Katie Webster – Pussycat Moan

This is a live performance by Katie Webster, also known as the swamp boogie queen, playing the song “Pussycat Moan” live. The performance is from the 1990 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
I haven’t really been able to find any studio recorded versions of this. The only thing I’ve found is a version on the compilation CD “Alligator Records 20th Anniversary Collection”.
It’s a great slow blues song and Katie sings it to perfection, just the right way. Also plays the piano in that way only she can. She’s a great blues artist and more people should know about her.

Enjoy ; )

The Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Women

This is a live performance by the famous British rock 'n' roll band The Rolling Stones playing their song "Honky Tonk Women" live. The performance is from Japan and it was part of their Voodoo Lounge tour, this performance is from 2005.
The song was originally released in 1969 and it was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It was hugely successful in both America and the UK. The song was originally conceived as an acoustic country song and it was recorded it two versions. The second version was re-named "Country Honk" and was on the band's "Let It Bleed" album.
The song has also been done by a lot of famous artists since its release by The Rolling Stones, these artists include: Ike and Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Gram Parsons, Elton John, Taj Mahal, and Albert King.
I really love this performance though. Especially love the guitar work by Richards on this one, it's so his style and he plays it magnificently. Also love the piano work by Chuck Leavell, but again Richards can't help but cut in and play the piano a bit. This performance is all about Keith Richards, in my opinion, and he rocks it!

Enjoy ; )

Rory Gallagher - Garbage Man

This is a live performance by Irish guitarist, singer songwriter and blues man Rory Gallagher. In this performance he plays the song "Garbage Man" which was originally recorded by Muddy Waters. The song was written by Willie Hammond. The performance is from 1977 and from the Rockpalast festival in Germany.
It's a great performance, but sadly it cuts off in the video and cuts to some other German programme. It's great till that happens though, and we get most of the performance. Lou Martin does a really good piano solo and Rory then goes off on slide in standard which he is amazing at. It's a great performance.
To my knowledge the only official of this release by Gallagher is on the album "Ultra Rare Rory" which I own. It's a bootleg album, so the quality isn't the best, the performances however are top notch. Cover in picture below.

It's a great performance, and Rory truly proves that he was indeed a blues man in this performance clip.

Enjoy ; )

Guns N' Roses - Pretty Tied Up

This is a live performance by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses playing their song "Pretty Tied Up" live. The performance is from their 1992 gig in Tokyo, also released on DVD.
The song originally appeared on the band's 1991 album "Use Your Illusions II". The song is subtitled "The Perils of Rock n Roll Decadence". The song was written by Izzy Stradlin and the lyrics may have been inspired by Stradlin's encounter with a female dominatrix and her client.
Another live version of this track is available on the band's live album "Live Era: '87-'93".
It's a great rock 'n' roll song. I love that wah wah Slash uses and the rock 'n' roll piano played by Dizzy Reed you can hear in the background.
A great performance.

Enjoy ; )

Guns N' Roses - Dust N' Bones

This is a live performance by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses performing the song "Dust N' Bones". The performance is from 1991.
The song is from the band's 1991 double release Use Your Illusion I. (Of course the second album of that double release was Use Your Illusions II). "Dust N' Bones" is the second song on the album and it was written by Slash, Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan. It is the first song on the album that is sung by Stradlin and also the first song to feature Dizzy Reed on piano. I really think the piano is crucial to what makes the song good, it gives it an old school rock 'n' roll feel a la The Rolling Stones. Both the live version and the album version features Slash playing talk box guitar on the song which also adds to the sound of the tune.
It's a great song and the live performance is very good as well. (Though the audio could have been better).

Enjoy ; )

Buddy Guy - Damn Right, I've Got The Blues

This is a live performance by blues legend Buddy Guy playing his original blues tune "Damn Right, I've Got The Blues". The set-up is very laid back and simple. All musicians on stage are sitting down and Guy is only accompanied by a piano and a second guitarist. It gives a simple, but very good sound where Guy's playing really shines through.
The song is the title track to Guy's 1991 album. The album was described as Guy's commercial comeback album back when it was released. The album also features the following guest artists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Mark Knopfler and the Memphis Horns.
This performance is from the Guitar Center Sessions. I really love how even when they're doing a laid back performance Guy can't turn off his natural showmanship. He can't help playing the guitar the same way he would standing up and doing all those funny tricks like for instance turning the guitar upside down and rubbing it against the fabric of his shirt. He just can't help him self and that is why he's such a great performer. Truly a great blues performance.

