The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night

This is a live performance by The Beatles, the performance is from Shea Stadium in New York 1965. It's in colour, but it's a little pale and the audio isn't the best, but still an amazing performance.
The song was released in 1964 on the soundtrack to the film of the same name. The song was written by John Lennon, but credited to McCartney as well. The song is very famous for the opening chord which rings out before the lyrics and the rest of the band join in. It has been debated for a long time what chord it was, but it was confirmed by George Harrison that it is in fact a Fadd9, or as Harrison put it: "It is F with a G on top,[...]". The complete opening has been broken down like this,
George Harrison: Fadd9 in 1st position on Rickenbacker 360/12 12-string electric guitar
John Lennon: Fadd9 in 1st position on a Gibson J-160E 6-string acoustic guitar
Paul McCartney: high D played on the D-string, 12th fret on Hofner 500/1 electric bass
George Martin: D2-G2-D3 played on a Steinway Grand Piano
Ringo Starr: Subtle snare drum and ride cymbal

by Dominic Pedler.
It is a classic Beatles song, and it has been covered by a lot of different artists, including: The Supremes, Quincy Jones, Peter Sellers, Chet Atkins, Billy Preston, Otis Redding, Hank Marvin, and Billy Joel.
It's a great song, and the reception of girls screaming in this clip is just astounding. No band has ever gotten a reaction like that, and I don't think any one ever will!

Enjoy ; )

Chuck Berry - No Particular Place to Go

This is a live performance by American rock 'n' roll artist Chuck Berry playing the song "No Particular Place to Go" live on a French TV show. I don't know exactly when it's from, but the footage is in black and white, so I'd guess about the 1960's.
The song was initially released in 1964 through the Chess Records record label.
It's a great classic rock 'n' roll song, and a great piece of performance footage of Berry. It's black and white, but they get a lot of close-ups and semi close-ups of Berry's playing and expressive animated face during the performance. A great little piece of performance footage of one of the best rock 'n' roll artists of all time.

Enjoy ; )

Carl Perkins & Ringo Starr - Honey Don't

This is a live performance by American rockabilly musician Carl Perkins with Ringo Starr on drums and vocals doing the classic rockabilly tune "Honey Don't".
The song was originally written and released by Carl Perkins in 1956 as the b-side to "Blue Suede Shoes".
The song has been done by a lot of different artist, but most famously probably the version by The Beatles. This version was released in the UK in 1964 on the album "Beatles for Sale". The song was originally sung by John Lennon during live performances, but for the record version Ringo Starr did the lead vocal. He also recorded the drums by the way. He has performed the song, both with his solo act and later at the concert honouring George Harrison, released under the title "Concert for George".
On another side note, the publishing rights to the song is actually owned by Paul McCartney's publishing company "MPL Communications".
Other people who have covered the song include: Johnny Rivers, T. Rex, John Lennon, and Elvis Costello.
It's a great classic rockabilly tune, and Starr delivers a very good double shift playing drums and singing on this.

Enjoy ; )

The Rolling Stones with Eric Clapton - Little Red Rooster

This is a live performance by The Rolling Stones playing the classic blues song "Little Red Rooster" joined on stage by Eric Clapton delivering one hell of a blues solo.
The song was originally recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1961 under the song title "The Red Rooster". The song is credited to blues arranger and song writer Willie Dixon who was inspired by earlier blues songs.
The song has been recorded countless times by various artists. Most famous probably The Rolling Stones' version released in 1964. They did the recording at Chess Studios in Chicago where many of their heroes had recorded songs. The song reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart and it is the only blues song to ever top the British pop charts, preiod!
Howlin' Wolf recorded this song with several rock figures on his 1971 album "The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions". Eric Clapton, Charlie Watts, Steve Winwood, and Bill Wyman played on this recording and Wolf can actually be heard instructing the band on the chord and time changes of the song at the beginning of the recording.
It's a great song and when you have Clapton and The Rolling Stones on stage together, then I believe that you can't really ask for more!

Enjoy ; )

Howlin' Wolf - Love Me Darlin' (Stevie Ray Vaughan)

These are both live performances of the classic Howlin' Wolf song "Love Me Darlin'". The top video is a performance by Wolf who also wrote the song. The performance is from 1964 and next to Howlin' Wolf performing we have Hubert Sumlin, Sunnyland Slim on piano, Willie Dixon on bass and Clifton James on drums.
Stevie Ray Vaughan covered the song in the studio on his 1989 release "In Step". I love his take on the song. This was Stevie's last album with Double Trouble. It sticks to the original, but brings something to it at the same time. And that was Stevie's expertise: interoperating classic blues songs and adding his own thing to them.
I love both versions of this song, but I'm such a big SRV fan that I might like Vaughan's version a little better. But both versions are definitely worth listening to.

Enjoy ; )

Bo Diddley - I'm a Man

This is a live performance by rock, R&B and blues legend Bo Diddley performing his classic song "I'm a Man", the performance is from 1992.
The song was originally recorded by by Bo Diddley in 1955. The song is a moderate slow blues with a stop tempo inspired by earlier blues recordings. The song was inspired by Muddy Water's Hoochie Coochie Man from 1954 written by Willie Dixon. After the release of the song Muddy recorded an "answer song" titled "Mannish Boy", a pun on Diddley's younger age.
The song has been done by quite a few artists and a version of Muddy and Diddley performing the song together was also recorded at one point. It was also done by The Yardbirds in 1965 when Jeff Beck was with the group. A live version was recorded as well with Clapton on guitar in 1964 before he left the band. The version with Beck did very well in the US pop charts.
A lot of songs have also taken inspiration from this classic simple song structure. Songs like "Whole Lotta Rosie" by AC/DC and "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood. They both have the stop time thing and the same chord shifts as Diddley's song as well as a rhythm that strikes resemblance to Diddley's song.
Also really love the guitar solo Steve Cropper delivers. It's really good and not too long, he knew Diddley was centre stage, but still very nice indeed.
A great performance of this amazing blues song.

