Joe Bonamassa - High Water Everywhere

This is a live performance by guitarist Joe Bonamassa playing the classic blues song "High Water Everywhere" live. The performance is from the North Sea Jazz Festival.
The song was originally written by blues singer Charley Patton. The theme of the song is the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 which devastated Louisiana. Bob Dylan paid tribute to the song on his 2001 album "Love and Theft" with the song "High Water (For Charley Patton).
The song was initially released by Bonamassa on his 2006 album "You & Me". It is in fact the opening track for that album. Bonamssa has had the number in his live repertoire for quite some time and a live version appeared on the DVD of his concert at The Royal Albert Hall released in 2009.
It's a great song, and Bonamassa does a great job of playing it live.

Enjoy ; )

Joe Bonamassa - Django

This is a live performance by blues and rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa playing his instrumental song "Django" live. The performance is from The Royal Albert Hall and this concert is available in both DVD and CD format. (Click here for a previous post and another piece of performance footage from that concert featuring Eric Clapton).
This performance is the opening track alas we see Bonamassa entering the stage. It's a great little piece of instrumental music which leads into the second track "The Ballad Of John Henry" which is what Bonamassa starts playing after switching guitars.
The piece was influenced or rather inspired by jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and obviously also named after him. It's a great little instrumental.

Enjoy ; )

Jimi Hendrix - Lover Man

This is a live performance by Jimi Hendrix playing his classic song "Lover Man". The performance is from The Royal Albert Hall in 1969.
The song "Lover Man", also known under the titles: "Here He Comes" and "Here He Comes Your Lover Man", is unique in that a studio version wasn't released until 2010. It has been performed live on numerous occasions and performed as early as 1968. The structure of the song is the same they'd use when covering B.B. King's tune "Rock Me Baby".
It's a great song and Hendrix really adds that unique touch and sound to this tune. My favourite version is a rare take that I haven't really identified. It's from youtube and all I know is that it's rare. Embeded below:

There's no video, just pictures. The audio quality is really good though and to me it sounds like a deposited studio take. It's a slower version of the song which I really dig. The slow tempo really adds to the psychedelia factor. Also the extended wah wah solo at the end of the song.
I love this take and any version of this song. It's so good and one of Hendrix's best in my opinion.

Enjoy ; )

Cream - Outside Woman Blues

This is a live performance by British supergroup Cream performing a live version of the song "Outside Woman Blues". The performance is from their 2005 reunion concert at The Royal Albert Hall. It's a great performance and it shows just what this trio was capable of and still were capable of back in 2005.
The song was originally recorded by Blind Joe Reynolds in 1929. It has since been covered by a large number of artists, but most notably Cream. Cream's version was released in 1967 on their "Disreali Gears" album. There were only two covers on this album, and the rest of the songs were originals. Also the lyrics are credited to Blind Joe Reynolds, but with arrangement by Clapton. This is also very clear, if you take a listen to the original (click here for a performance of the original).
The song has been performed by a lot of artists and Clapton has also played the song live as a solo artist. Like this acoustic clip embeded below which is a very good version. It really marks Clapton's self-accompanied style and abilities and his vocal ability as well.

The song has also been performed by: Jimi Hendrix, Back Door Slam, Doyle Bramhall II, Van Halen and Johnny Winter.
I love both of Cream's versions of this song. They're both great performances who share displaying Clapton's guitar abilities and his vocal ability as well.

Enjoy ; )

Jimi Hendrix – I Don’t Live Today

This is a live performance by guitar legend Jimi Hendrix and his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience. The performance is from The Royal Albert Hall in 1969. After the performance there’s a short interview at the end of the video.
The song “I Don’t Live Today” is from the band’s debut album “Are You Experienced” released in 1967. The album was very successful and helped launch Hendrix’s career. It reached #2 on the UK charts behind The Beatles with their album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”.
I really love this performance. Hendrix’s playing and singing on this is sublime and Mitch Mitchell’s drumming on this song is just sublime.
A great performance of a great song.

Enjoy ; )

Spın̈al Tap & Albert Lee - Break Like the Wind

This is a live performance by semi-fictional metal band Spın̈al Tap and Albert Lee playing the song "Break Like the Wind" live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1992.
The song is of Spın̈al Tap's album of the same title released in 1992.
As said, the band is semi-fictional. It's the band from the famous mockumentary (even though Christopher Guest hates that term) "This Is Spın̈al Tap". It's a legendary comedy that mocks rock 'n' roll and throws allusions to a lot of different rock and metal acts. It's one of the best and most quotable films of all time.
The album featured many guest artists, and on the album version of Break Like the Wind it breaks down at the end, and a bunch of guitarists join in: Jeff Beck, Steve Lukather, Joe Satriani and Slash.
On this live version they have Albert Lee who of course can't play like all of these guitarists. I think he does a very good job however, and it's a fun and enjoyable performance.

Enjoy ; )

Cream - Sitting on Top of the World (Robert Cray)

This is a live version of the song "Sitting on Top of the World" live at the Royal Albert Hall in 2005. It was their reunion concert.
The song has a long history of covers and various performers. It was originally written by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon. It has been covered by an area of well known blues artists such as: Robert Cray, Big Bill Broonzy, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Willie Nelson, Jack White and B.B. King.
The version Cream covered was the one recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1957. The Cream version was released in 1968. I think that these bluesy interpenetrations of this classic song are both great. I also really like it the way Robert Cray plays it. It's a little more laid back and a little slower, and of course his playing adds to the experience. (Cray version embeded below).

I think it's a really good performance, and I really think that Cream did an amazing job on this. Clapton's playing is superb, Ginger's drumming is fitting and not too over the top and Jack Bruce sings the song beautifully and plays the harmonica on it as well. A great performance, no two great performances!

Enjoy ; )