Enjoy ; )

Chuck Berry & Keith Richards - Carol

This is a live performance by Rock 'n' Roll legend Chuck Berry performing his classic song "Carol" which he also has writing credit for. Keith Richards is sitting in as this is the rehearsal footage prior to the main performance celebrating Berry's 60th birthday in the film "Hail! Hail! Rock N' Roll" from 1987.
The song "Carol" was first released by Berry in 1958. It was later covered by a long list of artists, including: The Beatles, Charlie Daniels, The Doors, and of course also by The Rolling Stones.
I really love this piece of post concert footage. I love the tension that is between Berry and Richards, it is very entertaining to watch. Berry's solos on this are amazing, Richard's not so much as he screws up a bit on a lick or two and also has a hard time getting the intro down. But Berry's solos and Johnnie Johnson's piano solo makes for a really good performance- When they finally get through it.
A great little piece of footage from Berry when he was in his prime performing-wise. A great performance and very entertaining as well.

Enjoy ; )

Isaac Hayes - Soulville

This is a live performance by soul music legend Isaac Hayes playing the song "Soulville" live in concert.
The song is from the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film "Shaft". The most famous song of that soundtrack of course being the Academy Award nominated "Theme from Shaft" famous for it's heavy use of wah-wah pedal and somewhat cheesy lyrics. Click here for a performance of "Theme from Shaft". The soundtrack only contained three songs with vocals, the rest of it were instrumentals. The last song with vocals was "Do Your Thing".
It's a great performance and Hayes really impresses with his musical abilities. As he's playing the saxophone on this song. In the later years of his career he'd usually stick to playing piano. The horns would come from a three piece keyboard section Hayes used on the road.
But a great performance of a really nice song. And this song has some pretty good lyrics.

Enjoy ;-)

The Black Crowes - Remedy

This is the music video to the song “Remedy” by the band The Black Crowes.
The song is the second track on the band’s second album “The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion” released in 1992. The song is written by Chris and Rich Robinson. The song was very successful and it reached #1 on the Billboard Album Rock Chart and stayed at #1 for 11 weeks. It also peaked at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100.
It’s a great song. I love how they fuse soul music with traditional rock music to make their own sound. When I listen to this I hear something similar to The Rolling Stones in the guitar playing and in the way the piano stays on top of the beat throughout the entire song.
It’s a great song with a lot of soul and rock ‘n’ roll.

Enjoy ;-)

Thelonius Monk - Blue Monk

This is a live performance by jazz legend and jazz composer Thelonius Monk playing his classic jazz standard "Blue Monk". The performance was shot in Norway in 1966. The musicians joining Monk are: Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on drums.
As mentioned earlier "Blue Monk" is an instrumental jazz standard composed by Thelonius Monk. It is a B♭ blues based on the jazz tune "Pastel Blue".
Thelonius Monk is considered one of the great contributors of American music and he has written several jazz standards, "Blue Monk" included. He was known for his very distinctive and unique approach to the piano, for his clothing style and for standing up in the middle of songs and taking breaks to then return to the piano. He also does this in this performance. In fact all musicians but the drummer do this and then at the end they all join in again.
It's a great performance and you can really tell that the musicians are in sync with each other and leave space and respect to one another. This is a great laid back performance of a great jazz standard.

Enjoy ;-)

John Mayall, Chris Barber & Eric Clapton - Please Mr Lofton

This is a live performance by John Mayall, Chris Barber and Eric Clapton. The concert footage is from the DVD "70th Birthday Concert" from 2003 where Mayall celebrated his 70th Birthday with a concert featuring his own band The Bluesbreakers and a couple of carefully selected guest stars. Two of these were Clapton and Barber, but Mick Taylor was also featured on some of the tracks.
This part of the performance is the part where they've taken it down to a smaller scale. It's just Mayall, Clapton and Barber on stage and the rest of The Bluesbreakers have left the stage.
This DVD is a must have for all blues fans. It's a really good set-list with a lot of up-beat blues songs that'll lighten up your day for sure. Also it was a historic event since it was more than 40 years since Clapton and Mayall had been performing together, a reunion of those two is definitely worth buying for alone, but also you get Mick Taylor, Chris Barber and the rest of The Bluesbreakers on top of all of that. As said, a must see for all blues fans.

