Layla - Eric Clapton and Phil Collins

Eric Clapton and Phil Collins.

Sam Cooke - Little Red Rooster

Little Red Rooster is a blues standard credited to arranger and songwriter Willie Dixon. The song was first recorded in 1961 by American blues musician Howlin' Wolf in the Chicago blues style. His vocal and slide guitar playing are key elements of the song. It is rooted in the Delta blues tradition and the theme is derived from folklore. Musical antecedents to "Little Red Rooster" appear in earlier songs by blues artists Charlie Patton and Memphis Minnie.

A variety of musicians have interpreted and recorded "Little Red Rooster". Some add new words and instrumentation to mimic the sounds of animals mentioned in the lyrics. American soul music singer Sam Cooke adapted the song using a more uptempo approach and it became a successful single on both the U.S. rhythm and blues and pop record charts in 1963. Concurrently, Dixon and Howlin' Wolf toured the UK with the American Folk Blues Festival and helped popularize Chicago blues with local rock musicians overseas.

The Rolling Stones were among the first British rock groups to record modern electric blues songs. In 1964, they recorded "Little Red Rooster" with original member Brian Jones, a key player in the recording. Their rendition, which remains closer to the original arrangement than Cooke's, became a number one record in the UK and continues to be the only blues song to reach the top of the British chart. The Stones frequently performed it on television and in concert and released several live recordings of the song. "Little Red Rooster" continues to be performed and recorded, making it one of Willie Dixon's best-known compositions.

Elvis Presley - Wooden Heart

"Wooden Heart" ("Muss i denn" lit. Must I then) is a song best known for its use in the 1960 Elvis Presley film G.I. Blues. The song was a hit single for Presley in the UK Singles Chart, making No. 1 for six weeks there in March and April 1961,but was not released on a single in the United States until November 1964, where it was the B-side to "Blue Christmas". Presley performed the song live during his Dinner Show concert at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas in 1975. The recording is available on the Elvis Presley live album, Dinner At Eight.

"Wooden Heart", created by Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Kay Twomey and German bandleader Bert Kaempfert, was based on a German folk song by Friedrich Silcher, "Muss i' denn zum Städtele hinaus", originating from the Rems Valley in Württemberg, Southwest Germany. "Wooden Heart" features several lines from the original folk song, written in the German Swabian dialect, spoken in Württemberg. Marlene Dietrich recorded a version of the song sometime before 1958, pre-dating Presley, in the original German language, which appears as a B-side on a 1959 version of her single "Lili Marlene"', released by Philips in association with Columbia Records.The Elvis Presley version was published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company. Bobby Vinton recorded his version in 1975 with those lines translated into Polish.

The Elvis Presley version featured two parts in German, the first one is the first four lines of "Muss i' denn zum Städtele hinaus", whereas the second part appears towards the end and is based on a translation of the English version (therefore not appearing in the original German folk lyrics). This part being "Sei mir gut, sei mir gut, sei mir wie du wirklich sollst, wie du wirklich sollst..." This literally means "Be good to me, Be good to me, Be to me how you really should, How you really should..."

Joe Cocker - With A Little Help Of My Friends

Joe Cocker has passed away. That's true. I held this post for about 24 hours to get real confirmations about his death. Cocker was victim of hoax news in the past. Exactly about his death. A kind of unacceptable joke. RIP Joe.

Singer Joe Cocker dies aged 70

Joe Cocker dead at 70

British Singer Joe Cocker Dies of Lung Cancer

Big Mama Thornton - Little Red Rooster

Little Red Rooster is a blues standard credited to arranger and songwriter Willie Dixon. The song was first recorded in 1961 by American blues musician Howlin' Wolf in the Chicago blues style. His vocal and slide guitar playing are key elements of the song. It is rooted in the Delta blues tradition and the theme is derived from folklore. Musical antecedents to "Little Red Rooster" appear in earlier songs by blues artists Charlie Patton and Memphis Minnie.

