Metallica – King Nothing

This is a live performance by the American heavy metal band Metallica playing the song “King Nothing” live. The performance is from 1996 from the British TV show “Later with Jools Holland”.
The song was originally released on the band’s 1996 album “Load”. The song is credited to: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett. All guitars were tuned down one half step to Eb.
The song was released as a single in 1997 and a music video was shot for it as well. It peaked at #90 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
It’s a good song and a good performance by the band.

Enjoy ; )

ZZ Top - "She's Just Killing Me" & "Vincent Price Blues"

This is a live performance by Texan blues rock band ZZ top. They play the songs "She's Just Killing Me" and "Vincent Price Blues" live. The performance is from a French TV-show from 1996.
Both of the songs that they play are from the band's 12th studio album "Rhythmeen" released in 1996. "She's Just Killing Me" is an up tempo rock 'n' roll bluesy song and it also appeared on the soundtrack to the Robert Rodriguez film "From Dusk till Dawn" which primarily consisted of Texas blues artists such as Stevie Ray Vaugha, Jimmie Vaughan, and ZZ Top, of course.
"Vincent Price Blues" is much slower and a nice change of paste in the mini performance ZZ Top delivers.
Both songs were written by: Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard.
Both songs are good songs, and performed like only ZZ Top can!

Enjoy ; )

ZZ Top - What's Up with That

This is a live performance by Texan blues rock band ZZ Top performing the song "What's Up with That" live on Jools Holland in 1996. He also gives the band a fitting introduction as a rock 'n' roll band and protectors of rock 'n' roll which I can only agree with him on. On this performance they're joined by a choir and James Harman plays the blues harp on this number. Also I love how Holland actually introduces and mentions him. He's a musician himself and you always feel that in his hosting, you feel his genuine respect for his fellow musicians.
The song is off ZZ Top's 1996 album "Rhythmeen", so I assume they're doing a promotion tour or something on this performance.
Any ways a great song and a great little performance.

Enjoy ; )

The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses

This is a studio session recorded by The Rolling Stones. In this part of the session they play their classic song "Wild Horses".
The song "Wild Horses" was released on their 1971 album "Sticky Fingers". The song is written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. Keith Richards wrote the melody and came up with the phrase "Wild Horses". A session pianist was hired for the original recording that also featured Mick Jagger and Mick Taylor on acoustic guitars. Richards played an electric guitar in Nashville tuning.
This video is from the recording session of the album "Stripped" from 1995. On this version Jagger, Richards, Wood and Watts are joined by some other musicians and record an acoustic version of this song. This version is the only version of the song that's been released as a single. It was released as a single in 1996.
Besides being a hit for The Stones it also over time became a popular song for other artists to cover. It's been covered by artists like: Leon Russel, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, Guns N' Roses, Stone Sour and Sheryl Crow, to only name a few of the prominent artists who have covered this song.
I really love this song and especially in this version. The song really fits the acoustic setting. And when Richards and Jagger sing the chorus together it's just so beautiful. It shows the natural sorrow in Richard's voice and just how good his voice is and how well it country music.

Enjoy ; )

Robert Cray - I'll Go On

This is a live performance from blues artist Robert Cray. Robert and his band plays the song "I'll Go On" from their 1995 album "Some Rainy Morning" (the performance is from 1996).
The song is an original Cray song as he composed both the song and the lyrics. I think it's a very good performance and a very good song. Cray portrays the role of both rhythm and lead player very well, and sings to perfection as well. The band is also very good.
It's a great performance of a great song.

Enjoy ; )

Metallica - Mama Said

The top video is of James Hetfield performing an acoustic version of this song of the band's album "Load". It's a genre bending tune that strays a lot from Metallica's other songs. It starts off with an acoustic guitar, and the towards the chorus goes into a country inspired piece, with the whole thing sort of peaks, and power chords played on a distorted electric guitar plays through the last part of the song. I think it's a really good song, and it really sounds great in the studio version, a well mixed song that mixes genres. The video below is the music video for the song, so you can hear the studio version of the song as well.

The lyrics are written by Hetfield, and they are about a boy struggling to find his own way in life without his mother. This draws on Hetfield's own relationship to his mother who died of cancer.
The song has never really been part of Metallica's live set, probably because it strays so much from Metallica's traditional metal sound. Hetfield has played it alone with no accompaniment, and has also played with country singer Jessi Colter. But we'll probably never get the band playing the song live as it was recorded. It's sort of James' song which is also shown in the fact that the other band members only make a brief and excluded cameo in the music video for the song.
Still a very good song.


Enjoy ; )

ZZ Top - Bang Bang

(The resolution isn't very good, so it's the small size player)
This is a live performance by blues, rock and hard rock band ZZ Top. They perform the song "Bang Bang" from their 12th studio album Rhythmeen released in 1996. It's a great little song that does what ZZ Top does best, produce good, funky, bluesy and fun songs.
On this album they sort of went back to a more rock/bluesy sound. In the 80's they had experimented with synthesizers and electronic drum beats. A sound that gave the great air-play and success, but didn't sound like their earlier work.
The album got mixed reviews, but I think that it's a top notch album, prima quality, and just what you'd expect from ZZ Top. If you're a fan, it's a must-have in your collection, definitely.
They do a great performance with a nice set of bongos accompanying Frank Beard on the drums which gives the song a very good rhythm and groove.
A great song, and a great performance.

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 ; )

AC/DC - Down Payment Blues

This is a performance from 1996 by hard rock/rock 'n' roll band AC/DC. The song is from the album "Powerage" which is the band's fourth internationally released album and the fifth Australian studio album, confusing, yeah I know.
The song is also one of Slash's favourite AC/DC songs, as he explains in an interview on the Ronnie Wood show. He says that it's one of the best driving songs, and I agree, it drives you, and it's got that classic AC/DC groove. A really nice song, and a great performance.

Enjoy ; )