Robert Cray - Smoking Gun

This is the music video to the song "Smoking Gun" by Robert Cray. It was first released in 1986 on Cray's album "Strong Persuader". The album was Cray's fifth album and it became his breakthrough album into mainstream recognition. On it's release as a single in 1987 "Smoking Gun" reached #22 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The music video show clips of Cray performing at various shows throughout the beginning of his career. The year and place of the performance clips are displayed at the beginning of each clip which is quite nice in my opinion.
The song also appeared on Cray's 2010 release "Cookin' in Mobile" which was a live CD/DVD release.
It's a great crossover song, and Cray's solo towards the end is amazing.

Enjoy ; )

Eric Johnson - Zap

This is a live performance by guitarist Eric Johnson playing one of his instrumental songs. It's titled "Zap" and it was first released on Johnson's "Tones" album and it was this track from the record was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1987.
This concert footage is from a concert in Austin Texas. It's a great rocking instrumental song performed to excellence by Johnson.

Enjoy ; )

Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child o' Mine

This is the music video to the classic power ballad "Sweet Child o' Mine" by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses.
The song is from the band's 1987 debut album "Appetite for Destruction". It was released as a single in the summer of 1988 and it went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This was the only time the band had a #1 hit on that chart. The infamous guitar riff was done by Slash who played it as a joke during a jam session, Izzy Stradlin picked up on it and asked Slash to repeat the riff. The song is credited to: Slash, Izzy Stradling, and Axl Rose.
It's a great song, and probably the most recognizable done by the band.

Enjoy ; )

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble with The Fabulous Thunderbirds - Keep It To Yourself

This is a live performance by Stevie Ray Vaughan and his band Double Trouble who are joined on stage with members from The Fabulous Thunderbirds. They play the song "Keep It To Yourself" which is a typical blues shuffle in E.
On stage, as far as I can tell, are: Stevie Ray Vaughan, his brother Jimmie Vaughan, Kim Wilson (from TFTB), Chris Layton (drums), and Tommy Shannon (bass).
The performance is from 1987 at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and it was recorded on the riverboat S.S. Presidente. I'm guessing this was a double billing kind of thing where one band opened for the other, and then they all sort of did this jam to end things off.
It's a great performance. Of course the Vaughan Brothers deliver a couple of great blues solos, and Kim Wilson does a pretty good harmonica solo as well.
And over all great and enjoyable performance.

Enjoy ; )

Chuck Berry & Keith Richards - Carol

This is a live performance by Rock 'n' Roll legend Chuck Berry performing his classic song "Carol" which he also has writing credit for. Keith Richards is sitting in as this is the rehearsal footage prior to the main performance celebrating Berry's 60th birthday in the film "Hail! Hail! Rock N' Roll" from 1987.
The song "Carol" was first released by Berry in 1958. It was later covered by a long list of artists, including: The Beatles, Charlie Daniels, The Doors, and of course also by The Rolling Stones.
I really love this piece of post concert footage. I love the tension that is between Berry and Richards, it is very entertaining to watch. Berry's solos on this are amazing, Richard's not so much as he screws up a bit on a lick or two and also has a hard time getting the intro down. But Berry's solos and Johnnie Johnson's piano solo makes for a really good performance- When they finally get through it.
A great little piece of footage from Berry when he was in his prime performing-wise. A great performance and very entertaining as well.

Enjoy ; )

Joe Satriani - Satch Boogie

This is a live performance by guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani playing his famous instrumental song "Satch Boogie".
The song is off Satriani's album "Surfing with the Alien" released in 1987. It was released as a single the following year.
The solo is one of the most famous solos ever. It features fast tapping, hammer-ons and pull-offs. What I really love about this song is that it's essentially a fast boogie, but with Satriani's own guitar style and techniques on it. In that sense the structure of it is influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck and other players who have done fast boogies over time. It takes from those influences and adds to them as well and that is what makes this instrumental piece so good.

Enjoy ; )

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Love Struck Baby & Rude Mood

This is a live performance by Texan blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan playing two of his classic songs live on stage: "Love Struck Baby" and "Rude Mood".
I already previously posted these songs, but in different versions. Click here for "Love Struck Baby" and click here for the video to "Hideaway & Rude Mood". On the performance of "Hideaway & Rude Mood" from Montreux Stevie doesn't play "Rude Mood" in its entirety, instead he switches back into "Hideaway". On this performance he plays the entire instrumental piece which I think justifies reposting it.
The performance is from Daytona Beach in 1987. And the performance has been released on the DVD "Boogie With Stevie".
You can read more info on the songs by clicking the links to the previous posts and read about them.

