stephen Stills Live in Concert 1976 1977
Richard Thompson Live At The BBC 1973 to 2009
Richard & Linda Thompson In Concert November 1975
Townes Van Zandt Live At The Old Quarter 1973
Tom Waits Nighthawks At The Diner 1975
Tom Waits Nighthawks on the Radio 1976
Tom Waits Virginia Avenue 1976
Tom Waits A Small Affair In Ohio 1977
Jesse Colin Young On The Road 1976
Neil Young Live At The Cellar Door 1970
Neil Young Live At The Fillmore East 1970
Neil Young Live At Massey Hall 1971
Neil Young Time Fades Away 1973
Neil Young Live Rust 1978
Warren Zevon The Coffee Break Concert 1976
You can get these albums from Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk
What Are the All Time Best Live Albums By Singer Songwriters?
I don’t have a readers poll to find the best live albums for this decade but I do have a poll to find the all time best live albums by singer-songwriters.
Loading ...Because there are so many excellent singer-songwriter albums with very different styles, I have split the poll into two and you may find some of your favourites in the second division. Albums will be promoted when they get enough votes.
Loading ...Live Albums By Singer Songwriters By Decade – 1960s – 1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s – 2010s
Live At The Tower Theatre Philadelphia is a live recording of the Nils Lofgren concert on September 6th, 1976 available through WolfsgangsVault.com.
Back It Up captured Lofgren promoting his first self-titled solo album, this 1976 gig is promoting Cry Tough.
Live At Hollywood High is a live album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions, recorded at the Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, California on June 4th, 1978.
Tracks from this performance have appeared before this CD was released as bonuses on the Armed Forces album.
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Continue reading Elvis Costello Live At The Hollywood High 1978
Back It Up!! – Nils Lofgren Live – An Authorized Bootleg was recorded on October 31st 1975 and followed the example set by The Who Live At Leeds in imitating a bootleg recording.
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The Parkerilla is the first live album by Graham Parker & The Rumour released to the general public from the Stick To Me tour in 1978.
It had three LP sides live and an alternative studio version of Don’t Ask Me Question on the fourth side. This made it controversial and following the disappointing Stick To Me album, there was a critical backlash against Graham Parker in favour of Elvis Costello.
In 1991, Rolling Stone ranked The Parkerilla number 64 on its list of 100 greatest album covers.
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Before The Flood celebrates Bob Dylan and The Band on tour in 1974 before his Blood On The Tracks album. I think there is an argument that this album helped return Dylan to form after a few years in the wilderness.
It’s an interesting album that has three parts:
Live Bullet is a live album by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band in 1976 in his home city of Detroit, Michigan.
This album turned Seger from a big name locally into a well known international rock’n’roll singer thanks to the intense, energetic performance captured here. After Live Bullet he went on to release best selling studio albums like Night Moves and Stranger In Town.
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band Live Bullet
Live At Marble Arch is a rare live album by Graham Parker and The Rumour recorded in London in 1976.
It was recorded as a promotional album and sent to music journalists and DJs to show off the raw pub rock/R&B style of the group. It has been a popular bootleg.
It was included in its entirety on a Graham Parker compilation – Vertigo: The Best of Graham Parker – which I was lucky enough to buy when it came out in 1996. At that stage it was also the only way to get the classic Squeezing Out The Sparks album.
Live At Marble Arch has also appeared on That’s What You Know, a double CD with one disc of acoustic demos and the second has this live album.
It’s Too Late To Stop Now is the first live album by Van Morrison.
It was recorded in 1973 and it catches him paying his dues to his influences.
It collects the best of the tracks from concerts at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and at The Rainbow in London between May and July 1973.
It’s difficult to categorise an album like this – is it rock, soul or blues? It even has a jazzy feel to it.
This amalgamation of styles is what makes Van Morrison such a special artist and he had a golden period in the late 1960s and early 1970s when he made some of the greatest music ever recorded. Astral Weeks, Moondance and St Dominic’s Preview are amongst my most favourite studio albums and I believe that each is essential.
Which is the best? Well that keeps on changing depending on my mood but St Dominic’s Preview fits neatly between the others in style.
In 2008, a bonus track was added – a live version of Brown Eyed Girl.
My Rating – 28/30
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Continue reading Van Morrison It’s Too Late To Stop Now 1973
Graham Parker Live In San Francisco 1979 captures Parker live in concert with his great band The Rumour on the Squeezing Out The Sparks tour.
Graham Parker should have been huge with his high energy, caustic R&B inspired songs. Even though it was the time of punk rock, few acts could match the intensity he built up in concert.
Graham Parker & The Rumour really were “the best kept secret in the West” as he sings in Mercury Poisoning as he rants against his previous record company.
I believe this album was only released in 2010. I bought it as soon as I saw it.
My Overall Rating – 28 out of 30 – an excellent live album that should not be overlooked.
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Live Rust is a live album by Neil Young recorded in 1978 and some of the songs were used in the film Rust Never Sleeps.
I get confused with how Live Rust fits in with the Rust Never Sleeps album which was also partially recorded live at San Francisco’s Cow’s Palace and later had the audience noise removed.
Live Rust starts with an acoustic set and climaxes with an all-out electric rave. That worked particularly well on a double LP where you could choose which version of Neil Young you wanted.
Controversially the album was squeezed on to a single CD by editing out about 90 seconds of guitar from Cortez The Killer. This horrifies purists but I don’t think it is noticeable when you listen to it.
My rating – 28 out of 30 (9 +10 +9)
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