John Lee Hooker with Ry Cooder - Crawling King Snake

This is a live performance by John Lee Hooker playing his classic song "Crawling King Snake" live. On stage he is joined by guitarist Ry Cooder who's sitting in on this tune.
The song was originally written and recorded by John Lee Hooker. It is one of his many famous songs and it has also been covered by many different artists. One of them being The Doors who recorded a version of the song and released it in 1971. The song has also been done by: George Thorogood, Etta James, John P. Hammond, and Buddy Guy to name a few. (I've embeded Buddy Guy's version beneath, he plays it acoustic and with a lot of conviction and atmosphere, a solo acoustic recording, like the old blues players would have done it.)

It's a great and classic blues song, and Hooker plays it his way which is the right way. Cooder doesn't show off much in this, but then again when you're with the greats you hold back a bit. Both performances of this great blues song are great.

Enjoy ; )

Johnny Copeland - Flying High

This is an acoustic live performance by Texas blues artist Johnny Copeland. He plays the song "Flying High" on a TV-recording (from 1989). It's a self-accompanied acoustic performance, it always fascinated me when artists did self-accompanied performances. The song it self I haven't been able to find any information on. I checked all of Copeland's tracks on Amazon and it looks like this one never made it on to any of his studio, compilation or live albums that they distribute at least.
It's a traditional blues in E though. He keeps it simple, but very effective. The rhythm and timing is spot on and the aggressive approach of using a pick to really make it loud really sounds great.
It's a great performance by a great blues man!

Enjoy ; )

John Lee Hooker - Hobo Blues

This is a live performance by legendary blues musician and song writer John Lee Hooker playing his classic song "Hobo Blues". The performance is from 1965 at the American Folk Blues festival.
It's a self-accompanied performance by Hooker. He taps the rhythm with his foot, plays the rhythm on the guitar and also plays the melody at the same time. At points in the song he also hums the melody on top of playing it on the guitar. I really love this performance. The fact that it's self-accompanied just makes it better and shows a skill that very few people had back then, and even fewer people have today. You can also hear Hooker's influence on slide guitar through his use of open tunings. He doesn't use a slide himself, but uses the tunings many slide players would later also use. (Of course I know that slide guitar existed way before John Lee Hooker, but many slide players, for instance Ry Cooder, have quoted John Lee Hooker as an influence).
The song was originally released as a single in 1948 which was also the year it appeared on Hooker's LP "The Blues" released on Crown records.
As mentioned earlier it's a great song and a great performance. One of Hooker's best.

Enjoy ; )

John Lee Hooker - Tupelo

This is a live performance by blues legend John Lee Hooker playing his classic song "Tupelo" live on acoustic guitar. The song is about an actual flood that occurred in the Mississippi Delta around 1936 and destroyed many homes and killed many people. The song captures the desperation, describes the mood and tension of the situation and tells of people turning to religion to save them from the flood.
It's a great sad and tragic song by Hooker. It shows just how powerful simple guitar playing and a voice like his turns out to be artistic and beautiful.
Floods, hurricanes and bad weather are often the subject of blues songs. As is also the case with "Hurricane Beulah" and "Texas Flood".
It's a really good song inspired by the tradition of self-accompanied Delta blues which Hooker mastered to perfection. This is a man in his element doing what he does best: Singing and playing the blues.

Enjoy ; )

Eric Clapton - Blue Eyes Blue

BLUE EYES BLUE from kristine sun on Vimeo.
This is the music video to the song "Blue Eyes Blue" by Eric Clapton. It is a very good looking video, the sets and the camera work is really good, a well made music video with a simple concept.
The song is an acoustic pop song in that classic Clapton style. A set of chords, Clapton's vocals, a choir and an acoustic solo by Clapton.
I think it was made, or was featured in some Julia Roberts film, there's footage in the video that appears to be from a film, but I'm not sure of that.
It's a good little pop song by Clapton with that classic Clapton pop sound.

