Blues legend John Lee Hooker stretched out his already lengthy I Hate(d) The Day I Was Born to nearly 20 minutes in San Francisco in 1964.

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I don’t know if psychedelic drugs were involved in the making of this song but I would be highly surprised if they weren’t. Then again, just listening to it is a mind-bending trip.

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I can’t pretend i was ever a big Fleetwood Mac fan.
So the death of Christine McVie didn’t resonate with me as strongly as with those millions who bought Rumours. But the outpouring of love and sadness for her death is a poignant reminder of the unifying power of music.

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A long time ago I took my folk-fan brother-in-law, visiting from Ireland, to the Hackney Empire to see Bert Jansch. This was not the rather more celebrated affair with Pete Doherty, which came later; it was just Bert and his acoustic guitar.

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I’m not sure where I stumbled across this funky slice of contemporary blues with undertones of the Sopranos theme song. (more…)

Here’s a steamy gumbo of blues, soul and funk from Louisiana to suit the last day of sultry summer weather, from Bobby Rush. (more…)

Let’s celebrate the Commonwealth Games like they did – with some miusic from Birmingham. Not Sabbath or The Streets, and not the organisers’ choice of Duran bloody Duran. Not even UB40 or my preference, Steel Pulse. (more…)

Chuck Norris didn’t do karate but he earned his chops playing session guitar in California in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He also cut a handful of solo singles like this. (more…)

There have been plenty of crazy characters and egotists in the history of popular music, and Ernie K-Doe was one of them. A bit of a blues and soul legend in his native New Orleans, he performed in a cape and crown and billed himself as “Emperor of the Universe.” (more…)

No one played the slide guitar like Elmore James. Well, they did – but he did it first. This was his first recording, and became his signature song. (more…)