The Rolling Stones with Eric Clapton - Little Red Rooster

This is a live performance by The Rolling Stones playing the classic blues song "Little Red Rooster" joined on stage by Eric Clapton delivering one hell of a blues solo.
The song was originally recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1961 under the song title "The Red Rooster". The song is credited to blues arranger and song writer Willie Dixon who was inspired by earlier blues songs.
The song has been recorded countless times by various artists. Most famous probably The Rolling Stones' version released in 1964. They did the recording at Chess Studios in Chicago where many of their heroes had recorded songs. The song reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart and it is the only blues song to ever top the British pop charts, preiod!
Howlin' Wolf recorded this song with several rock figures on his 1971 album "The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions". Eric Clapton, Charlie Watts, Steve Winwood, and Bill Wyman played on this recording and Wolf can actually be heard instructing the band on the chord and time changes of the song at the beginning of the recording.
It's a great song and when you have Clapton and The Rolling Stones on stage together, then I believe that you can't really ask for more!

Enjoy ; )

The Doors – Back Door Man

This is a live performance by The Doors playing the classic blues song “Back Door Man” live. The concert footage is from 1969.
The song “Back Door Man” is a traditional blues song written by Willie Dixon who wrote the song for Howlin’ Wolf. Wolf’s version was released on his 1961 self-titled album. And the song is considered a classic of the Chicago blues.
The Doors version of the song first appeared on their 1967 self-titled album. And the song became a standard cover song for the band.
It’s a good performance of a classic song. But also brings that 60’s psychedilia into the song.

Enjoy ;-)

Muddy Waters - Mannish Boy

This is a live performance by blues legend Muddy Waters playing the classic song Mannish Boy. It was released by Waters in 1955 on Chess records.
The song is an arrangement of and an answer song to Bo Diddley's song "I'm a Man". (Click here for a previous post of this song) Diddley's song on the other hand was heavily inspired by Muddy's song "Hoochie Coochie Man" written by Willie Dixon. "Mannish Boy" borrows the one chord stop-time arrangement and is also partially credited to Diddley.
It's quite a famous song and it's been done by other artists as well. It's been done live by both Roger Daltrey and Queen. Also Jimi Hendrix has done a version of this song. And it was recently featured in a H&M commercial sung by a woman who quite frankly slaughters the song. It's just so wrong to see a blues number covered and featured in a fashion commercial, plus why the hell did they hire a woman to record it. Does it make much sense for a woman to sing "now I'm a man"? No of course not!
So yeah listen to the original and listen to both Diddley's and Waters' version of this great composition. And avoid the H&M commercial like the plaque!

Enjoy ; )

Howlin' Wolf - Love Me Darlin' (Stevie Ray Vaughan)

These are both live performances of the classic Howlin' Wolf song "Love Me Darlin'". The top video is a performance by Wolf who also wrote the song. The performance is from 1964 and next to Howlin' Wolf performing we have Hubert Sumlin, Sunnyland Slim on piano, Willie Dixon on bass and Clifton James on drums.
Stevie Ray Vaughan covered the song in the studio on his 1989 release "In Step". I love his take on the song. This was Stevie's last album with Double Trouble. It sticks to the original, but brings something to it at the same time. And that was Stevie's expertise: interoperating classic blues songs and adding his own thing to them.
I love both versions of this song, but I'm such a big SRV fan that I might like Vaughan's version a little better. But both versions are definitely worth listening to.

Enjoy ; )

Bo Diddley - I'm a Man

This is a live performance by rock, R&B and blues legend Bo Diddley performing his classic song "I'm a Man", the performance is from 1992.
The song was originally recorded by by Bo Diddley in 1955. The song is a moderate slow blues with a stop tempo inspired by earlier blues recordings. The song was inspired by Muddy Water's Hoochie Coochie Man from 1954 written by Willie Dixon. After the release of the song Muddy recorded an "answer song" titled "Mannish Boy", a pun on Diddley's younger age.
The song has been done by quite a few artists and a version of Muddy and Diddley performing the song together was also recorded at one point. It was also done by The Yardbirds in 1965 when Jeff Beck was with the group. A live version was recorded as well with Clapton on guitar in 1964 before he left the band. The version with Beck did very well in the US pop charts.
A lot of songs have also taken inspiration from this classic simple song structure. Songs like "Whole Lotta Rosie" by AC/DC and "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood. They both have the stop time thing and the same chord shifts as Diddley's song as well as a rhythm that strikes resemblance to Diddley's song.
Also really love the guitar solo Steve Cropper delivers. It's really good and not too long, he knew Diddley was centre stage, but still very nice indeed.
A great performance of this amazing blues song.