A variety of musicians have interpreted and recorded "Little Red Rooster". Some add new words and instrumentation to mimic the sounds of animals mentioned in the lyrics. American soul music singer Sam Cooke adapted the song using a more uptempo approach and it became a successful single on both the U.S. rhythm and blues and pop record charts in 1963. Concurrently, Dixon and Howlin' Wolf toured the UK with the American Folk Blues Festival and helped popularize Chicago blues with local rock musicians overseas.

The Rolling Stones were among the first British rock groups to record modern electric blues songs. In 1964, they recorded "Little Red Rooster" with original member Brian Jones, a key player in the recording. Their rendition, which remains closer to the original arrangement than Cooke's, became a number one record in the UK and continues to be the only blues song to reach the top of the British chart. The Stones frequently performed it on television and in concert and released several live recordings of the song. "Little Red Rooster" continues to be performed and recorded, making it one of Willie Dixon's best-known compositions.

Mississippi John Hurt - Since I've Laid My Burdens Down

"Mississippi" John Hurt

Born July 3, 1893, in Teoc, Mississippi, Hurt and his family moved in 1895 to Avalon, a town on the edge of Mississippi's hill country. He dropped out of school at the age of nine to begin working as a farmer. In 1902, Hurt picked up the guitar, a $1.50 "Black Annie" his mother bought him. Self-taught, Hurt developed a distinctive three-finger style that bears no resemblance to other area musicians. He also developed proficiency with the harmonica but was always a self-accompanied musician. Unlike Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie, Hurt refused an offer to accompany a traveling medicine show, preferring to stay close to home.

Hurt played solo at local parties where his fluid yet highly syncopated guitar style made him a favorite among Carroll County dancers. His fame was localized, however; it was not until 1912 that he started playing parties around Jackson, Mississippi, 103 miles from his native Avalon. While Hurt worked mostly outside music as a farmer and laborer, his musical reputation among whites as well as blacks led to his first recording session in Memphis in 1928. Willie T. Narmour and Shell W. Smith, two white country musicians from Carroll County, recommended him to their record producer, Tommy Rockwell.

Hurt recorded eight sides for the Okeh label, two of which were released and sold well: "Frankie" and "Nobody's Dirty Business." In Memphis for the same recording session was St. Louis guitarist/pianist Lonnie Johnson, and Hurt later recalled that Blind Lemon Jefferson and Bessie Smith were also in town. He saw none of these famous musicians play but instead returned home to Avalon. Okeh called Hurt to New York City for another session in December 1928, where he cut twelve additional sides, including "Avalon Blues." Again, Hurt returned home to Avalon to farm and play music for local parties.

These two sessions were the extent of Hurt's recording before the Great Depression curtailed record sales. His graceful picking, gentle crooning, and homespun lyrics marked him as an exceptionally talented musician. The preponderance of songs about legendary figures in his repertoire ("Casey Jones," "Frankie," "Stack O'Lee Blues") and the lack of then-modern blues influences on his style, establish Hurt as a link between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Okeh originally designated two of his songs "Old Time Music," an appellation reserved for the label's hillbilly series. This, together with the fact that white musicians were familiar with and recommended his musicianship, suggests strongly that Hurt's music sprang from a common source that produced blues and country music.

Hurt lived a quiet life as a farmer and laborer, playing occasional parties and fish fries until 1963. He was rediscovered in Avalon, a consequence of having named it as his hometown in a record made thirty-five years before. Hurt enjoyed great popularity during the blues revival of the 1960s, making television appearances, playing folk festivals, and recording albums. Exceptionally well liked by all who came in contact with him, he became the most famous of all the rediscovered 1920s bluesmen, eclipsing in his fame the celebrated Son House and Skip James.

His newfound fame lasted three years before his death on November 2, 1966. Mississippi John Hurt's grave is located outside his hometown of Avalon, Mississippi.

