Freddie King - I'm Tore Down

This is a live performance from blues guitarist Freddie King playing the song "I'm Tore Down" which is not his most famous song, but still quite known thanks to, as is the case with many of his track, being covered by famous blues artists with more mainstream appeal. The song was released in 1961 and it reached no. 5 on the American R&B charts.
Freddie is one of those guitarist who has influenced both the American and British blues boom. He was known for his aggressive and creative style of improvising. Artists who are influenced by Freddie include, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Gary Moore.
Many of Freddie's songs have been covered by famous acts. This song has been covered by John Mayer and Eric Clapton (Clapton embeded below).

I think Clapton does a very good job. He definitely adds his own unique and fast style of playing to it. And had a bigger horn section at the recording. Both versions are worth checking out though.

Enjoy ; )

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Testify

This is a live performance from blues guitarist extraordinaire Stevie Ray Vaughan playing the instrumental song Testify live from the El Mocambo venue in Canada.
The song originally consisted of two different recordings of the same song, but with different lyrics. They have been dubbed the names Testify Parts I and II. The song was recorded by The Isley Brothers in 1964 who at this time had Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Embeded below is a short clip of the original recording (or at least one of the original recordings with Hendrix on guitar). It sounds different and has lyrics, but you can recognize the riff that Stevie did a take-off on.

Stevie's version was released on the 1983 album Texas Flood and it was the fifth track on this record. It starts out with a stand-alone guitar riff and on the 7th bar the bass and drums kick in and play with the guitar for the rest of the song.
I think it's a very good song, and without Hendrix's version we wouldn't have had Stevie's. Hendrix just seems a bit like he's holding back, he was playing with a group and hadn't branched out as a solo artist at this point. Remember we were still four years away from Voodoo Chile (Slight Return), but he definitely shines on this as well. Stevie's version just sort of became the famous one, and is in my opinion the superior version.
Especially from The El Mocambo gig which is one of the best gigs ever recorded. It's so good, and if the DVD "Live at The El Mocambo" isn't in your collection, it ought to be!!

Enjoy ; )

Son House - Death Letter

This is an acoustic solo performance by legendary blues musician Son House. House isn't as widely known and famous as Robert Johnson who was also one of the old dogs when it comes to blues. Son House was born in 1902 and got to have a long life lasting to 1988 which meant he got to be around the greats and even influence some of them. Many people believe that House has influenced Johnson, in fact Johnson incorporated some of "Death Letter" into his own blues classic "Walking Blues". Son House, because of his old age, was also one of the people who helped spread the myth that Johnson had sold his soul to the devil in trade of his marvellous musical abilities.
The song Death Letter is about a man who learns about the death of the woman he loves in a letter. It is a very dark and depressive song, as the narrator views her dead body in the morgue and attends the funeral only to return home in a state of depression.
The song and Son House himself also gained some new notoriety in recent years due to Jack White being heavily influenced by him. The White Stripes has also covered Death Letter live on numerous occasions. It's a great song with a simple rhythm. One man and his guitar, that's what the blues is all about.

Enjoy ; )

Eric Clapton & Robert Cray - Befor You Accuse Me

This is a performance from the American TV-show "Nightmusic", a TV-show that had live music and exposed both new and unknown talent. It had a wide variety of acts, from blues and rock acts like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray to classic music in the form of the Kronos Quartet.
This is a performance by Clapton also featuring Robert Cray, they both do a solo. The song was originally done by rock legend Bo Diddley, but has been covered in two different versions by Clapton. He had an acoustic version of the song on his 1992 unplugged album. He has also done electric versions both live and in the studio. It's a great performance, and both Clapton and Cray play really good on the song.

Enjoy ; )

Lightnin' Hopkins - Goin' Down Slow

This is an old recording of blues legend Lightnin' Hopkins performing the classic blues song "Goin' Down Slow". The first release of the song was in 1941, but the song gained notoriety when it was recorded by legendary blues artist Howlin' Wolf in 1962 (for Wolf version click here).
Wolf's recording made the song a blues standard, and it has since been covered by a lot of artists including; Jeff Beck, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton and Aretha Franklin, to name a few.
I like Lightnin's version because it is everything that I love about the blues, a man and his guitar just playing, it's soul, it's fantastic and no one has been able to replicate that today, it's unique.
Lightnin' was also a huge influence on Stevie Ray Vaughan, but more in terms of Vaughan's song "Rude Mood".

Enjoy ; )

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Mary Had a Little Lamb

This is from one of Stevie's classic shows, it's from the 1983 show at El Mocambo (a DVD of the show exists). This version of Mary Had a Little Lamb was first performed by blues man Buddy Guy, and covered by Stevie on his "Texas Flood" album.
Mary Had a Little Lamb is an English nursery rhyme and dates back to around the 1830's. It's a great and funky performance.

Enjoy ; )