Albert King & The Bluesbreakers - Why Are You So Mean To Me

This is a live performance by blues legend Albert King and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers playing the song "Why Are You So Mean To Me".
The song was originally released as a single in 1959 on the Bobbin label. It is not one of King's most famous songs, but I really like it.
Also the version with the Bluesbreakers is really good. John Mayall's piano and especially his blues harp skills really adds another layer to this great song. This incarnation of The Bluesbreakers featured former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor who does a really good solo on this playing a Stratocaster.
What really impressed me about this though was King's playing at the end of the song. He really plays a lot faster than I've ever heard him play while still keeping the soul alive in his playing. Truly a great performance from all parts. A great performance.

Enjoy ;-)

Volbeat - Heaven Nor Hell

Video: Heaven Nor Hell
So this is a video link to Volbeat's website where they have the video to the single "Heaven Nor Hell". Would have embeded the video on this, but it was impossible to find on youtube or any other video sites, guess Universal is good at taking down videos that features their material which is totally cool by the way. Volbeat, I'm just sayin', a lot of people watch music videos on youtube, so having an official band channel with music videos would only increase your record sales and fan base. Oh, and why all the geo blocking on your Myspace page, I mean why can't your Danish fans view your videos there (and embed them in blog posts and such). I mean even Clapton has an official non-geo blocked youtube channel now. It's good marketing, trust me!

Well any ways, I recommend clicking the link. It's a really cool song and one of the best songs of the 2010 album "Beyond Hell-Above Heaven" which I highly recommend purchasing a copy of. I really love how they've added the blues harp on this. Shows development and experimentation with in the sound universe that is Volbeat which I really like. So yeah click this, show support.

And Enjoy ; )

Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Working

This is a performance by Muddy Waters and his blues band. The performance is from 1966 and they perform the classic song "Got My Mojo Working", an upbeat blues song.
The song was written in 1956 and popularized by Muddy Waters in 1957. Muddy Water's rendition of the song was ranked as #359 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
It's a traditional example of what a good blues group could do back in the 60's. They groove on each other, and the blues harp on this song is just excellent, plus Water's voice which makes this an all over excellent performance.

Enjoy ; )

Rory Gallagher - All Around Man

This is a magnificent performance from blues extraordinaire Rory Gallagher, it's from the concert at BBC's Grey Whistle on March 2nd 1976 which was also the date of Rory's birthday.
The song was originally performed by Bo Carter, but Rory's version is just smokin', no doubts one of Rory's best performances ever, though I don't think there is such a thing as Rory's best performance. Rory was an artist who gave 100 % on stage, and in that sense you could easily say that all Rory's performances were his best.
I really love this song and performance. Rory really shows the extent of his talent, by playing some of the best bottle neck slide I've heard, period! It's amazing, it's fast, but still keeping feel, and being right on spot in terms of intonation and execution of the playing. Not only do we get Rory's guitar playing, but Rory also plays a really good solo on the blues harp. He uses a harmonica microphone, and gets that perfectly good blues sound. He also shouts into that mike on the musical breaks of the solo. He also does something similar with his slide playing, where he sings the part, as he's playing it, true feeling, true blues!
We also get a really good piano and Hammond Organ solo from Lou Martin who also joins in as Rory is soloing on the blues harp. They basically riff off each other, and Lou tries to play the lines Rory just played, it's amazing, a true jam between two good musicians.
This is just an amazing performance from Gallagher, definitely one of his best, though all his performances pretty much fit that mark.

Enjoy ; )

Motörhead - Ace of Spades (Acoustic) (100th post)

This is a recently recorded acoustic version of the Motörhead song "Ace of Spades", they recorded it for a European beer commercial, and took the tempo down to a slow blues progression. Really shows the relation between genres, when you can just slow something down and add an acoustic guitar instead of an electric, and boom heavy metal turned into slow acoustic blues.
The top box is the new single in its full length, and the two videos are the commercial in which the song is featured, and a behind the scenes following Motörhead as they recorded the song.
I really like this song, it really shows that Lemmy has a broad style, and can play many different types of music. This is just pure acoustic blues, and I love it. It both features acoustic guitars playing the slow main rhythm part, a blues harp solo by Lemmy and a Dobro solo by Phil Campbell. It's a great song, and it really shows that Motörhead is much more than a metal band.

Howlin' Wolf - How Many More Years

This is a great performance by blues legend Howlin' Wolf, he was a guitarist, a harp player and last but not least a fantastic singer. He had a growly voice that fit the blues very well. He was also known for his performances and his physical appearance during these performances. Like in this one where he flashes a dollar bill as he sings that the money is gone with a unique facial expression.
He's fantastic, on this track he plays the harmonica, it's pretty basic, but soulful and fantastic.
The performance is from 1951 which was still in the beginning stages of his career. He was however though one of the few blues artists to be successful from the early stages of his career, and he didn't struggle as much as some of his peers. Don't get me wrong, he still came from a poor background, but was able to leave it pretty early in his career.
He was also ranked no. 51 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Almost in the top half that's pretty damn good.

Enjoy ; )

Guns N' Roses - Bad Obsession

This is a live performance by hard rock band Guns N' Roses, they perform the song "Bad Obsession" from their studio album "Use Your Illusion I". Use Your Illusion was a double release, meaning the band released two separate albums on the same date e.g. "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II".
The song is a bluesy tune, with a slide guitar and added harmonica which are typical elements in blues arrangements, here used in a more rock 'n' roll kind of way.
I love the live versions of this, it's such a big production, with a horn section, Teddy Zig Zag on the harmonica and Slash soloing with a slide on the Travis Bean. A great song, and a great performance.

Enjoy ; )

Sugar Blue - Hoochie Coochie Man

I knew at some point I would be posting different versions of the same song. I previously posted this in a version from the rock 'n' roll film about Chuck Berry featuring Keith Richards, Robert Cray and Etta James singing the song. Click here to go to that post.

This is another version of the same song. It's by blues musician Sugar Blue. He plays the harmonica, and plays it better than anyone I've heard. He truly pushes the limitations of what that instrument is capable of. And he's so cool wearing his military belt with harmonicas in different keys. Truly a great player, just thought I'd share his talent with the world.


Enjoy ; )