Best live albums from 1970's college days


Okay..... for you all old farts like me who enjoyed college life in the mid 1970's ..... what are your five favorite multi-LP live album purchases from those good old days ? Mine, in no particular order are : CSNY "Four Way Street," Yes "Yessongs," Grateful Dead "Europe '72," Peter Frampton "Frampton Comes Alive," and the Allman Brothers Band "Live at Filmore East." How about it guys and gals ..... shake up your memories and make a list !
adam18
@stuark: Oops, right you are! Live at The Troubadour, the venue in which I myself played my first L.A. gig. I attended a lot of great shows in that room, including those of Lucinda Williams, Iris Dement (heavenly!), and countless others. No Dan Hicks, though.
Quick note on 1970 Can concert at Rockpalast:
You can quickly realize that it was the best band ever recorded on this planet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zhdNviS0Vs
Single discs?

Elvin Bishop "Raisin' Hell" 
Half of Marshall Tucker's double "Where We All Belong" 
"Viva Terlingua" by Jerry Jeff Walker
"First Pull Up, Then Pull Down" by Hot Tuna
"Thirty Seconds Over Winterland" by J. Airplane
"Live" by Jean Luc Ponty
"Robin Trower Live" 
Mike Bloomfield: "Live at Fillmore West" 
also parts of N. Gavenite's "My Labors" ...

...and no-one mentioned "Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper" or "The Gregg Allman Tour"-- both doubles!
 
@bdp24:

RE: Dan Hicks, are you sure "Striking It Rich" is live?

"Where's the Money" is live, for sure.

Thanks @danoroo !

I saw EWF live a couple of times, and they seemed to invariably put on terrific shows. But of course groups do tend to step it up when a performance is being recorded for an album, and they were certainly in a real groove that night in '75.
@whipsaw 

You are absolutely correct about that Earth, Wind & Fire "Alive In '75" record.  I've been on an R&B kick lately and streamed that album the other night.  Lightning in a bottle....that crowd definitely got their money's worth!
Okay, if single-disc albums are eligible:

- Ry Cooder: Show Time.

- Randy Newman: Live.

- Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks: Striking It Rich. Fantastic!

- Martin Mull And His Fabulous Furniture: In Your Living Room.

- Commander Cody & The Lost Planet Airmen: Live From Deep In The Heart Of Texas.
Humble Pie - Rockin’ The Fillmore
The Allman Brothers Band - Fillmore East
The Who - Live At Leeds
Stones - Get Your Ya Ya’s Out
Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From The Road
801 - Live
In no particular order...

G. Dead: "Skull and Roses"
G. Dead: "Europe 72" 
The live sides of the Allman's "Eat A Peach"
Derek and the Dominos: "In Concert"
Santana: "Lotus"
Brian Auger: "Live Oblivion Volumes I, II"
Joni Mitchell: "Miles of Aisles" 
Laura Nyro: "Seasons of Lights" (originally not a double but later released with enough extra tracks to have been a double).


I grew up on soul and funk, and Earth Wind and Fire's 1975 iconic live album was a staple. It was, and is, terrific.

A lesser known group, though, and album that I remain very fond of is the 1973 War Live, recorded over four nights at Chicago's High Chaparral club. Slipping' Into Darkness, The Cisco Kid, All Day Music...

Howard Scott/guitar, Harold Brown/drums, BB Dickerson/bass, Charles Miller/reeds, Lonnie Jordan/Hammond organ, Lee Oskar/harmonica, etc.

Outstanding, classic funk.


Lynyrd Skynyrd - "One More from the Road"
REO Speedwagon - "You Get What You Play For" (1977 - before they gained "mainstream" commercial success and got neutered).

Bob Segar "Live Bullet"
Yes "Yessongs"
Cheap Trick "Live At Budakan"
Deep Purple "Made In Japan"
AC/DC "If You Want Blood, You Got It" (I think this is a single album)
A real popular one in our college dorm was "Johnny Winter And Live" - that sucker rocked!! 
Who Live at Leeds
Rolling Stones Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out
Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore
Joe Cocker Mad Dogs
The OP specified "multi-LP" live albums, yet most suggested here are single-LP albums. 1975's Frampton Comes Alive made multi-LP live albums more commonplace, very few previously having been recorded and released. Of those that were, my faves are The Band: Rock Of Ages, Dylan/The Band: Before The Flood, and Derek & The Dominos: In Concert.

