From Chicago's opulent Regal Theatre, to an intimate coffee house in New York City, to the back alley ways of the legendary Maxwell Street market, and onto live festival stages at Newport and Ann Arbor, the blues — captured live in performance, anyway — doesn't get much better than this. Here, then, are a few recordings from the 1960s that frequently get picked by fans and critics alike as "the best live blues recordings of all time," and just for fun, we've thrown in a few personal favorites as well. Classics from B.B. King ("Live at the Regal"); Robert Nighthawk ("And This Is Maxwell Street"); John Lee Hooker ("Live at the Cafe Au Go-Go"); Magic Sam (Live at Ann Arbor); Muddy Waters ("At Newport"), and more.

Pictured: An all-time classic: Muddy Waters at Newport, from 1960.

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