So Old It’s New blues and blues/rock set of influencers and those influenced by them and on down the line, generation by generation.

I initially was planning a straight blues/rock show and was going to leave it at individual, random songs. But it evolved into direct connections between artists – from a precursor Allman Brothers band playing B.B. King to B.B. King himself to another King, Albert, to Muddy Waters working with Johnny Winter to Johnny Winter on his own to John Lee Hooker to Hooker with Canned Heat, etc. So it’s all of a piece, of sorts, as the sets, to me often wonderfully, can take on lives of their own.

So we have, in some cases, various versions of the same song, like Blind Willie McTell’s original Statesboro Blues as later done by Taj Mahal which then inspired The Allman Brothers Band. Then, things like Leadbelly’s Gallis Pole and Led Zeppelin’s Gallows Pole – both derived from a centuries-old folk song The Maid Freed From The Gallows. And some songs, in a bluesy vein, like Jethro Tull’s It’s Breaking Me Up, just on their own. All of it bracketed by The Rolling Stones’ take on the Little Walter tune Blue And Lonesome, from the Stones’ 2016 blues covers album of the same name, and ending the show with Little Walter’s original version of that song. My track-by-track tales follow the bare-bones list. Song clips on my Facebook page.

1. The Rolling Stones, Blue And Lonesome
2. The Hourglass, B.B. King Medley (Sweet Little Angel/It’s My Own Fault/How Blue Can You Get?)
3. B.B. King with Ruth Brown, Ain’t Nobody’s Business (live at B.B. King’s Blues Club, Memphis 1993)
4. Albert King, Cadillac Assembly Line
5. Muddy Waters, Bus Driver
6. Johnny Winter, Lone Wolf
7. John Lee Hooker, I’m Bad Like Jesse James
8. John Lee Hooker with Canned Heat, Burning Hell
9. Canned Heat, Election Blues
10. Jethro Tull, It’s Breaking Me Up
11. Bob Dylan, Blind Willie McTell
12. Blind Willie McTell, Statesboro Blues
13. Taj Mahal, Statesboro Blues
14. The Allman Brothers Band, Statesboro Blues (live, from At Fillmore East)
15. Leadbelly, The Gallis Pole
16. Led Zeppelin, Gallows Pole
17. Robert Johnson, Ramblin’ On My Mind
18. Eric Clapton, Ramblin’ On My Mind (live, from E.C. Was Here)
19. Ten Years After, Help Me
20. Buddy Guy, Baby Please Don’t Leave Me
21. Little Walter, Blue And Lonesome

My track-by-track tales:

1. The Rolling Stones, Blue and Lonesome . . . A cover that not only pays homage to the Chicago blues but also mirrors the Stones’ beginnings as a blues band. Mick Jagger’s harmonica playing echoes Little Walter’s original, but the Stones inject their distinct rock edge, bridging the gap between traditional blues and modern rock.

2. The Hourglass, B.B. King Medley ((Sweet Little Angel/It’s My Own Fault/How Blue Can You Get?) . . . From 1968. The Hourglass was a precursor to the eventual full blown Allman Brothers Band. At first it was Duane Allman on guitar and brother Gregg on vocals and keyboards accompanied by various other musicians, within two years morphing into the initial lineups of the legendary Allman Brothers Band. I first cottoned to this tribute via the first of two Duane Allman compilations – An Anthology and An Anthology Volume II – I investigated once I became, beyond hits compilations, fully invested in the Allmans, who have come to be one of my alltime favorite bands. The Duane Allman anthologies feature Allmans Brothers tracks but more arguably interesting – since one can listen to the Allmans on their own – are the various sessions Duane played on outside of the parent band.

3. B.B. King with Ruth Brown, Ain’t Nobody’s Business (Live At B.B. King’s Blues Club, Memphis 1993) . . . B.B. largely gives the actual singing vocals over to Ruth, adding spoken word ‘accents’ to lead her on in this near 10-minute ribald, flirtatious classic featuring, as always, King’s smooth, tasteful and emotive guitar work that is a language in itself.

4. Albert King, Cadillac Assembly Line . . . A funky, bluesy working-class story set to King’s cutting guitar tone and silky smooth vocals.

5. Muddy Waters, Bus Driver . . . From Muddy’s first of three ‘comeback’ albums produced and played on by Johnny Winter, this extended blues rock tune from Hard Again, released in 1977. The other two albums in the trilogy were I’m Ready and King Bee, King Bee being Muddy’s last studio statement, all released between 1977 and 1981 and all more than worthy listens.

6. Johnny Winter, Lone Wolf . . Up-tempo blues rocker from Winter’s 2004 studio album I’m A Bluesman. I saw him at the Kitchener Blues Festival in 2011, three years before his death by which time Winter’s health was failing. He was playing concerts sitting in a chair up front, helped to the stage, but even so his guitar playing and the overall vibe was smokin’ hot and of course even when standing up during healthier days, Winter “just stood there’ out front, little movement, wailing away, wonderfully.

7. John Lee Hooker, I’m Bad Like Jesse James . . . I was listening to this the other night while prepping the show and, as often happens with great music, I think “why listen to anything else but John Lee Hooker?” But that merely fits my mantra of ‘the best song/band/artist ever is the one you are listening to, now, if you like it.’ Typically haunting if not menacing spoken-word Hooker singing style minimalist mood piece. This version is from the 1967 album Live at Cafe Au Go Go, recorded in New York City in 1966 with Hooker backed by members of Muddy Waters’ band.