Enjoy ;-)

Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning

This is a live performance by blues legend Howlin' Wolf playing his classic song "Smokestack Lightning". The performance is from 1964 in England, and the backing band consists of Hubert Sumlin and Willie Dixon among others.
The song was first released in 1956 and has appeared on two of Wolf's albums throughout his career: "Moanin' in the Moonlight" and "The Howlin' Wolf Album". The song was written by Howlin' Wolf and was inspired by the song "Stop and Listen Blues" by The Mississippi Sheiks. Wolf has stated that it is about sitting at the side of a railway watching as sparks come from between the tracks and the train. That's what "Smokestack Lightning" means.
Over time it has become a blues standard and has received many honours and awards. The song has also been covered by a huge list of people, including: Muddy Waters, The Rolling Stones, John Mayer, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, The Who, Soundgarden and Aerosmith. Quite a list, and it's even longer. Read the full list by clicking here.
It's a great song and a great performance. Wolf's voice is so unique and full of feeling in it's own right. Gotta love Howlin' Wolf.

Enjoy ; )

Cream - Spoonful

This is a live version by the British blues rock/psychedelic band Cream performing a version of the classic Willie Dixon song "Spoonful".
"Spoonful" is a blues standard composed by Willie Dixon. It was first recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1960. It was loosely based on "A Spoonful Blues" by Charley Patton from 1929.
The first version of this song recorded by Cream was recorded for their 1966 debut album "Fresh Cream". It was only released on the UK version of this album and the American crowd got it through a released LP single.
The song was very often part of Cream's live set and since the 1966 recording it developed from blues rock to a starting point for extensive improvised soloing inspired by the San Francisco music scene of the 1960's. One version of the song from Cream's "Wheels of Fire" album is about seventeen minutes long. This version is about 8 minutes long, so there's soloing, but not as much as on a lot of their other recordings.
This is a great blues song, and I really love the original idea of doing acid rock and psychedelia on a classic blues standard, gotta digg that!

Enjoy ; )

Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love

The song "Whole Lotta Love" is a song by the legendary band Led Zeppelin. It was released in 1969 on the band's 2nd album titled "Led Zeppelin II". The song has appeared on many lists, and is considered one of the best hard rock songs ever.
The song is influenced by a lot of different blues singers and songs. Mainly the song "You Need Love" recorded by Muddy Waters, written by Willie Dixon. The lyrics in the two songs were very similar, and in the end Willie Dixon ended up suing the band. They agreed on a cash settlement, and that was the end of that. Plant has stated that he felt that the lyrics and the song was so far back in time that it was just influence, and not copying. He has also stated that Page's guitar riff was there before the lyrics, and that the guitar riff was the origin of the song, and they came up with the lyrics later. Plant then said that everyone borrows lyrics and stuff like that, but you only get caught when you're successful.[1] 
The song has a very unique and different construction. It starts off with Page's riff which also descends into the main verse. Then at about 3:02 into the song, it goes into a more jazzy feel, John Bonham plays a jazzy feel type of thing on the drums, and it goes into a very weird section with Plant moaning and screaming and Page playing his guitar with a bow, this section is by many fans referred to as the "Orgasm Section" of the song.
Below is a list of some of the lists the song has been on, and the ranks it has gotten on those lists. I really think this is one of the best, if not the best hard rock songs ever. Truly a great song, and a great recording and construction.

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Spin	United States	"100 Greatest Singles of All Time"[9]	1989	39
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame	United States	"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll"[10]	1994	*
Classic Rock	United Kingdom	"Ten of the Best Songs Ever!.. (Bubbling under)"[11]	1999	30
VH1	United States	"The 100 Greatest Rock Songs of All Time"[12]	2009	3
Rolling Stone	United States	"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"[13]	2003	75
Q	United Kingdom	"100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever"[14]	2005	3
Toby Creswell	Australia	"1001 Songs: the Great Songs of All Time"[15]	2005	*
Grammy Awards	United States	"Grammy Hall of Fame Award"[16]	2007	*
Rolling Stone	United States	"100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time"[17]	2008	11
VH1	United States	"VH1 Greatest Hard Rock Songs"[18]	2009	3

Enjoy ; )