Enjoy ; )

Guns N' Roses - Rocket Queen

This is a live performance by hard rock 80's group Guns N' Roses. They play their song "Rocket Queen" which was never released as a single, but still played live frequently.
The song is the closing track on the band's '87 album "Appetite for Destruction". The song is, according to Axl, inspired by a real life female friend who wanted her own band and call it "Rocket Queen". The ballady end of the song is a tribute to her and the things she did as a friend for Axl.
The main riff was composed by Slash and Duff and Duff has stated that it is influenced by funk group "Cameo".
As mentioned earlier, they'd very often play this live. The part of the song that Axl raps is actually from the band's unreleased song "It Tastes Good, Don't It".
I really like this performance, mainly because of how well the band plays together on it. It's more a groove than a rehearsed performance, or at least seems like a groove. They take a little time to get into it. Slash takes position and lets the groove go on as he gets into it and starts soloing.
Slash is really good in this performance. He plays in that particular style that he's known for, throws a little slide in at the beginning and does a talk box solo before Axl starts rapping.
A very good performance of a really good and groovy song.

Enjoy ; )

Guns N' Roses - Bad Apples

This is the music video to the Guns N' Roses song "Bad Apples" from their "Use Your Illusion I" album. "Use Your Illusions" was a double release, two albums released at the same time. The albums were released in 1991, and were hugely successful. The albums were different from the band's earlier work in many ways. Their '87 release of "Appetite for Destruction" was much more in the category of classic hard rock. Where as these albums drew on many different influences such as classical music, traditional blues music and country. Of course still blending in their early sound. Axl started playing piano on several tracks, and the band did more ballads than they did hard rock.
"Bad Apples" is the 14th track on the record, it has only been performed live twice and according to Slash the song was written while the band was rehearsing in Chicago for a period of time.
I think it's a good song with a really good groove. The music video isn't their best, but it's still a pretty good song.

Enjoy ;

Whitesnake - Still of the Night

This is a live performance by the British hard rock/metal band Whitesnake performing one of their classic songs "Still of the Night". The song was released in 1987 on their self-entitled album. It did fairly well in the charts, and in 2009 it was ranked the 27th best hard rock song by the VH1 network and its viewers.
The song kinda fuses the early blues vibe and influence with a more modern metal style. And that's just what it sounds like, you end up with this sweet hard rock song, with distorted guitars, pinch harmonics, awesome vocal performance and a sound that's both unique and totally familiar.
The song has also been stated to sound like the Zeppelin song "Black Dog", and I agree, but that's not a bad thing. First off, the riff from "Black Dog" does sound somewhat similar, but it is much more complicated than the riff in "Still of the Night". Besides what's wrong with drawing influence from Led Zeppelin, all 70's/80's bands should do that. There's influence and then plagiarism, and this is definitely just influence, well done Whitesnake.
It's a great song, and to this day it is still used as Whitesnake's encore at concerts, and with good reason, what an awesome way to end a show.
They really perform in this clip, and give 100 %. The fans are into it, and joins in on singing, the guitar parts rock, the melodic middle session rocks and David Coverdale does a fucking amazing job on the vocals. Truly an awesome performance.

Enjoy ; )

Repost: Stevie Ray Vaughan - Love Struck Baby

 I posted a version of this song before. It was the version where Stevie plays the song live with Colin James. That video has been taken down from youtube, so I thought I'd post another version of the song. (click here for previous posted entry)
This version is from 1987 in New Orleans. It's a great version of the song. It's an extended version in terms of musical improvisation. There's a piano solo by Reese Wynans, and then after that Stevie goes into a guitar solo. He pretty much does the standard version of the solo, but adds a lot of new things to it. Of course he shows off and puts the guitar behind his head and keeps playing. And after that he just extends the solo even more.
It's one of those performances where Stevie was just feeling it, and started playing new stuff on the spot. I love both versions of this, but since the old version has been taken down from youtube, I'd say this is at least as good. Though you can't really judge performances like that.

Guns N' Roses - Mr. Brownstone

This is a performance by hard rock 80's band Guns N' Roses, the good line-up with Slash still playing the lead parts. The song appears on the legendary 1987 album "Appetite for Destruction".
The song was written by Izzy Stradlin and Slash, they were complaining about being heroin addicts, and started writing down lyrics on the back of a grocery bag. They brought the lyrics to Axl, and they decided to record the song. The lyrics are clearly about addiction and heroin, as Brownstone is slang for heroin, much the way Mary Jane means Marijuana.
"Mr. Brownstone" was the first UK single released by the just signed band. It was released as a double A-side along the song "It's So Easy".
The song explores what in the rock world is known as "The Bo-Diddley beat". It was a beat first used by guitarist Bo-Diddley, therefore it is named after him. It has been used by many bands though times, and was especially popularized in the 60's by bands like The Rolling Stones etc. This gives the song that Rolling Stones kind of feel. GNR are influenced heavily by 60's bands and especially The Rolling Stones, and in a song like this you can really hear it.
It's a great song with a nice long guitar introduction leading into the riff, with a sweet solo, and sweet rhythm thanks to Bo-Diddley and Matt Sorum. A great performance, of a great song.

Enjoy ; )