One for John...

[bigcumba]

If posted some of this guy before, but this is just so damn good I'm posting again!

Bjorn Berge - Swedish slide blues player who sings and looks more like James Hetfield than your average bluesman... this is his version of the Red Hot Chili Peppers classic Take It Away. Brilliant!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pXtWCSAiFg

[John]

Thanks mate! I'll have a listen, before bed... looking at hols now. :D

[bigcumba]

Did you watch this yet John? Here's another very talented wee band called Blue Shaddy... some amazing guitar work with lead and slide on the acoustic... and when the harmonica guy kicks in, it's amazing!
To think there are probably dozens of bands all over the States with this sort of talent and unable to get out of the clubs...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOtCtdVhchY

[John]

Not yet mate - bookmarked though. :)

I will watch them later on this eve, popping out shortly! Must admit slide blues is brilliant in itself though so looking forward to this.

Was listening to a lot of JJ Cale yesterday...

[John]

Sorry mate... don't like the Bjorn Berge song... just seems very shouty shouty and not very singy songy. I'm sure he's great at what he does but it just didn't do it for me. Consider this probably the first thing you've ever introduced me to that I don't like though! Which for 5 years ain't bad. :wink

I love the Blue Shandy song, that guitarist is very good! And that's a pretty raw distorted sound he's cranking out of that acoustic, don't you think?! The harmonica is great with blues guitar, a timeless classic combination.

I love the blues, so much. Throw some more at me! This kinda stuff is brilliant by Blue Shandy.

You know Colin 'Barrelhouse' Banagan? I wrote him down when I was drunk one night and wrote "LISTEN TO MORE" underneath but he's not on Spotify... in the same evening I also found a guy called Johnnie Walker but can't remember why I wrote down the name, and also I'm struggling to find stuff.

YouTube time. :D

[bigcumba]

Can't win em all! Glad you liked the other one though. JJ Cale I love, such a laid back style but so effective. Just ask Eric Clapton!

Johnnie Walker, I pnly know the whisky and the old DJ! ANd don't know the other name at all, so if you find anything interesting let me know!

[John]

Hmmm. I really wish I knew why I wrote it down but my memory escapes me!

I wrote "Louisiana Red" as well, whatever that meant.

Heard of JJ Vicars? One album on Spotify called Sci-Fi Diner... listening to it now, pretty raw blues. It was the closest thing that came up to 'Drivin' the Boogie' which is something else I'd written down that evening... :laugh

[bigcumba]

Louisiana Red is a great blues man, slide guitarist. JJ Vicars, that name rings a bell but I can't think why!

[John]

Just ask Eric Clapton!

Have you heard Clapton's album "Unplugged" mate? It's gorgeous, some amazing acoustic fingerpicking guitar work - it's a live album too, which I often don't like but this works really well. I can't stop listening to it at the moment.

http://www.last.fm/music/Eric+Clapton/Unplugged

Side note: I'm listening to Sting at the moment. :D

[Street cry]

Probably be shot down for this but never been a big fan of Clapton i think he's pretty average :omg:

[bigcumba]

I bought the Unplugged album when it came out John, it is a brilliant live set, and the reworked version of Layla is just amazing - you can hear the crowd go mad when they finally realise what song it is as the intro is totally new.

SC, as a guitarist yourself I'm shocked :laugh 30 years ago I thought little of Clapton but 10 years later I'd realised just how good a blues player he is. He's not God though... that was Ritchie Blackmore at his best!

[Street cry]

I know Big C in a way i am shocked i don't like him but just can't warm to any of his music and i don't rate him technically.

Love Ritchie Blackmore though like all of his stuff from the purple to Rainbow even his medieval stuff, fantastic

[John]

Pleased you've heard the Unplugged album - it's pretty special isn't it. I haven't heard much of his other work so I don't know how it compares.

Yes and the reworked version of Layla is brilliant. :)

[bigcumba]

I haven't heard much of his other work so I don't know how it compares.


Ooh, you have 45 years + worth to compare it to! His earliest stuff was with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and that's all bloody good! Then of course you have Cream.... heavy blues rock, just brilliant. Then Blind Faith - another blues rock supergroup, only lasted a year or so, and Delaney and Bonnie + friends - the group that gave us Layla... a bit more soulful. Finally the solo career - here's where you get more ups and downs... depending on where he was with his substance abuse... still a lot of classic stuff on the albums though. Once he got to the late 80's and got clean, he hit his stride again and has been doing bluesy albums ever since - personally I think his singing and playing has got better and better through this last 20 years. He's done a tribute album to Robert Johnson - the legendary blues guy of the 30's, he's worked with BB King- another great album, and done the Cream reunion thing which was also superb.

SC - I agree with you about Ritchie's medieval stuff, what I like is the fact he's prepared now to mix and match a bit of the old and the new - he's well up for strapping on the old strat and blasting out a bit of Purple or Rainbow alongside the acoustic material. And the lucky bigger is married to the gorgeous Candice! If you haven't already done so have a gander on youtube, some good live bits on there.

[Street cry]

To be fair i do like alot of John Mayall and the bluesbreakers stuff so give credit where credit is due there

[John]

And the lucky bigger is married to the gorgeous Candice!


If you haven't already done so have a gander on youtube, some good live bits on there.I'll say no more, Campbell! :yikes:

Thanks for the written Clapton biography! I'll have a look at some of his earlier and later stuff (minus the middle drug abused section) in that case. Some of the John Mayall material is brilliant as well. Ah, it's times like these I feel like there is so much blues out there it's hard to know where to start listening! And then within blues it is so varied, lots of different sorts of blues. The stuff you've introduced me to so far I like a lot - Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Livin' Blues and the quirky fella Otis Taylor. Anyway getting a bit off topic now, I'm off to check out a bit of Clapton. :D

[John]

Today's playlist :D

Spoti-link:
Various Artists – Original Hits - Rock (http://open.spotify.com/user/funkyjazzblues/playlist/23qcGRRzQO46cRcbCjVwWk)