The Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Women

This is a live performance by the famous British rock 'n' roll band The Rolling Stones playing their song "Honky Tonk Women" live. The performance is from Japan and it was part of their Voodoo Lounge tour, this performance is from 2005.
The song was originally released in 1969 and it was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It was hugely successful in both America and the UK. The song was originally conceived as an acoustic country song and it was recorded it two versions. The second version was re-named "Country Honk" and was on the band's "Let It Bleed" album.
The song has also been done by a lot of famous artists since its release by The Rolling Stones, these artists include: Ike and Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Gram Parsons, Elton John, Taj Mahal, and Albert King.
I really love this performance though. Especially love the guitar work by Richards on this one, it's so his style and he plays it magnificently. Also love the piano work by Chuck Leavell, but again Richards can't help but cut in and play the piano a bit. This performance is all about Keith Richards, in my opinion, and he rocks it!

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 ; )

Snoop Dogg ft. Wille Nelson - My Medicine

This is the music video to the song "My Medicine" by hip hop artist Snoop Dogg. On this song he explores a bit of country and western influence and also something that is more rockabilly sounding. I really respect him for doing something like this and experimenting like this. He doesn't take himself too seriously and that's why he's so cool.
The song is off Snoop's 2008 album "Ego Trippin'". The album was his 9th studio album.
The video says "ft. Willie Nelson", but he isn't really in the song that much. A little bit towards the end and he also sings a little bit there, but it's very little. And on the album version he isn't credited, so seems a little weird to me.
It's a great song though. And it's great to see that Snoop diggs outlaw country too. Always good to have a broad musical horizon.

Enjoy ; )

Albert Lee – Fun Ranch Boogie

This is a live performance by country rock and rock ‘n’ roll guitarist Albert Lee playing the boogie “Fun Ranch Boogie”.
This is a great up tempo fun boogie that ought to lift your spirit and put you in a good mood.

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 ; )

JJ Cale & Leon Russel - I Got the Same Old Blues

This is a live performance by the two rock and blues legends JJ Cale and Leon Russel. They play Cale's classic song "I Got the Same Old Blues" from Cale's 1974 album "Okie". This song got very popular and it was covered by a large number of well renowned artists such as Lynrd Skynrd and Freddie King.
Cale's style had been described as laid back. It is part of the so called Tulsa Sound that draws loosely on the genres of rockabilly, blues, country and jazz.
Leon Russel is a very well known and respected musician in the music world. In his early career he did session work for artists such as: Elton John, George Harrison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton and Willie Nelson to name a few. He then later got a solo career that he maintains to this day. In 2011 he was also inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
This is a very good song and it has a nice laid back session feel to it.

Enjoy ; )

Blue Rodeo - Diamond Mine

This is the music video to the song "Diamond Mine" by Canadian band Blue Rodeo. To be honest, I didn't really know this band until recently when I heard this song. So I still don't know a whole lot or have heard a lot of their stuff. I really like this song however!
The band has been around since 1985 and still exists today. The three consistent members are Jim Cuddy, Greg Keelor and Bazil Donovan. Jim and Greg both sing and play guitar in the group. The other members have been switched throughout the career of the band.
Wikipedia quotes the band as a pop and country rock band. I can definitely hear that, but on this song I personally hear some different things that they sound similar to. I hear a bit of "The Doors" as they have that organ going on in the background, I also hear something that sounds similar to Oasis (though Oasis got their breakthrough later than Blue Rodeo) and the guitar parts sound a lot like the ones you'd find in a Roy Orbison song. But hey that's just my take on it.
The single was released in 1989 and it's from the album of the same name. It reached no. 7 in Canadian charts, it was the first single from the album and the most successful single of that album.
I really think this is a very good pop song influenced by many different rock sub-genres adding to a very good song.

Enjoy ; )

The Highway Men - Big River

This is a live performance by the country supergroup The Highway Men. They perform the classic Johnny Cash song "Big River". The Highway Men is a supergroup consisting of various members who are most known for influencing the sub-genre of country known as "outlaw country". The genre was big in the 60's and 70's and also somewhat popular in the 80's. It is known for having a specific sound, and the artists are often self-declared outlaws in music.
The song Big River is a Johnny Cash original and it was released in 1958. Cash is also one of the members of the band, alongside; Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson. I think it's a really good performance, and a really well written song.
Of course as with so many other good songs it has been covered. My favourite cover is the one done by Motörhead front man Lemmy. He really sings it well and it somehow fits his voice really well. I've embeded that version beneath.


Enjoy ; )

Volbeat - I Only Wanna Be With You

This is the music video to Volbeat's version of the classic Dusty Springfield single "I Only Want to Be With You" (often spelled "I Only Wanna Be With You", and also the way it's spelled on the cover of Volbeat's album). The song is of Volbeat's 2005 debut album "The Strength/The Sound/The Songs".
They are a band with a very distinctive sound drawing on many different influences and mixing them into a very unique, tasty and easily recognizable sound. They draw on a wide variety of genres spanning anything from hard core heavy metal, to rockabilly and even a folk/country influence as well. They have done songs dedicated to both Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, and Michael Poulsen the front man also emulates an Elvis like way of singing, it sounds unique and is an important part of the band's sound picture. The country influence can also be seen in their fondness of telling stories in the lyrics of their songs, and they have created their own text univers of Guitar Gangsters and Cadillacs, and many times continue story-arks throughout songs, and string them together that way. If you like both metal, but also enjoy listening to many other types of rock, I'd say: Give them a listen. They're definitely worth it. And I think this version of "I Only Wanna Be With You" is very interesting and different.

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 ;

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 ; )

Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down To Georgia

This song may be considered to be country, and I'm not really sure where to put it. In my book it's a little fast to be country, but then again not all country sounds like Dolly Parton, some of it is fast and something you can dance to.
The song however has been embraced by the rock community, and the lyrics share a lot of similar things to blues music. The lyrics are about a kid who is challenged by the devil to a fiddle battle against the devil. If he wins he'll get a solid gold violin and if he loses the devil gets his soul. The devil also often appears in blues lyrics.
The song has been embraced by the rock world, and was featured in an updated version in the video game "Guitar Here III: Legends of Rock".
It's a great song and a delightfully energetic performance from the band and Charlie Daniels himself. He plays the fiddle so hard he breaks several hairs in his bow, and needs to switch bow towards the end of the song. That's cool. It's just a great performance.




The band Primus also did a cover of the song. They did a really nice clay-mation video for it, and I thought I'd include that. It's not as good as the original, but visually it tells the story very well.

Enjoy all of it ; )

Keith Richards - Dead Flowers

This is a solo performance from Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. He performs the classic Stones song "Dead Flowers" at what looks like some country award show or something, sorry haven't looked more into it.
The song "Dead Flowers" appeared on The Rolling Stones album "Sticky Fingers" from 1971. The song was written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger and it's about the time that the Stones start experimenting with a country influence. They have said in interviews that they love country for it's stories and nice melodies. This song has a story, but a darker subject matter than your average country tune, it's about heroin use and the loosing one's love and being angry. However it's somehow uplifting, if you look purely to the musical side of things, it's up beat, it doesn't have a sad melody, but the lyrics are very dark.
They have experimented with country through out their career surpassing the 1970's, and have also done songs like "Far Away Eyes" that's probably the most country inspired song of them all.
Mick has said in an interview that he feels that the country songs are a little odd for his voice. He feels that he is a blues singer, and therefore feels that the country material suits Keith's voice better. So this is just that, Keith Richards singing this delightfully odd country inspired song. A lovely performance.

Enjoy ; )