Steppin' Out is a live album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. The title is taken from her song of the same name which was first released in 1975 on her second studio album Back to the Night. A DVD with the same title, containing concerts recorded by WDR in 1979 and 1980, was released in 2004.

Background

The album was recorded live during the North American leg of her To the Limit tour and released in the UK in October 1979 by A&M (AMLH 64789). It was also released in Canada and Europe but not in the US. This is said to be because, although Armatrading was enjoying success in the States, it was felt she did not sell enough recordings there to justify a live album.However, a US issue of the album was released on CD in 2006 as a limited edition.

Armatrading's last studio album before this was To the Limit, released in July 1978, and her next would be Me Myself I, released in May 1980. The reason given for this near two-year gap between studio albums was that Armatrading was in dispute with her record company A&M during this time. According to Sean Mayes' biography of Armatrading, Armatrading was suing A&M in the American courts for $10 million, alleging that they were interfering with her attempts to negotiate a contract with a new label. A&M obtained an injunction in the UK courts preventing Armatrading from recording for any other label, and she refused to record anything for A&M until the dispute was resolved. To plug this gap between studio albums, A&M decided to release a live recording of one of her concerts from the "To the Limit" tour, and this became the Steppin' Out live album. In the end, the dispute was settled amicably and Armatrading continued her association with A&M for many more years.

The album was her final collaboration with Glyn Johns, who had produced her three previous studio albums. It features songs from her previous four studio albums, Back to the Night, Joan Armatrading, Show Some Emotion and To the Limit and also features two new songs: "How Cruel" and "Love Song". It does not include any songs from her first studio album, Whatever's for Us. According to AllMusic, the album reflects elements of blues, rock, jazz, pop and "Caribbean folk-soul".