By the way, Rock Of Ages is an abbreviated release of the recordings The Band made at The Academy Of Music on December 30th and 31st of 1971.. An expanded release containing both complete shows was years later made available as a 4-CD/1-DVD boxset entitled Live At The Academy Of Music 1971. I had seen and heard The Band the previous year at The Berkeley Community Theater, a night of music unlike any other in my life.
Elvis Costello - Live at Hollywood High (EP)
Wings - Wings over America
Rush -All The World's a Stage
Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus
Santana - Moonflower (although mixed with some studio recordings)
I'd like to toss in.........
Wishbone Ash - Live Dates
Wings - Wings over America
Rush -All The World's a Stage
Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus
Live at Carnegie Hall by Rennaisance
A Moveable Feast by Fairport Convention (aka Fairport Live Convention)
Live at Last by Steeleye Span
Allman Bros. Live at the Filmore East. Get the "recordings" box set just released. Unbelievable.
Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison

Actually recorded late 60's but received a lot of play at college in the 70's
Miles of aisles - Joni Mitchell
Four way street - CSN & Y
It's too late to stop now - Van Morrison

All double albums.
A few I didn't see listed yet:
-Zappa / Bongo Fury (Advance Romance and Muffin Man are musically brilliant brain eaters that never fail to amuse)
-Kraan / Live 74' (Criminally under appreciated jazzrock, really catchy riffs, and on this album Kraan were head and shoulders above most jam bands that came along later)
-Miles Davis / Agharta (Pretty much redefined what a live album could sound like, lots of clear, unhurried heavy twin guitar work w/ sharp crunchy organ accents. Much of the record sounds pretty relaxed, but its as electric and psychedelic as just about anything that came out in the 60's.
-Roxy Music / Viva (Manzanera, Wetton and Jobson really play great on this one. The studio versions of the songs may be real classics, but can seem a little stiff and safe when compared to these... In Every Dream Home A Heartache provides a good example.
-Gentle Giant / Playing The Foole (Maybe not the best fidelity in the world, but this band was tight, extremely imaginative and had chops to burn... again the live versions seem to breathe more than the studio releases.
-Rory Gallagher / Irish Tour 74' (Great blues expander and guitar wizard at his peak).
Jadem6,thought I was the only one that heard of Gypsy. Think
I still have the 8 track somewhere! They even have a website.
Thanks,Steve
This is a great thread. I love well recorded live albums, and it reminds me of many i haven't heard in years.
The Real Thing / Taj Mahal. Excellent recording to test your system,has acoustic,has songs with horns and straight up blues numbers.
Free / Live
Blue Cheer / Outside Inside. half of this record is recorded Live.
Zappa / Live at the Filmore East
The Fugs / Golden Filth
Man / Maximum Darkness with John Cipolina (a great fvcking album)
Hot Tuna / Hot Tuna
Bless his pointed little head / Jefferson Airplane
"Journey to the Center of the Earth" ..... Wow ! Awesome pick John. I love that album ! So, anyway, I just got off the Amazon website, and ordered the new CSNY 1974 boxed set. From what I've been reading, it should be pretty awesome !
Joe Cocker - Mad Dogs & Englishmen
Earth, Wind, & Fire - Gratitude
BB King - Live At Cook County Jail
Leon Russell - Live
Elton John - 11-17-70
The Beach Boys In Concert
....and we haven't begun to skim Jazz!! The 70's was probably the best decade for live records ever!
I gotta toss in Rick Wakemans' "Journey to the Center of the Earth". I scored a MFSL copy years ago and the fidelity is outstanding. I can hear the orchestra members accidently hitting their bows, a couple of pages turning, even a cough or two. It really is like being there.
-John
50+ and counting. All in vinyl. I may have to search out the Shaun Cassidy though...not likely. :)
I pulled out the copy of Delany & Bonnie and friends with Eric Clapton which I bought new, when it was released. At the time, i wasn't into it, b/c it veered country, and away from the Cream/Blind Faith thing that I was into from Mr. Clapton. Now, with age, and an appreciation of the whole Layla thing (plus look at the band on this record), it deserves listening.
Another good one..."Waiting for Columbus" - Little Feat.

Love the J. Geils mentioned. The energy coming off Full House is just incredible.
Humble Pie - Performance Rockin' the Fillmore

(a ton of other great suggestions already listed)
Gypsy “Gypsy Queen”
Bob Dylan “Blood on the Tracks”
Fleetwood Mac “Bare Trees”
Lead Zeppelin (all their albums)
Doors “Live”
King Crimson USA has a great version of 21st Century Schizoid Man as well as Lament and several others. Great live tracks from the 4-piece version of the band.
Also not to be missed: Humble Pie " Rockin' the Fillmore" a double LP recorded May 1971, and MC5 "Kick Out the Jams", both red hot performances.