Isaac Hayes - Theme from Shaft

This is a live performance from 1973 of Isaac Hayes performing the Theme from Shaft. The song was originally recorded in 1971 as the theme for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film "Shaft". The song was shortened from the version in the film and was released as a single. It reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in America. The following year the song won an Oscar for the best original song. This also made Hayes the first Afro-American to win an Academy Award in a non-acting category.
The song has been featured in many TV-shows and films since and was also re-recorded for the 2000 remake of the film, it wasn't changed, just re-recorded.
It's a very traditional and good funk song. It has a lot of wah-wah on the guitar and I think it sounds amazing, and Hayes has a voice unlike anyone. It's so low-registered, and I love it. It's a great song, but also a historic song in recent Afro-American historic events. A great song.

Enjoy ; )

Parliament-Funkadelic - Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)

This is a music video from the classic funk group Parliament-Funkadelic (Funkadelic was a sister act of George Clinton's first project Parliament, it's a rather complicated band-history, but the two groups were basically a music collaboration collective, in short terms. The credited writers of this song are George Clinton, Bootsy Collins and Jerome Brailey.
The song is off Parliament's album titled "Mothership Connection". It is one of the most recognizable P-Funk songs and also their best selling single ever reaching gold in 1976 (the same year as the single's release).
The song has become quite familiar in pop-culture and has been sampled on numerous occasions by artists like Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. An example of this can be found in Snoop Dogg's song "Undacova Funk" featuring Bootsy on the track. (Embeded below)

I think it's a really good song, and it has a nice jazz vibe, not just in the progression, but in the way the musicians are playing off each other. A very good funk song indeed.

Enjoy ; )

Iron Butterfly - Easy Rider (Let the Wind Pay the Way)

This is a live performance from 60's band Iron Butterfly. They play the song "Easy Rider (Let the Wind Pay the Way)" often shortened to "Easy Rider". The song appears on the band's 1970 album "Metamorphosis". This live performance is from 1968 which means that they are playing the song prior to recording it. This song was released as a single, but didn't do that well in the charts, it topped at no. 66 on the Billboard Charts and was considered a minor hit. The album is also famous for being one of the first to ever feature talk box on a rock album.
On this song one of the guitarists use slide and the other doesn't. The song has that 60's/70's Middle Eastern sound combined with a more traditional rock sound. Doug Ingle is the lead singer on this song and he also plays the organ on it.
I think it's a pretty good song, and I've always enjoyed it and I hope you will too.

Enjoy ; )

Albert Collins, Jimmie Vaughan & Stevie Ray Vaughan - Frosty

This is a live performance from a trio of blues guitarists who are all legends in their own right, but together they equal one hell of a performance! The trio consists of Albert Collins, Jimmie Vaughan and his brother Stevie Ray Vaughan.
They play the classic Albert Collins song "Frosty". This instrumental was one of Collins' hugely successful instrumental pieces. And it was recorded around 1958 at the beginning of Collins' recording career.
Collins is famous for his use of open minor tunings combined with the use of a capo on the guitar. This technique is credited by Collins to his cousin Willow Young. Collins was also famous for his entertainment skills and showmanship. He would often, as he also does in this clip, get up close and personal with his audience. He also very often continued playing through the PA system after he left the building. One time he left the stage, continued playing, went to a pizza place, ordered a pizza and several minutes after he returned onto the stage have it delivered on stage. A great player indeed.
I really think this is a great performance. It cuts straight into Stevie doing a solo, then goes onto his brother Jimmie Vaughan doing a solo and then for a large part of the video Collins is soloing. He is soloing for the longest time and it shows respect that the Vaughan Brothers stepped back and let Collins take the stage for the biggest part of the performance. Another funny thing is that Jimmie is actually playing one of Stevie's guitars. He is playing Stevie's "Charley Stratocaster", a custom built guitar given to Stevie by Charley Wirz. (You can tell from the slight difference in body-shape and the lipstick pick-ups.
It's a great performance from three blues legends. Gotta love that!!

Enjoy ; )

Robert Cray - I'll Go On

This is a live performance from blues artist Robert Cray. Robert and his band plays the song "I'll Go On" from their 1995 album "Some Rainy Morning" (the performance is from 1996).
The song is an original Cray song as he composed both the song and the lyrics. I think it's a very good performance and a very good song. Cray portrays the role of both rhythm and lead player very well, and sings to perfection as well. The band is also very good.
It's a great performance of a great song.

Enjoy ; )

Joe Satriani - Summer Song

This is a live performance by guitarist Joe Satriani. He plays his 1992 song "Summer Song" live, the performance in this video is from 2006. The song was released on the album "The Extremist" which got quite a lot of radio play and helped Satriani getting his solo career of the ground.
It's a great up-tempo rock song with a happy vibe that just brings good vibrations to the air particles it's moving. It really is a hard rock/rock 'n' roll song in the style of Satriani. He uses a wide combo of licks and techniques, but they aren't all difficult techniques and if you listen carefully you'll hear that he even throws in a Chuck Berry riff at one point.
I also love the ending where Satriani literally sustains a note where it pretty much seems like he could sustain it forever, if he wanted to. As Nigel Tufnel would say; "The sustain, listen to it.[...]you can just hold it and you can go have a bite, you'll still be hearing that one". Spinal Tap joke, gotta love that film!!
This is a great song, and an awesome performance.

Enjoy ; )

Steve Vai - Jibboom

This is a performance by guitarist Steve Vai playing something a little more bluesy and outside his comfort-zone. The song appears on Vai's 1999 album "The Ultra Zone".
On the album Vai mentions that this track is an homage to blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. And you can definitely hear the resemblance, it's a classic blues progression that sort of is a take-off/sounds similar to songs recorded by SRV song like Scuttle Buttin', Mary Had a Little Lamb and Testify. It's an homage and it's own original thing, but the general feel and groove of the song is similar to many SRV songs.
Steve Vai recently said in a video posted on his official youtube channel that blues is outside his comfort-zone. He jokingly says that he plays blues within the comforts of his own home which is a pretty funny thing to say. (I've embeded the video below, he also shares some very good practice-techniques for guitar)

I really love how long this performance is. It starts out with the basic song, and then goes into Vai soloing. Then it turns into a "call and response" sort of thing between Vai and the bassist which is just awesome. The bassist really does an amazing job, and the two performers play to well together and interact so well on stage. At the end Vai goes into a Hendrix style guitar thing, making sounds by using the whammy bar, the natural harmonics and the control knobs to really make the guitar scream.
This is an awesome performance and awesome showmanship. Gotta love that!!

Enjoy ; )