Legends of Rock’n’Roll

Gran Finale from Legends of Rock’n’Roll concert at Rome in 1989. Performing together for the eternity we have: Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Fats Domino, B.B. King, Ray Charles and James Brown.

Rod Stewart and Santana - I'd Rather Go Blind

"I'd Rather Go Blind" is a blues song written by Ellington Jordan and co-credited to Billy Foster. It was first recorded by Etta James in 1967, released in 1968, and has subsequently become regarded as a blues and soul classic.

Today we gift you with this version of I'd Rather Go Blind performed by Carlos Santana and Rod Stewart at Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
They both were inducted to Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in the Performer category (Rod in 1994 and Santana in 1998).

Rolling Stones - Little Red Rooster

Little Red Rooster is a blues standard credited to arranger and songwriter Willie Dixon. The song was first recorded in 1961 by American blues musician Howlin' Wolf in the Chicago blues style. His vocal and slide guitar playing are key elements of the song. It is rooted in the Delta blues tradition and the theme is derived from folklore. Musical antecedents to "Little Red Rooster" appear in earlier songs by blues artists Charlie Patton and Memphis Minnie.

A variety of musicians have interpreted and recorded "Little Red Rooster". Some add new words and instrumentation to mimic the sounds of animals mentioned in the lyrics. American soul music singer Sam Cooke adapted the song using a more uptempo approach and it became a successful single on both the U.S. rhythm and blues and pop record charts in 1963. Concurrently, Dixon and Howlin' Wolf toured the UK with the American Folk Blues Festival and helped popularize Chicago blues with local rock musicians overseas.

The Rolling Stones were among the first British rock groups to record modern electric blues songs. In 1964, they recorded "Little Red Rooster" with original member Brian Jones, a key player in the recording. Their rendition, which remains closer to the original arrangement than Cooke's, became a number one record in the UK and continues to be the only blues song to reach the top of the British chart. The Stones frequently performed it on television and in concert and released several live recordings of the song. "Little Red Rooster" continues to be performed and recorded, making it one of Willie Dixon's best-known compositions.

Elmore James - Blacksnake Blues

Elmore James - The King of Slide Guitar

Born January 27, 1918, in Richland, Mississippi, Elmore James was raised on several different farms in the Durant, Mississippi, area by sharecropping parents. Before acquiring his first guitar, he played several different homemade instruments, including a strand of broomwire nailed to the front porch of his cabin. This was known locally as a "diddley bow." In 1932, at the age of fourteen, Elmore James, also known as Joe Willie, began playing guitar for parties and dances in the Durant area.

By 1937 James had moved on to plantations near the Delta town of Belzoni, Mississippi, and taken up with musicians Sonny Boy Williamson and Robert Johnson. Johnson's guitar prowess made a terrific impact on James, who would echo Johnson's slide technique in his own recordings. After Johnson's death, James toured the South with Williamson working juke joints and theaters. He assembled a band in 1939 after parting ways with Williamson. During the late 1930s or early 1940s James began playing electric guitar. He became a master of using the distortion and sustain of this instrument to create a dense, textured sound that provided the blueprint for postwar Chicago blues.

James was inducted into the Navy in 1943, taking part in the invasion of Guam before being mustered out in 1945. He was soon back home in Belzoni, sharing a room with Sonny Boy Williamson and working the local jukes. James also began a professional partnership with his guitar-playing cousin "Homesick" James Williamson, working clubs on Beale Street in Memphis. In 1947, James backed up Sonny Boy on KFFA radio's King Biscuit Time program in Helena, Arkansas. The show was initially broadcast from the Interstate Grocery Building before it moved to the Floyd Truck Lines Building. During his stint on KFFA, James fell under the spell of Robert Nighthawk, refining his style to reflect Nighthawk's liquid, crying slide guitar.

