Eric Clapton - Have You Ever Loved a Woman

This is a live performance by blues guitarist Eric Clapton performing his version of the classic blues standard "Have You Ever Loved a Woman".
The song is a blues standard written by Billy Myles. It was first recorded by Freddie King in 1960. It was released as a single by Freddie King, but didn't become a huge single.
It was then since covered by Derek and the Dominos, ergo Clapton on guitar, for their 1970 album "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs". Clapton has since made the song a regular on his live sets, and it appears on the following live recordings by Clapton: "E. C. Was Here", "24 Nights", "Live In Hyde Park", "One More Car, One More Rider", and "Crossroads Guitar Festival 2004". So basically almost all live recordings by him.
This version is from the unreleased film "Nothing But The Blues" directed by Martin Scorsese. It's a great performance by Clapton, this set-up has a horn section and Clapton is playing a Gibson ES-335. I love how he on this performance actually sings using octaves in his voice, it sounds really good.

The clip above is a piece of footage from the 2004 performance of the song. It's Billy Preston's organ solo which is one thing the other performance is missing. It's a great solo, and whenever Preston does an organ solo on this he just gives 110 %, a great little piece of footage to go along with this clip.
It's a great song and a great performance by Clapton. (And check out the organ solo too, it's well worth it!)

Enjoy ; )

Bert Jansch – Blackwaterside

This is a live performance by finger style guitar legend Bert Jansch playing his version of the classic folk song “Blackwaterside”.
The song is also known under the title “Down by Blackwaterside”. It is a folk song in the traditional sense that it has no known author. Though the origin of the song probably comes from somewhere near the river Blackwater in Northern Ireland.
Jansch recorded a studio version of this song in 1966 on his album “Jack Orion”. He also came up with the “chord free” or at least not so chord reliant version of doing folk songs. Most people who were doing folk music in the 60’s would cover them in very simple 3 chord structures. But Jansch and Anne Briggs were always working on new and more complex ways of accompanying the old traditional folk songs. Jansch actually learned the song from Briggs who recorded it first.
Jansch also played a version of this song at the 2010 Crossroads Festival. I highly recommend that people check out that version. The playing is sublime, but more important Jansch’s voice has aged which really fits the song.
But this is a really good performance of an amazing composition of a classic folk song.

Enjoy ;-)

Eric Clapton - I Shot the Sheriff

This is a live performance by Eric Clapton playing his version of the classic reggae song "I Shot the Sheriff". The performance is from the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Festival.
The song was originally written and performed by Bob Marley and his band The Wailers. It appeared on their "Burnin'" album. The story of the song is quite simple; A man who admits to having shot the sheriff also claims that he has been falsely accused of shooting the deputy sheriff.
Clapton's version was released in 1974 on the 461 Ocean Boulevard album. Clapton's version is the most commercially successful version of the song peaking at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This also meant that this was Clapton's only top charting hit in the US. And with the music standards dominating today I seriously doubt he will ever have a hit that becomes equally big. But that says more about the terrible taste of music consumers to day and nothing about Clapton.
It's a great performance and the band and Clapton really have a nice feel on it in their playing. I also really think that Doyle Bramhall II's rhythm and background playing on this makes for a very good performance. He plays something in the beginning with a wah pedal that just sounds awesome. Clapton has expressed his enthusiasm about Doyle in his autobiography alongside Derek Trucks. Also Clapton's guitar solo on this is long and played like only Clapton can. Truly a great performance of a great song.

Enjoy ; )

Steve Winwood & Eric Clapton - Can't Find My Way Home

This is a performance from the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival, it features Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood together performing the song from their previous band Blind Faith. Blind Faith was a British supergroup consisting of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood and Rich Grech. The band's self-titled album was released in 1969.
The song has been performed on occasion by Clapton. He also played a version of the song where Nathan East did the vocals. Clapton only did backing vocals on the original, and Winwood is singing the song in this version.
The performance is from the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival, and in the background Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II are playing rhythm parts on the song.
It's a good performance, and excellently sung by Winwood, a good performance of a good song.

Enjoy ; )

OutKast - Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry 'Bout Me)

(Haven't been able to find a version of this that is embeddable, so click here to go to the youtube page of the song)
This is the video for the song "Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry 'Bout Me) by the rap duo OutKast. It's a song built around a classic 12-bar blues and it's sung by André 3000. It's nice to see newer artists incorporate blues elements into their songs, and especially when it's done well like this. It's basically the 12-bar in the front with a funky electric beat, and a little synthesizer towards the end.
The subject matter of the lyrics are also very bluesy, it's simple, but tells a story. It tells the story of a character trying to break free and gain independence, by leaving family, friends and the home town which is just classic blues. A lot of blues texts deal with trying to break free and leave, songs like "Dust My Broom", "Crossroads" and "I'm Leaving You (Commit a Crime)", to name a few.
The video displays André 3000 playing the song in an old house in the middle of nowhere that starts to overflow with water. There is debate of the meaning of the video. Some fans believe that the proximity of the video and the flowing water are visual allusions to the flooding that occurred as an aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Other fans see the water as an image of the blues, and that the blues can overflow and choke someone's life.
(Another artist who sung about hurricanes was Lightnin' Hopkins in the song "Hurricane Beulah" click here for that performance)

(A couple of pictures of André 3000, the first one is a capture from the video. Thought I'd at least give some sort of visual aid to this post!)
Any ways.