Enjoy ; )

Lightnin' Hopkins - Mojo Hand

This is a solo performance from blues legend Lightnin' Hopkins. He performs his song Mojo Hand which I can only assume is about the magic that lies within his own hands. It's a very short clip, but absolutely worth it. It's fast and good wholesome acoustic self accompanied blues, simple as that.
You can really hear the influence Lightnin' has had on Stevie Ray Vaughan in this clip, I don't think Stevie would have come up with the idea of playing in a fast boogie-woogie style blues were it not for Lightnin', and that's awesome.

Enjoy ; )

Bonnie Raitt - Love Me Like a Man

This is a 1995 performance from Bonnie Raitt, she plays the song "Love Me Like a Man", an acoustic traditional slow blues song with a traditional non slide blues solo from Raitt. This is just pure blues, and it absolutely proves that Bonnie deserves a rank among the best. This is just pure blues, it's acoustic and old school, gotta love that. She is only accompanied by a bass, and supplies both the singing and sweet guitar playing herself. Truly an amazing performance from a female blues singer with a delightfully raspy beautiful voice and guitar playing skills that match the skill of all the male blues players out there. Let's face it, there aren't a lot of female guitarists doing the blues thing which just furthermore makes Bonnie unique, there aren't no one who is doing what she's doing. She's amazing, gotta love Bonnie Raitt!

Enjoy ; )

Son House - Death Letter

This is an acoustic solo performance by legendary blues musician Son House. House isn't as widely known and famous as Robert Johnson who was also one of the old dogs when it comes to blues. Son House was born in 1902 and got to have a long life lasting to 1988 which meant he got to be around the greats and even influence some of them. Many people believe that House has influenced Johnson, in fact Johnson incorporated some of "Death Letter" into his own blues classic "Walking Blues". Son House, because of his old age, was also one of the people who helped spread the myth that Johnson had sold his soul to the devil in trade of his marvellous musical abilities.
The song Death Letter is about a man who learns about the death of the woman he loves in a letter. It is a very dark and depressive song, as the narrator views her dead body in the morgue and attends the funeral only to return home in a state of depression.
The song and Son House himself also gained some new notoriety in recent years due to Jack White being heavily influenced by him. The White Stripes has also covered Death Letter live on numerous occasions. It's a great song with a simple rhythm. One man and his guitar, that's what the blues is all about.

Enjoy ; )

Lightnin' Hopkins - Hurricane Beulah

This is an acoustic performance by blues legend Lightnin' Hopkins who, as mentioned in earlier posts, was an influence on Stevie Ray Vaughan and many other players.
Here he is performing an acoustic version of the song "Hurricane Beulah", a song about a real category 5 hurricane that hit America in 1967.
It's a great song and a great performance by Lightnin'. He a really good blues man, just him and his guitar that's all it takes, that's all he needs to be great.

Enjoy ; )

John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom

This is a performance from the 60's by blues legend John Lee Hooker. He performs it with an electric guitar accompanied by himself. It's a great performance, and the foot tapping is just excellent and done with perfect timing. It's a nice throw back to the roots of the blues, artists like Robert Johnson who would also tap the rhythm with his foot as he was recording. Now it's just done with an electric guitar instead.
The song also gained some notoriety when featured in "The Blues Brothers", John himself cameos in the film as a South Side Chicago street musician.
A great song, and a great performance.

Enjoy ; )

Rory Gallagher - Too Much Alcohol

This is a live performance by blues and rock legend Rory Gallagher performing his classic slide blues composition "Too Much Alcohol". It's a song done in open E with a slide.
The performance is from and Irish TV-show called "Me & My Music" which was broadcast in 1977. It's great to see Gallagher on his own just performing and accompanying himself, it's a tough thing to do, and only true blues men master that ability. Gallagher's great, love how he really works the crowd and gets them pumped. Just a great performance.

Enjoy ; )