Enjoy ; )

Eric Clapton - Ain't Nobody's Business

This is a live performance by Eric Clapton playing his version of the classic 1920's song "Ain't Nobody's Business". At the end of the clip he also plays a little bit of "Drifting Blues" on a Spanish acoustic and stops to ask if there's percussion on it.
I really love the simple nature of this performance and the fact that it's split into two. It starts of with a piano and Clapton singing with only a little light percussion with a drum hit on the edge. The at the end to finish it the horn section kicks in and Clapton starts playing a solo. What you see is Clapton's vocal ability and how good a singer he is. He is one of the few people who can sort of recreate or keep the spirit of 20's and 30's music alive today which is very impressive. And then of course the guitar solo at the end which is just stunning.
The song was originally known under the title "Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness if I Do". It was written somewhere in the 1920's by by pianist Porter Grainger who had been Bessie Smith's accompanist and Everett Robbins. It was first recorded by Ann Meyer in 1922 and later by Bessie Smith in 1923. The song is an 8-bar vaudeville blues song. The lyrics were copyrighted in 1922 and now they are in the public domain. Embeded below is the Bessie Smith version, it's not that similar to Clapton's version, but you can clearly hear that this was the source material.

The song has been recorded by a large number of artists over the years. Artist such as: Billie Holiday, Diana Ross, Hank Williams Jr., Freddie King, Eric Clapton, Otis Spann, and Willie Nelson among others.
It's a great song and a great set of lyrics. I really love Clapton's version of this. His singing and his guitar playing it just all adds up to something unbelievable.

Enjoy ; )

Chuck Berry - Reelin' And Rockin

This is a live performance from the source of rock 'n' roll: Chuck Berry playing the song "Reelin' And Rockin". The performance is from 1972 in London and it was released on the album "The London Chuck Berry Sessions". The first side was recorded in the studio and the second side was recorded live. The footage is from this recording.
I really think this is an awesome live performance. Berry is very energetic and his playing is that classic Berry style done very well. Dave Kafinetti also delivers a very good piano solo on the track. A very good performance and song, Berry doing stage moves and having that humorous look in his eye. A very good performance.

Enjoy ; )

Dave Powers - Powerhuse

This is an excerpt from an American public access television programme called "The Piano Guy". It's basically an educational show that sometimes just features talented performers performing certain pieces. In this segment Dave Powers plays the song "Powerhouse". (He plays both set of hands in the video, impressive!!)
The song "Powerhouse" was composed by Raymond Scott in 1937. It is most famous for being featured in a lot of Warner Brothers classic cartoons.
The piece consists of two seemingly different breaks. The tempi of those pieces are also different. The A piece of the composition is fast and frantic, and was often used for chase scenes. The B piece is slower and sounds more slavish and industrial which is why it's often referred to as "assembly-line music". The structure of the song is A-B-A.
I really think it's a fun little composition, and Dave just plays it so well. I really love how he also throws a little jazz into the mix when making the last transition from the B piece to the A piece ending the composition.
It's a good song, and it's very well played, and hey it has a jazz influence on it, so that's why I'm posting it.

Enjoy ; )

Guns N' Roses - Bad Apples

This is the music video to the Guns N' Roses song "Bad Apples" from their "Use Your Illusion I" album. "Use Your Illusions" was a double release, two albums released at the same time. The albums were released in 1991, and were hugely successful. The albums were different from the band's earlier work in many ways. Their '87 release of "Appetite for Destruction" was much more in the category of classic hard rock. Where as these albums drew on many different influences such as classical music, traditional blues music and country. Of course still blending in their early sound. Axl started playing piano on several tracks, and the band did more ballads than they did hard rock.
"Bad Apples" is the 14th track on the record, it has only been performed live twice and according to Slash the song was written while the band was rehearsing in Chicago for a period of time.
I think it's a good song with a really good groove. The music video isn't their best, but it's still a pretty good song.

