A blues rock set, albeit alas limited within the confines of my two-hour slot, to just some of the myriad masters of the genre and only scratching the surface of artists they inspired. The set wound up, as it often does, going in different directions once into it by just letting it flow, resulting in some duplicate tracks – originals and covers – as things evolved but the great thing in a way is, many of the artists ‘left out’ so to speak and not in this set stay in mind for future such shows. My track-by-track tales follow the bare-bones list.

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1. Alvin Lee, The Bluest Blues
2. Robert Johnson, Preachin’ Blues (Up Jumped The Devil)
3. Mississippi Fred McDowell, You Gotta Move
4. The Rolling Stones, You Gotta Move (from Love You Live)
5. The Rolling Stones, Down In The Hole
6. Keith Richards, Blues In The Morning
7. John Lee Hooker, I Don’t Wanna Go To Vietnam
8. Canned Heat & John Lee Hooker, The World Today (from Hooker ‘N Heat)
9. Van Morrison with John Lee Hooker, Gloria . . . (from Van Morrison’s Too Long In Exile)
10. Blind Willie Johnson, It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine
11. Led Zeppelin, Nobody’s Fault But Mine
12. John Mayall, Broken Wings
13. Buddy Guy, Stone Crazy
14. Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie, When The Levee Breaks
15. Led Zeppelin, When The Levee Breaks
16. Eric Clapton with Santana, Eyesight To The Blind / Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad? (from Crossroads 2 live in the seventies box set)

My track-by-track tales:

1. Alvin Lee, The Bluest Blues . . . Beatle George Harrison on slide guitar on this slow-burner from the Ten Years After frontman/guitarist’s 1994 solo album named, what else, Nineteen Ninety-Four although in the USA it was called I Hear You Rockin’. To quote Lee about Harrison’s contribution, from the liner notes to a Lee compilation released in 2003:

“It’s one of the best slide guitar solos I’ve ever heard. I did a version of it, before George came down, and played my usual mad guitar solo. Then I said ‘George, how about putting some slide on there?’ He did the first solo and he did this beautiful slow, laid back and lifting solo and it made me change my whole attitude. I had to take off more gently from there, rather than blowing at the speed of light. It turned the song into something special for me. George lived down the road, and he was always up for coming over to make music. I loved his slide playing. George had perfect pitch. He was a lovely man and he is sorely missed.” As is Lee, who died in 2013. Harrison passed away in 2001.

2. Robert Johnson, Preachin’ Blues (Up Jumped The Devil) . . . Not as often covered by rock greats as his songs like Crossroad Blues, Ramblin’ On My Mind, Traveling Riverside Blues, Stop Breaking Down Blues and Love In Vain, among others. But this boogie yet haunting tune embodies the crossroads mythology surrounding Johnson having made a deal with the devil, trading his soul for musical mastery.

3. Mississippi Fred McDowell, You Gotta Move . . . A song I, and perhaps many of my age, first heard on The Rolling Stones’ 1971 album Sticky Fingers although they’d previously played it during their 1969 American tour and it’s appeared on subsequent expanded re-releases of Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out! , the classic 1970 live album document of that trip. I have McDowell’s earthy, hypnotic version on a few compilations including 2018’s Confessin’ The Blues which was curated by members of the Stones – including cover art by guitarist Ron Wood. The comp features McDowell and many other blues greats from whom the Stones drew inspiration.

4. The Rolling Stones, You Gotta Move, (from Love You Live) . . . I thought I’d go not with the studio version from Sticky Fingers, nor the live version from 1969 but this jam-type sing-along rendition from the Stones’ 1975-76 tour of North America and Europe that appeared on their 1977 live release.

5. The Rolling Stones, Down In The Hole . . . A great original blues from 1980’s Emotional Rescue, almost out of place on an album otherwise infused with disco, reggae and straight-ahead pop-rock songs plus the off the wall but addictive multi-part title track. Down In The Hole, featuring fabulous harmonica from Sugar Blue, was the B-side to the Emotional Rescue single and appeared directly before it in the album track order – jarring, cleverly effective juxtapositions in my book.

6. Keith Richards, Blues In The Morning . . . I suppose I should be playing this up-tempo rootsy rocker featuring that distinctive Richards’ riffing on my Saturday morning show. But . . . that’s just what you’d be expecting. An almost casually tossed off yet compelling piece from Keef’s most recent solo album, the 2015 release Crosseyed Heart.

7. John Lee Hooker, I Don’t Wanna Go To Vietnam . . . The first of three straight songs featuring Hooker on his own or in collaboration with others. A typically hypnotic Hooker groove on this anti-war excursion that still resonates, aside from the specific war it’s discussing, released on his 1969 album Simply The Truth.

We got so much trouble at home
We don’t need to go to Vietnam
Yeah, yeah, there’s a whole lot of trouble right here at home
Don’t need to go to Vietnam
We oughta stay at home, stay out of trouble
I don’t wanna go
I don’t wanna go
Vietnam

8. Canned Heat & John Lee Hooker, The World Today (from Hooker ‘N Heat) . . . An extended conversation about conflict, written by Hooker. Minimalist, strikingly almost spoken-word blues from the respective artists’ 1971 collaboration.

9. Van Morrison with John Lee Hooker, Gloria . . . From Van The Man’s 1993 album Too Long In Exile, a terrific, extended version of Them’s Morrison-penned 1965 hit. Two vocal virtuosos in tandem amid intoxicating instrumentation.

10. Blind Willie Johnson, It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine . . . Another one of those, like Mississippi Fred McDowell and The Rolling Stones covering You Gotta Move, where a rock band introduces you to the brilliance of those who inspired them. As Keith Richards of the Stones has said, arguably the greatest compliment one can grant a musician is that they passed it on. In this case, Led Zeppelin took the baton from Blind Willie and transformed his acoustic, spiritual version recorded in 1927 into a powerhouse, rocked up production on the 1976 album Presence, while retaining the essence of the original.

11. Led Zeppelin, Nobody’s Fault But Mine . . . See my thoughts on Blind Willie Johnson.

12. John Mayall, Broken Wings . . . A beautiful if sad ballad, one of my favorite songs by Mayall from one of my favorite of his albums, the 1967 release The Blues Alone. The album title is somewhat misleading, as the album does feature contributions from drummer Keith “Keef” Hartley but it is mostly Mayall – on vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano, organ and . . . drums on two tracks although it’s Hartley on this one.

13. Buddy Guy, Stone Crazy . . . Straight slow blues from 1961, drenched in Guy’s great guitar and soulful vocals to the extent that B.B. King anointed Guy, then 25, his heir apparent. It was released on the 1970 compilation I Was Walking Through The Woods, part of the Chess Records Vintage Series and comprised of Guy’s material recorded between 1960 and 1964.

14. Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie, When The Levee Breaks. . . Recorded by blues artists and then-married couple McCoy and Minnie (birth name Lizzie Douglas) in 1929, a haunting historical snapshot of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

15. Led Zeppelin, When The Levee Breaks . . . Another one reimagined and transformed by Led Zep, featuring that defining drumbeat by John Bonham.

16. Eric Clapton with Santana, Eyesight To The Blind / Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad ? (from Crossroads 2 live in the seventies box set) . . . A sprawling, fiery finale to the show blending a Sonny Boy Williamson song with a soulful Derek And The Dominos number, from Clapton’s 1975 tour. Santana served as the opening act, joining Clapton on stage for an epic 24-minute encore.