Joe Bonamassa - High Water Everywhere

This is a live performance by guitarist Joe Bonamassa playing the classic blues song "High Water Everywhere" live. The performance is from the North Sea Jazz Festival.
The song was originally written by blues singer Charley Patton. The theme of the song is the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 which devastated Louisiana. Bob Dylan paid tribute to the song on his 2001 album "Love and Theft" with the song "High Water (For Charley Patton).
The song was initially released by Bonamassa on his 2006 album "You & Me". It is in fact the opening track for that album. Bonamssa has had the number in his live repertoire for quite some time and a live version appeared on the DVD of his concert at The Royal Albert Hall released in 2009.
It's a great song, and Bonamassa does a great job of playing it live.

Enjoy ; )

Elvis Costello - Sulphur to Sugarcane

This is a live performance by British singer-songwriter Elvis Costello doing the song "Sulphur to Sugarcane" live on his television show "Spectacle". The performance is from the songwriters circle edition of the programme.
The song is from Costello's 2009 studio album "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane". (Cover art work embeded below)

The album was recorded in Nashville and was produced by T-Bone Burnett. The album features Americana, bluegrass, and country, of course with Costello's lyrics.
This song, however, was co-written by T-Bone Burnett who besides being a producer co-wrote this song, and played on the album.
It's a great song, and this performance is delightful and simple. It's basically just Costello and his backing guitarist for this show John Leventhal playing, and Costello singing. Leventhal does a great job adding that electric country sound to the song with simple soloing and rhythm parts throughout, very impressive.

Enjoy ; )

Lou Reed & Metallica - Sweet Jane

This is a live performance from the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame concerts that were held in New York City. The performance is from 2009 and features Lou Reed and Metallica together on stage performing the classic "Velvet Underground" song "Sweet Jane".
The song originally appeared on Velvet Underground's 1970 album "Loaded". The song was written by the band's leader Lou Reed who also continued playing the song throughout his later solo career. Throughout the course of the song it's been performed in two different keys: D & E. This particular performance is in D.

On another note. It has recently been revealed that Metallica has teamed up with Lou Reed for their next album release. In fact these recording sessions have spawned a 10 track album that has yet to get an official release date. That is, we don't even know how it's going to be released as neither Metallica nor Lou Reed is currently under any recording contract. I personally think this is a great piece of news and can't wait to hear it. Others probably won't agree with me on that, but how the fuck can you hate on something before having listened to it. I mean really!! Just read a couple of the comments for the video and you'll see how stupid it is, I mean hating on something before you've even heard it, come on man!!

A picture of Metallica frontman James Hetfield with Lou Reed (sitting down in the picture)
A good song with a good little piece of news.

Enjoy ; )

AC/DC - Thunderstruck

This is a live performance by Australian hard rock band AC/DC playing their classic and infamous song "Thunderstruck". The performance is from their 2009 concert at River Plate which was released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2011. The concert was part of the band's tour for their "Black Ice" album.
The song "Thunderstruck" was originally released in 1990 on the album "Razor's Edge". The song is built up around a riff by Angus Young which sounds like fast tapping, but is in fact very fast picking instead. It sounds awesome!
It's a great song and exactly what hard rock is supposed to be!

Enjoy ; )

Joe Bonamassa & Eric Clapton - Farther Up the Road

This is a live performance by Joe Bonamassa playing the classic blues tune "Farther Up the Road" (sometimes titled "Further on Up the Road"). Joining him on stage is blues and rock legend Eric Clapton who made the song famous and part of his live staple. The performance video is from the DVD "Joe Bonamassa: Live from the Royal Albert Hall" from 2009 which was also released as a CD. Bonamassa who has stated the British blues wave as his biggest influence must have been thrilled to stand next to Clapton performing this tune. In fact, he stated that "Farther Up the Road" was the first song he ever learned to play before introducing Clapton. So it's also sort of like the circle has ended with this performance. It's the song that got Bonamassa started and now he's playing it with the artist who he first heard doing the tune. How great is that.
The original recording of this tune was done by Bobby Bland and was recorded in 1957. This original recording reached #1 on the R&B Charts and also did very well on the pop charts.
The song is a mid-tempo 12-bar blues shuffle in the key of G.
It has been recorded by a large number of artists since it's original release, including: Lonnie Mack, Earl Hooker, Robin Trower, Johnny Copeland, and Gary Moore.
On top of that Clapton has done the song several times live. He has done it live with both Jeff Beck and the infamous blues guitarist Freddie King who was a big influence on Clapton's playing.
It's a great song and it's sure to put you in a good mood and lift you up.

Enjoy ; )

Steve Vai - Building The Church

This is a live performance by guitarist Steve Vai performing one of his original instrumental guitar pieces. It was released in 2009 on both CD, DVD and Blu-ray. This number is really good, and it's not just a guitarist showing off. I've always loved Steve Vai because he is an original. He really tries to be innovative and push the envelope as far as what is possible on guitar. On top of that he's also a great composer who does some really good guitar instrumentals. He plays fast, but has a lot of feeling in his playing as well. He's really good, and you gotta respect that!

Enjoy ; )

Train Kept A-Rollin' (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2009)

This is an all star performance from the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was the ending act of the night, and it got all of the nominees, winners and presenters on stage for an all star jam on this classic song. The performance features: all members of Metallica (including their earlier bassist Jason Newsted), Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Joe Perry, Flea and Ronnie Wood. The inductees of the evening were Metallica and Jeff Beck. It's a great performance, and you can just tell that they're all having a lot of fun with it.
The only drag, and I'm nitpicking now, is the fact that Jimmy Page doesn't get to do a solo, I mean, he's bad ass, so why not give him a solo. I think I know why, Beck, Kirk Hammet and Joe Perry all get to do a solo. Beck and Hammet were part of the main inductees and Perry had done a very famous version of the song with his band Aerosmith. I think it was a call on the producers part in trying not to get into too long of a jam on the show. It's a minor drag, but it really would have been sweet to hear Page do a solo. Well too bad.

Still a great performance and fun performance, enjoy ; )