Ten brilliant live albums from the 1970s

The Band - The Last Waltz

Let's continue that triple album trend with another three-disc album. The Band had decided to retire from live performances and set up their final performance to be recorded. The Last Waltz was a documentary film of the concert and also the soundtrack album. 

It was a spectacular event with many huge names making it at times an all-star band on stage. Eric Clapton, Emmy Lou Harris, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, and Neil Young are just some of the many big names who shone as they played at the concert. The concert film and the record were both released in 1978.

Some might argue that a previous life album by The Band, Rock Of Ages from 1972 is a better record. In some ways, they might be right. Musically The Band are perhaps in even better form on that earlier album. There are also critics again of the production of The Last Waltz, overuse of overdubbing and swapping the running order around can be a distraction from the real quality. 

But The Band still perform very well on The Last Waltz and the edge does go to that farewell gig album. That’s down to the scale and significance of the event, plus the all-star lineups throughout. It’s such a momentous time and event, we should be immensely grateful it's been captured on film and audio recordings.

That's the end of this list of ten more amazing live albums from the 1970s. There’s a link above if you want to see the previous ten albums listed. If there’s a comments function where you see this article, do let us know any live 1970s favorites you have that aren't on the two lists. 

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