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 ; )

The Doors - The End

This is a live performance by the American rock band The Doors they play the song "The End" live from the Hollywood Bowl.
The song was originally written by Jim Morrison about a break-up he had experienced, but through months of playing the song live it evolved into a 12 minute opus. The song was released in 1967 on the band's self-titled album. The song would close the band's sets after it's release.
The song's sound comes from guitarist Robby Krieger using a double drop D guitar tuning and and using a harmonic minor scale resembling Indian and raga based music. The crescendos John Densmore plays on his drums also resemble Indian rhythms.
It's a great song and it really has a very interesting set of lyrics very open to read in to.
It's a great song, by a great band.

Enjoy ; )

The Doors – Back Door Man

This is a live performance by The Doors playing the classic blues song “Back Door Man” live. The concert footage is from 1969.
The song “Back Door Man” is a traditional blues song written by Willie Dixon who wrote the song for Howlin’ Wolf. Wolf’s version was released on his 1961 self-titled album. And the song is considered a classic of the Chicago blues.
The Doors version of the song first appeared on their 1967 self-titled album. And the song became a standard cover song for the band.
It’s a good performance of a classic song. But also brings that 60’s psychedilia into the song.

Enjoy ;-)

Blue Rodeo - Diamond Mine

This is the music video to the song "Diamond Mine" by Canadian band Blue Rodeo. To be honest, I didn't really know this band until recently when I heard this song. So I still don't know a whole lot or have heard a lot of their stuff. I really like this song however!
The band has been around since 1985 and still exists today. The three consistent members are Jim Cuddy, Greg Keelor and Bazil Donovan. Jim and Greg both sing and play guitar in the group. The other members have been switched throughout the career of the band.
Wikipedia quotes the band as a pop and country rock band. I can definitely hear that, but on this song I personally hear some different things that they sound similar to. I hear a bit of "The Doors" as they have that organ going on in the background, I also hear something that sounds similar to Oasis (though Oasis got their breakthrough later than Blue Rodeo) and the guitar parts sound a lot like the ones you'd find in a Roy Orbison song. But hey that's just my take on it.
The single was released in 1989 and it's from the album of the same name. It reached no. 7 in Canadian charts, it was the first single from the album and the most successful single of that album.
I really think this is a very good pop song influenced by many different rock sub-genres adding to a very good song.

Enjoy ; )

The Doors - Touch Me

This is a performance by 70's rock band The Doors performing their classic song "Touch Me". A song more in the category of dance music, or maybe even a ballad at some points in the song, though it is a complicated progression, and it isn't just one genre throughout. It was released on the band's debut album "The Soft Parade", and was written by Robby Krieger.
The song is also notable for it's use of a string section, a horn section and a sax solo from Curtis Amy. It was released as a single in 1968, and did very well in the charts reaching no. 3 on the American Billboard chart.
It's a great performance, only made better by the accompaniment of the horn section and the string section which makes this a really good performance.

Enjoy ; )

The Doors - Wild Child

This is a video from the classic late 60's band The Doors. It's a video consisting of footage of some native-American kids spliced together with studio footage of The Doors recording the song "Wild Child". I don't know if it was a fan made video or an official video.
The song Wild Child is built up quite simple, with one riff pretty much driving the song, and then changing when the song breaks into the chorus. The riff is mainly a guitar riff played by Robby Krieger, but a Hammond B3 organ is also added, to give the song that trippy 60's feel. Robby also plays a psychedelic bottle neck slide that just fits the song perfectly.
The song was released as a single in December of 1968, but it was a B-side to the song "Touch Me".
Below is a little clip from the A-side to the single.

Audio sample
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It's a really good stoner song, with that delightful 60's psychedelic sound. A great video, and a really good song.


Enjoy ; )

Metallica - Last Caress/So What

Posting the song "Light My Fire" by The Doors yesterday got me inspired. The Doors were rebellious and didn't care, they did not want to change their lyrics, they did not want to conform to the dull mainstream culture.
Something similar happened years later at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 1996. Metallica was set to play the song "King Nothing" from their highly successful follow up to 1991's "Metallica" aka. The Black Album; Load from 1996. They rehearsed the song King Nothing, but the producers told Metallica that their pyrotechnics was a safety hazard. Metallica was upset and decided to, well tell MTV how they felt through their song selection, to say it in an unfilthy manner. They changed song to playing Last Caress/So What, both songs with very graphic lyrics and swearing. This of course pissed off the censures, but hey, if they'd just given them pyrotechnics there wouldn't have been a problem in the first place.
I love it when bands rebel and don't do as they're told, makes it more exciting. We seriously need more artists today who'd be willing to do something like this. Today's music sucks!
Oh, and for the uber-fans, click here to see an exclusive behind the scenes of this performance including rehearsal footage of the band playing "King Nothing".

Enjoy ; )

The Doors - Light My Fire

This is a performance from of the classic song "Light My Fire", it's probably one of The Doors' most famous tracks, and everyone knows it. It was recorded in 1966 and released as a single in 1967, it was the band's debut record, and it did pretty well.
The song did very well and got a lot of radio play. The radio version was severely cut down, so that it was just under three minutes with almost all of the instrumental breaks cut.
A famous story about the song is the infamous Ed Sullivan appearance which is also a story every one knows. The band was set to perform and the producers asked the band to change the lyrics so it didn't say "girl, we couldn't get much higher". Advertisers had a problem with the somewhat obvious undertones about substance abuse. The band agreed and rehearsed the song with altered lyrics. But, when they did the live performance they kept the original lyrics. Ed was very upset and didn't shake hands with the band when they left the stage and the band also lost a seven episode deal due to the incident.
The song also ranked no. 35 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, a great song.

A great song, and performance, enjoy ; )

The Doors & John Lee Hooker - Roadhouse Blues

The video is a fan made video. The song is from the 2000 album "Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors". It is an album recorded by the surviving members of The Doors, and features many guest performances. Like this one featuring blues legend John Lee Hooker. The track was put together in the studio using a posthumous vocal by Morrison. It is a great song, and it showcases that "The Doors" also had the blues, and getting a guy like Hooker is a stamp of approval in my book.

Enjoy ; )