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 ; )

Rory Gallagher - Banker's Blues

This is a live performance by Rory Gallagher, doing an acoustic blues classic on his own. It's a solo performance, just Rory and his guitar, it's so fantastic what only a select few performers can do when they sit on their own and do an self accompanied acoustic blues performance. It's a tradition of the 1920's and 30's, and so many people today aren't able to do it. Very few people listen to the roots of the blues, and perform them as well as Gallagher did.
The song Banker's Blues was originally recorded by Big Bill Broonzy, a legendary player of the acoustic blues era of the 1930's. He's not as famous as Robert Johnson, but still quite known within the guitar playing community. And both Gallagher and Clapton have cited him as an influence on their playing styles.
The song is about women and how they'll steal your money, if you have them in the bank, a quite simple theme. The song follows the same chord structure as "Key to the Highway", but is still different. It's sort of like Son House's "Death Letter" sounds like "Rollin' and Tumblin'", but they are different songs.
It's a great song, and a great performance. I've embeded a version of the original recording beneath, the sound quality isn't good, and you can hear the needle scratching the record, but it's still good.


Enjoy ; )