John Lee Hooker with Ry Cooder - Crawling King Snake

This is a live performance by John Lee Hooker playing his classic song "Crawling King Snake" live. On stage he is joined by guitarist Ry Cooder who's sitting in on this tune.
The song was originally written and recorded by John Lee Hooker. It is one of his many famous songs and it has also been covered by many different artists. One of them being The Doors who recorded a version of the song and released it in 1971. The song has also been done by: George Thorogood, Etta James, John P. Hammond, and Buddy Guy to name a few. (I've embeded Buddy Guy's version beneath, he plays it acoustic and with a lot of conviction and atmosphere, a solo acoustic recording, like the old blues players would have done it.)

It's a great and classic blues song, and Hooker plays it his way which is the right way. Cooder doesn't show off much in this, but then again when you're with the greats you hold back a bit. Both performances of this great blues song are great.

Enjoy ; )

John Lee Hooker - Hobo Blues

This is a live performance by legendary blues musician and song writer John Lee Hooker playing his classic song "Hobo Blues". The performance is from 1965 at the American Folk Blues festival.
It's a self-accompanied performance by Hooker. He taps the rhythm with his foot, plays the rhythm on the guitar and also plays the melody at the same time. At points in the song he also hums the melody on top of playing it on the guitar. I really love this performance. The fact that it's self-accompanied just makes it better and shows a skill that very few people had back then, and even fewer people have today. You can also hear Hooker's influence on slide guitar through his use of open tunings. He doesn't use a slide himself, but uses the tunings many slide players would later also use. (Of course I know that slide guitar existed way before John Lee Hooker, but many slide players, for instance Ry Cooder, have quoted John Lee Hooker as an influence).
The song was originally released as a single in 1948 which was also the year it appeared on Hooker's LP "The Blues" released on Crown records.
As mentioned earlier it's a great song and a great performance. One of Hooker's best.

Enjoy ; )

Johnny Winter - It's All Over Now

This is a live performance by blues guitarist Johnny Winter. He is known for his southern blues and rock 'n' roll style of guitar playing and his physical appearance as him and his brother both have albinism.
He plays the classic rock 'n' roll song "It's All Over Now". The performance is from 1983. The song was originally released by the band "The Valentinos". This version was released as a single in 1964 and entered the Billboard Hot 100, though only peaking at no. 94. The Rolling Stones did a recording of the song the same year and it became their first no. 1 hit ever.
It's a quite famous song and it has been covered by a lot of different artists, including: AC/DC, Rod Stewart, Social Distortion and Ry Cooder.
I think it's a great song and that Johnny does a great cover. It really fits his style of playing which makes for a really good and energetic performance.

Enjoy ; )