It's a great song, and it's nice to see talented people like OutKast doing a bit of blues.

Enjoy ; )

The White Stripes - Ball and Biscuit

This is a performance by legendary alternative/blues/garage rock band The White Stripes. They could probably be attached to even more genres. They perform the song "Ball and Biscuit" from the album "Elephant" released in 2003. The band consists of Jack White on guitar and Meg White on drums. That's it, two members, and two instruments. The weird thing is that it's kind of a genius thing, because it really works. The song "Ball and Biscuit" is clearly a song deeply inspired by the very early acoustic blues the likes of Robert Johnson and Son House, but in an electric version. Jack has, by many, been said to have revitalised the guitar, and I kinda understand what they mean. He draws influence from multiple genres, and innovatively mixes them all into his own, mostly electric sound. In many ways doing the same thing as Clapton was doing when he recorded Crossroads.
This song is delightfully simple, simple rhythm and simple chord structure, with a slightly more difficult solo. It's reminiscent to the old Delta Blues because it's so simple, there's no bass, and Meg White's simple drumming is kinda like a foot tap of a self accompanied acoustic blues man. Jack also has to play the bass part, the rhythm part and the solos. This makes for a very interesting and innovative trade of playing, it makes him unique. This is a great song, and it pays tribute whilst still being new and innovative, well done Jack!

Enjoy ; )

Steve Vai - Bad Horsie

This is a hard rock instrumental by guitarist Steve Vai. Steve is known for his technical abilities on guitar, he started out playing as one of Joe Satriani's students, and today they are both among some of the best. Steve plays with a lot of intricate techniques and with a very high skill level and difficulty to his playing. He does however also draw from a number of artists who wouldn't fall into that category like Hendrix for instance, so Steve's playing is a nice mix of technical skill level and playing with emotion. He's innovative, and has made his own line of revolutionary guitars and is just a master of the trade that is guitar playing.

The song "Bad Horsie" is the opening track on Vai's EP named "Alien Love Secrets" that came out in 1995. The song "Bad Horsie" is derived from a riff Vai contributed to the film "Crossroads" where he played the devil. The song is played tuned down to what would be Drop C tuning, a very low tuning (CGCFAD). It's a great song, and it has one hell of a groove, love it!
(As a little fun thing, I've added the guitar duel from Crossroads, you can definitely recognize the intro, it's a little silly, but great 80's retro fun)


Enjoy ; )

Santana & Eric Clapton - Jingo

This is a performance by Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana from the Crossroads guitar festival. Clapton joins Santana on stage for one of the songs he has made famous. The song "Jingo" was originally recorded under the name "Jin-go-lo-ba" by Nigerian drummer and recording artist Babatunde Olatunji. Santana re-arranged the song for a more modern three piece rock orchestra setting, something he has done many times throughout his career, like the song "Oye Como Va" that he also re-arranged. The song was released on Santana's 1969 record simply titled "Santana".
It's a great performance, you can really tell that the two guitarists dig jamming with each other, and Clapton leaves plenty of space for Santana to solo, a good and energetic performance, gotta love Santana.

Enjoy ; )

John Mayer & Eric Clapton - Crossroads

Here's a performance by Eric Clapton and John Mayer. They play the classic Johnson tune "Crossroads". The song was originally made under the title "Cross Road Blues" as a one-person acoustic blues tune by the ahead of his time talented Robert Johnson. The band Cream, of which Clapton was a member, covered the song on their "Wheels of Fire" album in an electrified version coming off the 60's blues vibe in London.
It is a blues classic, and Clapton's version has been covered by numerous artists, including Rush, Elmore James, John Mayer to name a few.

Enjoy ; )

If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day - Eric Clapton live

This clip is taken from Clapton's 2004 performance at the Crossroads guitar festival. It's a great version of this Robert Johnson classic, and showcases what Clapton does best, and have been doing since the early 60's: Electrifying the classic blues tunes and spreading the blues to a wider audience. Clapton also once said that it takes more than one person to duplicate what Johnson was doing in the 20's and 30's, and with this full orchestra he definetely does justice to the original.

Enjoy ; )