While working clubs with Williamson in Jackson, Mississippi, James made his first record for Lillian McMurry's Trumpet Label. On August 5, 1951, at the Trumpet Studios, James cut the Robert Johnson chestnut "Dust My Broom" which reached number nine on the national R&B charts within several months of its release. James established residency in Chicago the following year, forming his legendary band the Broomdusters. While never attaining the fame of fellow Mississippi expatriates Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, James became one of the city's most influential guitarists. He recorded for a variety of labels throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, leaving a legacy of slow blues, boogies, and full-fledged rave ups that dominate the musical vocabulary of Chicago blues.

Elmore James died May 24, 1963, in Chicago, Illinois, at the age of forty-five. Elmore James's grave is located near his native Durant, Mississippi.

Dave Brubeck Quartet - St Louis Blues

David Warren "Dave" Brubeck (December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer, considered to be one of the foremost exponents of cool jazz. He wrote a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranged from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. His music is known for employing unusual time signatures, and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities.

His long-time musical partner, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, wrote the saxophone melody for the Dave Brubeck Quartet's best remembered piece, "Take Five", which is in 5/4 time and has endured as a jazz classic on one of the top-selling jazz albums, Time Out. Brubeck experimented with time signatures throughout his career, recording "Pick Up Sticks" in 6/4, "Unsquare Dance" in 7/4, "World's Fair" in 13/4, and "Blue Rondo à la Turk" in 9/8. He was also a respected composer of orchestral and sacred music, and wrote soundtracks for television such as Mr. Broadway and the animated miniseries This Is America, Charlie Brown.

Dave Brubeck Biography by Mark Deming at All Music

Dave Brubeck Official Web Site

Dave Brubeck Quartet performs St Louis Blues at Belgium in 1964.

Dave Brubeck - piano
Paul Desmond - alto saxophone
Eugene Wright - bass
Joe Morello - drums

Willie Dixon - The Little Red Rooster

Little Red Rooster is a blues standard credited to arranger and songwriter Willie Dixon. The song was first recorded in 1961 by American blues musician Howlin' Wolf in the Chicago blues style. His vocal and slide guitar playing are key elements of the song. It is rooted in the Delta blues tradition and the theme is derived from folklore. Musical antecedents to "Little Red Rooster" appear in earlier songs by blues artists Charlie Patton and Memphis Minnie.

A variety of musicians have interpreted and recorded "Little Red Rooster". Some add new words and instrumentation to mimic the sounds of animals mentioned in the lyrics. American soul music singer Sam Cooke adapted the song using a more uptempo approach and it became a successful single on both the U.S. rhythm and blues and pop record charts in 1963. Concurrently, Dixon and Howlin' Wolf toured the UK with the American Folk Blues Festival and helped popularize Chicago blues with local rock musicians overseas.

The Rolling Stones were among the first British rock groups to record modern electric blues songs. In 1964, they recorded "Little Red Rooster" with original member Brian Jones, a key player in the recording. Their rendition, which remains closer to the original arrangement than Cooke's, became a number one record in the UK and continues to be the only blues song to reach the top of the British chart. The Stones frequently performed it on television and in concert and released several live recordings of the song. "Little Red Rooster" continues to be performed and recorded, making it one of Willie Dixon's best-known compositions.

Willie Dixon - I Don't Trust Nobody

"I Don't Trust Nobody" (Willie Dixon) - Live in Montreux on July 15th, 1983

Willie Dixon (Vocals)
Arthur Butch Dixon (Piano)
Sugar Blue (Harp)
John Watkins (Guitar)
Freddie Dixon (Bass)
Clifton James (Drums)

Duke Ellington - Jeep's Blues

Duke Ellington called his music "American Music" rather than jazz, and liked to describe those who impressed him as "beyond category. He remains one of the most influential figures in jazz, if not in all American music and is widely considered as one of the twentieth century's best known African American personalites. As both a composer and a band leader, Ellington's reputation has increased since his death, with thematic repackagings of his signature music often becoming best-sellers. Posthumous recognition of his work include a special award citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board.

Gray skies...
are just clouds passing over."

The Official Site of Jazz Legend Duke Ellington