Neil Young – Down By The River

This is a live performance by Neil Young doing the song “Down By The River”. The performance is from the Farm Aid show which is a charity show.
The song is available on the album “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” which Neil Young did with the band Crazy Horse. This album was originally released in 1969.
I really love the song and the simple folk feeling it has. I love how Neil Young plays this solo with just him and his battered up old Les Paul. It sounds so good and genuine.

Enjoy ; )

Led Zeppelin – Ten Years Gone

This is a live performance by the British rock band Led Zeppelin they play the song “Ten Years Gone” live.
The song originally appeared on the band’s 1975 album “Physical Graffiti”. The song is credited to Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. It was originally intended to be an instrumental piece composed by Page, but Plant later added the lyrics and made the song what it is. The lyrics are about Plant’s relationship to a girl who ten years earlier had forced him to choose between her or his music.
When playing the song live it was done by Page using a Telecaster with a b-bender and bassist John Paul Jones playing the rest of the parts on a three neck guitar featuring a 12-string, a 6-string, a mandolin, and bass pedals. Truly great measures to get the live performance right.
It’s a great song. I really love Page’s approach to playing the b-bender getting a sort of Eastern sound from it. It’s a great performance by a legendary band.

Enjoy ; )

Stevie Ray Vaughan with Johnny Copeland – Look At Little Sister

This is a live performance by blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan playing the song “Look At Little Sister” live. The performance is from the 1985 performance that Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble gave at the Montreux Jazz Festival that year. Joining them live on stage is another blues guitarist, Johnny Copeland. He also joined in for the songs “Cold Shot” and “Tin Pan Alley” which came prior to this.
The whole concert including Vaughan’s 1982 performance at Montreux is available on DVD and I highly recommend picking it up. Truly a must have if you’re a fan of Stevie Ray Vaughan.
The lyrics to the song are credited to song writer H. Ballard, so I’m guessing it’s some sort of traditional song or something.
It’s a great performance. The solos done by both guitarists are really good and it’s such an up tempo song that just puts you in a good mood. It’s a great traditional blues song played to perfection.

Enjoy ; )

Mötley Crüe - Smokin' in the Boys Room

This is the music video to the song "Smokin' in the Boys Room" in the version done by glam metal band Mötley Crüe.
The song was originally done by the band Brownsville Station in 1973 on the album "Yeah!". The song is about students avoiding the smoking ban by smoking in the boys lavatory, quite simple premise really.
The version done by Mötley Crüe was released in 1985 as a single and it became the band's first top 40 hit. The song is from the album "Theatre of Pain".
I actually kind of like this version of the song. It's glam metal which I'm usually not a big fan of, but really this has much more a rock 'n' roll/bluesy feeling to it. The only thing that's glam really is their outfits and outfits don't matter to me. Also the harmonica on this sounds really good, it was done by Vince Neil which surprises me, didn't know he knew how to play the harmonica. It's a really good and catchy song.

Enjoy ; )

Guns N' Roses - Civil War

This is a live performance by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses doing a live performance of their song "Civil War".
The song was originally released on the 1990 compilation "Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel", but more famously in 1991 on the album "Use Your Illusion II". It's an anti-war protest song which uses the dual meaning of the word 'civil' to get the message get across. The song was written by, Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan and it was released as a single in 1993.
I really love how Slash opens the song with the intro riff from "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by Hendrix and also ends the song on this riff. An homage to Hendrix is always welcome in my book, and it fits the song very well. It's a great song and a great performance.

Enjoy ; )

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 ; )

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 ; )