8. John Lee Hooker with Canned Heat, Burning Hell . . . Hooker teamed with Heat for the 1971 album Hooker ‘n Heat. . . After about a minute of in-studio chat about record company machinations, various musicians, cooking food, yes they talk about cooking food . . . eventually in comes the music, 90 seconds in, unannounced as the banter just stops, with Hooker’s hypnotic boogie style taking over and blending seamlessly with Canned Heat’s rock and blues energy.

9. Canned Heat, Election Blues . . . Written and released in 1973 as a lament about Richard Nixon having won a landslide victory in the 1972 US election which of course later led to Watergate and Nixon’s resignation in August, 1974. While written back then, the thoughts expressed in the lyrics, about voter turnout or lack of same, about being informed if and before one votes, however one votes, forever resonate. Beyond that, it’s just a great slow blues tune.

10. Jethro Tull, It’s Breaking Me Up . . . Tull leader/singer/songwriter/flautist/myriad instrumentalist Ian Anderson has always said that the title of Tull’s first album, This Was, was appropriate in that ‘this was’ Jethro Tull because by the time the album was released in 1968, original guitarist and blues aficionado Mick Abrahams was already on his way out as Anderson wanted to embrace a different direction (while still sometimes returning to bluesy tracks like It’s Breaking Me Up) as the two men didn’t see eye-to-eye in terms of musical vision. Abrahams went on to form the blues-rock band Blodwyn Pig, great name with some great tunes I’ve played before on the show and must return to at some point.

11. Bob Dylan, Blind Willie McTell . . . It’s among the biggest ‘WTF?’ songs in Dylan’s catalogue in terms of, why did it take so long to officially release? A brilliant tribute to the legendary bluesman I’ll get to in about six minutes of song time but before that, more on Dylan. Mercurial as ever, his tribute to McTell was shelved, inexplicably to most Dylan fans once they knew of it, during the sessions for the otherwise excellent 1983 album Infidels. The song Blind Willie McTell first saw widespread commercial release – emphasis on the plaintive, emotional lyric “And I know no one can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell” that ends most of the verses – on the first of the now 17-volume and counting Booleg Series, Volumes 1-3 1961-1991 released in the spring of 1991. It’s essential Dylan that by now has appeared on various compilations. It’s a worthy introduction to McTell’s own work, including signature tune Statesboro Blues, and some of those who covered that classic.

12. Blind Willie McTell, Statesboro Blues . . . Intricate and influential fingerpicking and lyrical wit. McTell’s relaxed delivery belies the complexity of his technique, making it a blueprint for later interpretations.

13. Taj Mahal, Statesboro Blues . . . A revitilization of McTell’s original via a modern, roots-oriented approach from the multi-faceted Taj, who first recorded the tune in the band Rising Sons, with guitarist Ry Cooder, during the mid-1960s. Mahal reworked it for this version, released on his self-titled debut solo album in 1968.

14. The Allman Brothers Band, Statesboro Blues (live, from At Fillmore East) . . . Blind Willie McTell originally recorded the song in 1928. So it’s now nearly 100 years old! A tribute to the power of excellence and permanence because it doesn’t really age; it just evolves through the ages. Taj Mahal took it further in 1968 and then the Allmans, influenced by Taj’s arrangement, made it their own, transforming an acoustic blues into a rock anthem, upon release of the live album At Fillmore East in 1971 that established the band as a force in blues/rock music.

15. Leadbelly, The Gallis Pole . . . People accuse Led Zeppelin of ripping stuff off from influential blues artists and I’ve been a critic, too, while maintaining enjoyment of Zep’s music although I’ve tempered my tirades over time with the realization that lots of borrowing goes on in music, to varying degrees. And if it’s proven to be plagiarism, then a price is usually paid. The Gallis Pole is another example but at least when Zep covered it and released it on Led Zeppelin III in 1970 it was credited as ‘traditional arranged by’ unlike how they often credited songs they didn’t actually write to themselves – and in some cases later, rightly, paid for it via copyright infringement lawsuits. In any event, Leadbelly’s version wasn’t original, either. It’s all derived from a centuries-old folk song, specific origin unknown, called The Maid Freed from the Gallows, about someone facing the hangman. Great song in all its incarnations including this one featuring Leadbelly’s amazing guitar strumming.

16. Led Zeppelin, Gallows Pole . . . And here’s the Zeppelin version, which arguably many people heard first but the beauty of it all is then you can go back to the original source material. It’s as Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones has said is among the highest compliments that can be paid a musician: They passed it on.

17. Robert Johnson, Ramblin’ On My Mind . . . Amazing the emotional pull one can evoke via just an acoustic guitar and haunting, personal, deeply felt vocals. He inspired so many, of course.

18. Eric Clapton, Ramblin’ On My Mind (live, from EC Was Here) . . . Speaking of those Robert Johnson inspired, Clapton pays tribute to one of his heroes and influences on this extended, guitar solos extraordinaire, live cut from an album released in 1975. Clapton originally sang and played it on the 1966 John Mayall album Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton. It was, with Mayall’s encouragement, an at the time reluctant to sing Clapton’s first solo vocal recording.

19. Ten Years After, Help Me . . . Slow, intoxicating extended blues treatment of a song made famous by Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), taken from the self-titled debut TYA album, released late in 1967. Williamson’s 1963 version, particularly the bass riff played by Willie Dixon, is based on the Booker T. & the M.G.’s 1962 smash instrumental hit Green Onions and it’s evident in the TYA version as well.

20. Buddy Guy, Baby Please Don’t Leave Me . . . A mesmerizing display of vocal and guitar intensity on this hypnotic cut from Guy’s 2001 album Sweet Tea, named for the Oxford, Mississippi studio in which it was recorded.

21. Little Walter, Blue and Lonesome . . . We finish as we started, sort of, in this case with the original Little Walter tune The Rolling Stones covered to start the set.