Enjoy ;

Earl Scruggs - Foggy Mountain Breakdown

This is a performance from The Late Show with David Letterman featuring Earl Scruggs and friends performing the classic 5-string banjo piece "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" with a bunch of guest artists joining in.
The song is part of the musical genre called bluegrass which is a very fast paced kind of music, usually with a simple three chord structure throughout which people then jam on and do solos on top on. The piece was written by Earl Scruggs, and recorded by Flatt & Scruggs in 1949. It is considered one of the hardest pieces for 5-string banjos, and only very skilled players can play it at it's intended speed.
The line-up on stage is impressive, it includes; Paul Shaffer on piano, Steve Martin on banjo and Albert Lee on electric guitar, to name a few, it's a long list of performers, and I probably only know the name of half of them, I know shame on me.
Any ways, it's a great up tempo performance of a good song, and bluegrass is related to country which is related to blues, so I can justify posting this here.

Enjoy ; )

Rory Gallagher - All Around Man

This is a magnificent performance from blues extraordinaire Rory Gallagher, it's from the concert at BBC's Grey Whistle on March 2nd 1976 which was also the date of Rory's birthday.
The song was originally performed by Bo Carter, but Rory's version is just smokin', no doubts one of Rory's best performances ever, though I don't think there is such a thing as Rory's best performance. Rory was an artist who gave 100 % on stage, and in that sense you could easily say that all Rory's performances were his best.
I really love this song and performance. Rory really shows the extent of his talent, by playing some of the best bottle neck slide I've heard, period! It's amazing, it's fast, but still keeping feel, and being right on spot in terms of intonation and execution of the playing. Not only do we get Rory's guitar playing, but Rory also plays a really good solo on the blues harp. He uses a harmonica microphone, and gets that perfectly good blues sound. He also shouts into that mike on the musical breaks of the solo. He also does something similar with his slide playing, where he sings the part, as he's playing it, true feeling, true blues!
We also get a really good piano and Hammond Organ solo from Lou Martin who also joins in as Rory is soloing on the blues harp. They basically riff off each other, and Lou tries to play the lines Rory just played, it's amazing, a true jam between two good musicians.
This is just an amazing performance from Gallagher, definitely one of his best, though all his performances pretty much fit that mark.

Enjoy ; )

Repost: Stevie Ray Vaughan - Love Struck Baby

 I posted a version of this song before. It was the version where Stevie plays the song live with Colin James. That video has been taken down from youtube, so I thought I'd post another version of the song. (click here for previous posted entry)
This version is from 1987 in New Orleans. It's a great version of the song. It's an extended version in terms of musical improvisation. There's a piano solo by Reese Wynans, and then after that Stevie goes into a guitar solo. He pretty much does the standard version of the solo, but adds a lot of new things to it. Of course he shows off and puts the guitar behind his head and keeps playing. And after that he just extends the solo even more.
It's one of those performances where Stevie was just feeling it, and started playing new stuff on the spot. I love both versions of this, but since the old version has been taken down from youtube, I'd say this is at least as good. Though you can't really judge performances like that.

The White Stripes - My Doorbell

This is the music video for the song "My Doorbell" by The White Stripes. A piano driven simple, well pop song, probably. White Stripes are always hard to place genre-wise, they draw a lot of contemporary influences while still going back to a lot of the old blues hounds as well. This makes for a unique sound that is simply The White Stripes, they can't be put into any specific category of music and that's what make them so good and unique.
The song was released in 2005 on the album "Get Behind Me Satan" and was the second single from the album.
The music video is shot in a vintage black and white style which really fits the song well. The song was also nominated for a Grammy for best pop performance. It's a good video for a song that'll surely bring you in a good mood.

Enjoy ; )

B.B. King - When It All Comes Down

This is a live performance from guitarist B.B. King at the prime of his career. He plays the song "When It All Comes Down" and we get two great soulful guitar solos in that style that can only be played by the King himself. It's a big set up with horn section, drums, bass and piano/organ. King's voice is also a big part of what really makes this performance, he sings the song so well, it's astonishing.
The song also features an amazing piano solo by pianist Eugene Carrier, he's not a very famous pianist, but from this performance you can tell that he had mad skills, an amazing talent.
This is just a great performance, B.B. sings fantastically, plays soulfully and amazingly, the band plays well and the pianist is out of this world. A truly great performance!

Enjoy ; )