Enjoy ;-)

Solomon Burke - Everybody Needs Somebody to Love

This is a live performance by soul musician Solomon Burke from the British TV-show "Top of the Pops". Solomon Burke was born in 1940 and died in 2010. He was known as King Solomon, The King of Rock 'n' Soul and the Bishop of Soul. This song is perhaps is most well known and is considered his signature song.
The song was written by Solomon, Bert Berns and Jerry Wexler. The song was originally recorded by Solomon in 1964. In 1966 Wilson Pickett recorded a version of the song that did better in the charts than Solomon's original version. The song also gained fame through the version done by The Rolling Stones. The song was also featured in the film "Blues Brothers".
At the 2011 Grammys Mick Jagger performed the song as a tribute to Solomon. Since the song had once been recorded by The Stones it was fitting and Jagger did a very well job of it. (Embeded below) though it'll probably removed soon. Grammy clips don't stay on youtube for very long.

It's a very good song that shows that blues can be upbeat, uplifting, happy and even have a pop feel to them. But most of all there's a gospel feel to it as well. A very good song.

Enjoy ; )

Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning

This is a live performance by blues legend Howlin' Wolf playing his classic song "Smokestack Lightning". The performance is from 1964 in England, and the backing band consists of Hubert Sumlin and Willie Dixon among others.
The song was first released in 1956 and has appeared on two of Wolf's albums throughout his career: "Moanin' in the Moonlight" and "The Howlin' Wolf Album". The song was written by Howlin' Wolf and was inspired by the song "Stop and Listen Blues" by The Mississippi Sheiks. Wolf has stated that it is about sitting at the side of a railway watching as sparks come from between the tracks and the train. That's what "Smokestack Lightning" means.
Over time it has become a blues standard and has received many honours and awards. The song has also been covered by a huge list of people, including: Muddy Waters, The Rolling Stones, John Mayer, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, The Who, Soundgarden and Aerosmith. Quite a list, and it's even longer. Read the full list by clicking here.
It's a great song and a great performance. Wolf's voice is so unique and full of feeling in it's own right. Gotta love Howlin' Wolf.

Enjoy ; )

Muddy Waters - You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had

This is a live performance by Muddy Waters from 1966. Him and his excellent swinging band play the Muddy Waters single "You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had". The song was released as a single in 1964 and is one of the last known singles Muddy did. Muddy was extremely productive and has released approximately 60 singles throughout his career.
The song was originally never released on an album, but it was recorded during a subsequent session for the Chess company album "Folks Singer" released in 1963. Today the songs from the subsequent sessions are included on reissues of the album. The album (without the added bonus tracks) is an acoustic album.
I really love this performance, the band really just has a groove unlike any band today. Plus we get some wicked slide guitar from Muddy himself, he really plays with feeling, and he's a natural at slide. A great performance of a true classic Waters song.

Enjoy ; )

Johnny Winter - It's All Over Now

This is a live performance by blues guitarist Johnny Winter. He is known for his southern blues and rock 'n' roll style of guitar playing and his physical appearance as him and his brother both have albinism.
He plays the classic rock 'n' roll song "It's All Over Now". The performance is from 1983. The song was originally released by the band "The Valentinos". This version was released as a single in 1964 and entered the Billboard Hot 100, though only peaking at no. 94. The Rolling Stones did a recording of the song the same year and it became their first no. 1 hit ever.
It's a quite famous song and it has been covered by a lot of different artists, including: AC/DC, Rod Stewart, Social Distortion and Ry Cooder.
I think it's a great song and that Johnny does a great cover. It really fits his style of playing which makes for a really good and energetic performance.

Enjoy ; )

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Testify

This is a live performance from blues guitarist extraordinaire Stevie Ray Vaughan playing the instrumental song Testify live from the El Mocambo venue in Canada.
The song originally consisted of two different recordings of the same song, but with different lyrics. They have been dubbed the names Testify Parts I and II. The song was recorded by The Isley Brothers in 1964 who at this time had Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Embeded below is a short clip of the original recording (or at least one of the original recordings with Hendrix on guitar). It sounds different and has lyrics, but you can recognize the riff that Stevie did a take-off on.

Stevie's version was released on the 1983 album Texas Flood and it was the fifth track on this record. It starts out with a stand-alone guitar riff and on the 7th bar the bass and drums kick in and play with the guitar for the rest of the song.
I think it's a very good song, and without Hendrix's version we wouldn't have had Stevie's. Hendrix just seems a bit like he's holding back, he was playing with a group and hadn't branched out as a solo artist at this point. Remember we were still four years away from Voodoo Chile (Slight Return), but he definitely shines on this as well. Stevie's version just sort of became the famous one, and is in my opinion the superior version.
Especially from The El Mocambo gig which is one of the best gigs ever recorded. It's so good, and if the DVD "Live at The El Mocambo" isn't in your collection, it ought to be!!

Enjoy ; )