Velvet Revolver - Set Me Free

This is a live performance from 2005 by the American hard rock group Velvet Revolver. The song was released in 2003 and originally appeared on the soundtrack for the Hulk film of the same year. The single then also made it onto the bands debut album "Contraband".
The main riff of the song was made by Slash, and it's what drives the song. On the record version there's two rather complicated guitar solos done by Slash.
This live version is really good because the band really goes nuts and gives 100 %. Slash is playing like crazy, and doing a fantastic job with the song, he even throws the guitar behind his head for a chunk of the performance, and makes the guitar scream at the end until the last chord is played. Dave Kushner even does a little solo at one point.
This is a pretty sweet hard rock song, and the band rocks it with this performance.

Enjoy ; )

Repost: The Dead Weather - Blue Blood Blues

I posted a live version of this song earlier, but it has been taken down from youtube, or has been disabled in some regions in the world, I don't know which! The fact of the matter is that I can't view the video embeded in the original post, so I'm reposting it.
I wrote more about the song and it's release in my earlier post which you can check out by clicking here.
This version is a little grittier, it's recorded live from live from the Third Man Records, the independent label that publish the song.

Ray Charles - Merry Christmas Baby

This is a performance from Ray Charles performing the R & B Christmas standard "Merry Christmas Baby", originally composed and written by Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore in 1947. It has been covered by many different artists, including; Chuck Berry, B.B. King, Otis Redding, Elvis Presley, Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Springsteen.
It's a nice little soulful tune for the Holiday season.
Below is a version by Christina Aguilera and B.B. King. It's a very good version, but a bit short, and not as soulful as Ray's version.


Enjoy, and Happy Holidays

Chuck Berry - Let It Rock

This is a live performance by Chuck Berry, he performs the rock 'n' roll classic "Let It Rock". The song was originally released in 1960 on Berry's alum "Rockin' at the Hops", and it was only a b-side to the single "Too Pooped to Pop".
This however became more famous than the a-side. Probably thanks to other artists covering it, and its resemblance to Berry's most famous tune "Johnny B. Goode". It has been covered by The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Bob Seger and Motörhead to name a few. It is perhaps one of Berry's most covered songs, next to "Johnny B. Goode".
I've included a performance by Motörhead from The Late Show with David Letterman beneath, because I think they do a pretty well job with it.
It's a great song, and a great performance by both acts.


Enjoy ; )

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Hug You, Squeeze You

This is a live performance by blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. He performs the song "Hug You, Squeeze You", an up beat happy blues song.
The song is a take off, or maybe even a cover of a John Lee Hooker song that at least have very similar lyrics. The John Lee Hooker version is simply titled "I Want To Hug You".
This is a song that Stevie didn't perform very often, and it's also in a key that Stevie didn't use very much. It's played in the key of E. As most people who are fans of Stevie probably know, he tuned his guitar down one half step. This means that the key you get when playing a straight forward shuffle blues starting on the lowest string is in the key of Eb. Stevie basically forms what on a regularly tuned guitar would be an F chord, and takes it from there. So this is one of those rare occasions where Stevie is playing in the key of E on a guitar tuned in the key of Eb essentially. I think this is the only song where he does this, but I'm not sure.
Any ways, it gives the song and performance a unique sound.
It's a great performance, and a great song.

Enjoy ; )

David Bowie - Let's Dance

This is a music video for the title track of Bowie's album "Let's Dance" released in 1983, and digitally re-mastered in 1999.
This is a great album by Bowie, it experiments with many different genres of music, it has a lot of funk influences, but also draws on more traditional rock and blues, and of course also the pop sound of the times.
The album is also famous for helping blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan getting discovered. Bowie had heard Stevie's 1982 Montreux performance, and was impressed. They met up backstage and chatted, and it turned out they were in to some of the same weird things musically. Bowie admired Stevies sound, and hired him to play lead guitar on his next album which was "Let's Dance".
Stevie only plays lead guitar, the rhythm guitar on the album is Nile Rodgers. And Stevie's lead playing is very toned down, and not a huge part of the album, but still helps increase the sound and the experience.
The album cut of the song Let's Dance is 7:37, much shorter than what is used in the music video which I assume is also the radio edit of the song. They still left in all of Stevie's parts however which shows how much his lead playing helped the album.
Stevie was also offered a spot in David's live band that was going to tour for the album, but he turned it down, and went onto recording his first solo record with Double Trouble "Texas Flood", and got the massive career in the 80's.
It's a great song, and a pretty good looking music video for the times. Stevie isn't in the video, and Bowie pretends to play a Stratocaster looking guitar while wearing white gloves, perhaps a nod to Stevie and the fact that no one could play like him, who knows? Or maybe just David being odd.

Enjoy ; )

Ray Charles - Santa Clause Is Coming To Town

So it's Christmas, and I haven't posted a single Christmas song yet. I'm making up for that now. This is a performance by soul legend Ray Charles performing the classic Christmas song "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town".
The performance is from the "Feed the Future" benefit in 2007.
Ray's version is a bit more soulful than most other versions, but it is still probably more a pop song, or a seasonal song, if that's even a category of music. There just aren't a whole lot of blues Christmas songs.
Ray plays a soulful piano, and also gets out a harmonica and plays that as well.
It's a very good performance of this classic Christmas song, and it's sure to get you in the holiday spirit.

Enjoy ; )