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.
Elvis Costello Heatwave Festival 1980
Donovan Rising / Atlantis / The Classics Live / 25 Years In Concert 1971 1981
Bob Dylan Real Live 1984
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan & The Dead 1987
Steve Earle Live At The BBC 1988
Melissa Etheridge Live 1988
Roy Harper In Between Every Line 1985 1986
Don Henley Don’t Look Back 1985
John Hiatt Paper Thin 1989
Bruce Hornsby The Way It Is Tour 1986-87 Live
Joe Jackson Live At The BBC 1979 to 1983
Joe Jackson Live At Rockpalast 1980 1983
Joe Jackson Live 1980 to 1986
Billy Joel Songs In The Attic 1980
Elton John Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra 1986
Nils Lofgren Moon Tears Live
Nils Lofgren Code Of The Road 1985
John Martyn Live At Leeds & More 1975 & 1980s
John Martyn BBC Live In Concert 1971 1977 1981
John Martyn BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert 1986
Joni Mitchell A Woman In The East 1983
Van Morrison Live At The Grand Opera House Belfast 1983
Laura Nyro Laura Live at the Bottom Line 1988
Graham Parker Live At Rockpalast 1978 1980
Graham Parker King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents 1983
Graham Parker Live Alone In America 1988
Graham Parker Live One The Official Vandelay Tapes 1988
Tom Petty The Live Anthology 1976 to 2007
Tom Petty Pack Up the Plantation Live 1978 to 1985
Tom Petty Live To Air 1986
Tom Petty In The Coliseum 1987
Tom Petty Transmission Impossible 1987 1989
Tom Petty Dean E Smith Activity Center University Of Carolina Sept 13 1989
Gil Scott-Heron Live At The Town And Country 1988
Bob Seger Nine Tonight 1980
Simon And Garfunkel The Concert in Central Park 1981
Bruce Springsteen Live 1975 – 85
Bruce Springsteen Nassau Coliseum Uniondale New York 1980
Bruce Springsteen Brendan Byrne Arena New Jersey 1984
Bruce Springsteen Los Angeles April 23 1988
Al Stewart Live Indian Summer 1981 aka Live At The Roxy Los Angeles
Richard Thompson More Guitar 1988
Suzanne Vega Live At The Speakeasy 1985
Tom Waits Big Time 1987
Neil Young A Treasure 1984 1985
Neil Young Cow Palace 1986
Neil Young Bluenote Cafe 1987 1988
Warren Zevon Stand In The Fire 1980
Warren Zevon Headless In Boston 1982
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
Tom Petty Live To Air is a radio broadcast that has been released as a live album by The Store For Music label. It was recorded in Buffalo in July 1986 and also features Bob Dylan.
This is not officially recognised by Tom Petty but (I think) it squeezes through the copyright laws in Europe.
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Tom Petty In The Coliseum is an unofficial release on Goldfish Records featuring Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
It was a radio broadcast from the Florida Coliseum in Jacksonville during summer of 1987.
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Don’t Look Back: The 1985 Radio Broadcast is a live recording of Don Henley performing in concert.
It was recorded at the Universal Ampitheater in Universal City, California on September 4th 1985.
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Paper Thin: The 1989 Canadian Broadcast is a live recording by John Hiatt.
It was recorded at Barrymore’s Music Hall in Ottawa on January 19th 1989 and broadcast by CKQB-109.4 FM.
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John Martyn BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert is a compilation of live recordings made by the BBC with the majority from the 1986 Glastonbury show.
Continue reading John Martyn BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert 1986
Pack Up the Plantation Live is a live album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
This compiles a selection of performances from six different concerts between July 1978 and August 1985. It was released in November 1985.
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Continue reading Tom Petty Pack Up the Plantation Live 1978 to 1985
The latest archive live recording released by http://live.brucespringsteen.net is the concert performed at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on December 31, 1980.
At last we have an authorised live album from the tour promoting The River and after remastering in March 2015 by Adam Ayan, it sounds terrific.
After the Agora, Clevland concert from 1978 was released, this was next on my wanted list of live albums by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
I’ve always seen The River in the second tier of Springsteen albums. It’s very good but it doesn’t match the greatness of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Born To Run or The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. To be fair, in the history of rock music, few albums reach that pinnacle.
Continue reading Bruce Springsteen Nassau Coliseum Uniondale New York 1980
Joe Jackson Live At The BBC collects together live recordings of Joe Jackson made by the BBC between 1979 and 1983.
Live 1980/86 is a collection of live recordings by Joe Jackson that collects songs from four different tours.
When it was a vinyl double album, each side represented a particular tour:
Live At Rockpalast 1978 & 1980 is a live album by Graham Parker and the Rumour.
The album features two live performances by the band:
This contrasts the two styles of the band. The first features a horn section and is similar to the early studio albums like Howlin’ Wind and Heat Treatment.
There is a DVD which is sold separately.
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