Paul McCartney & Wings – Wings Over America
Paul McCartney stepped up big time with his triple album from the Wings Over The World Tour. Released in December 1976 it covered his first live tour in the US for over ten years. With a triple album, there’s a lot of music and even at this point, he had an extensive back catalog to draw on. Solo songs, some Beatles tracks, and plenty from Wings too.
It’s quite amazing to think he spent a lot of last year, 2024, on a world tour again playing a range of classic songs from different ears. It topped the Billboard 200 in January 1977, knocking Hotel California by Eagles off the top spot and keeping the previous number one, and Stevie Wonder’s classic, Songs In The Key Of Life back down in third. Amazing competition for a brilliant album.
Barry Manilow – Barry Manilow Live
Later in 1977, Barry Manilow delivered the next live album to reach number one. It reached the top spot in mid-July, and as with that Wings album, it knocked another big hitter off the top spot. Manilow took it from Fleetwood Mac Rumours for that week; they did regain it soon after though. But it’s still a number one live album from Manilow, and as we can see, there weren't many that made it so high.
The album has a typical live approach in that it provides an almost greatest hits-like track list but with a few extras and some medleys of songs. In Manilow’s case that includes one collection featuring many of the advertising jingles he wrote for before hitting the big time. You don't get many live albums with a KFC and a Dr Pepper mention!
Donna Summer – Live And More
The seventh and final live album number one in the 1970s went to Donna Summer in 1978. This is three sides live and recorded in California, with a fourth side taken from studio recordings of the MacArthur Park suite, her disco version of four songs, including the title song “MacArthur Park,” where she divas up that cake in the rain. Perhaps surprisingly that was her first US single at number one.
The live sides are strong performances, too, and the disco glitter ball must have been in full sparkle mode based on the way they all sound. It has Summer on top form and with some ballads and a bit of jazz in there, too, to mix it up nicely.