'Hand Me Down My Walking Cane' - Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup

Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup was an influential delta and Chicago bluesman; and was highly active in the 40's and early 50's.

His smooth soft voice and superb guitar playing made him one of the main pillars of the blues; even Elvis covered his songs, particularly 'So Glad You're Mine'.

He started out performing in the blues Mecca, Clarksdale, Mississippi before moving to Chicago in the late 1930's where he recorded and performed. His career fluctuated up and down, due to royalty disputes, and went back to Mississippi, where he returned to normal work. He did record in the mid 60's however, and died in 1974.

Here's 'Hand Me Down My Walking Cane', recorded in Chicago sometime between 1946-1949:

Flamenco Guitar Genius Paco de Lucia Dead at 66

The great flamenco guitar virtuoso Paco de Lucia has passed away in Mexico today. He was 66.

de Lucia, from Spain, was a very influential guitarist, and was known as an ambassador of flamenco music. He also played flamenco jazz and fusion music. He has performed with dozens of musicians, including Chick Corea, Al di Meola, John McLaughlin, Eric Clapton, Brian Adams, and many more.

It's a sad loss for music today. Rest in Peace Paco.

Here's a video of Paco performing in a recent jazz festival:

Cairo Jazz Festival Returns

The Cairo Jazz Festival is back and is set for March 13-16 at the Azhar Park.

The festival features several international and regional artists, including Lebanon's Mashrou' Laila.

Here's the full lineup:

- Jakub Urban Trio feat. Noha Fekry (Czech/Egypt)

- USS w Lazq (Egypt)

- Kaz Okumura Trio feat. Michelle Rounds (Japan/ Australia)

- Massar Egbari (Egypt)

- OUM (Morocco)

- VEIN (Switzerland)

- Yuri Honing Quartette (Holland) 

- Sylvain Beuf Electric Eccentric (France)

- Soweto Kinch feat. Arab Rap All Stars (UK/Egypt)

- Daerr-Bica-Stick (Germany)

- Soopar Lox (Egypt)

- Nabil Khemir (Tunisia)

- Holler My Dear (Austria)

- Rami Attalla Group (Egypt)

- Mashrou Leila feat. Soweto Kinch (Lebanon/UK)

 - Omar Khairat (Egypt)

- Andre Carvalho Group (Portugal)

- Christine Kisilewsky (Austia)

 The official site is [here] and check out the teaser video below:

The Fender Custom Shop Muddy Waters Tribute Telecaster

Muddy Waters is mostly associated with his candy apple red Fender Telecaster (which he called "The Hoss"). It wasn't always red though; it started out as a 50's color white blonde, maple neck Telecaster. Later he got new neck from Fender, this time in rosewood, and got the color changed to a 60's candy apple red, and changed the standard knobs to amp knobs.

Ever since the late 50's until his death in 1983, Muddy only used this guitar (with one major exception being when he played a Guild briefly for advertising purposes).

The Fender Custom Shop released a tribute to that guitar, in 2000:

MUDDY WATERS TRIBUTE TELE 2000 As a salute to the brilliant artistry of the godfather of the blues, Muddy Waters, and the lasting impact his music has had on guitar players around the world, the Fender Custom Shop is proud to unveil the Muddy Waters Tribute Telecaster 2000. If you've thrilled to the classic sounds of Chicago blues, the Fender Muddy Waters Tribute Tele is for you. The Muddy Waters Tribute Tele is an exact replica of the late '50s Telecaster that was Muddy's signature guitar for more than 30 years. Now hanging in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, Muddy's Tele is as distinctive as the man himself, but also as simple and direct. The emphasis here is squarely on tone and vibe. The authentic specs give you the tone; the exact replication of 40 years of wear and tear give you the vibe. To recreate this classic artist's classic axe, Custom Shop R&D man George Blanda flew out to Cleveland and, with the permission of the Hall of Fame, took rulers, calipers and gauges to Muddy's Tele. Every ding, scratch and eccentricity, even the amp knobs, has been faithfully recreated by the people who craft our popular Relic guitars. But don't just hang it on the wall. With its girthy neck and its classic pickups and electronics, this Tele's tone and feel give you all the legendary mojo the name Muddy Waters implies. MOJO MAN ACCESSORY KIT As a premium bonus, each Muddy Waters Tribute Tele comes with an accessory kit that will remind you what the Mojo man was all about. The Mojo Accessory Kit includes slide, capo, fingerpicks, thumb-pick, Muddy Waters: The Lost Tapes CD and a signed and framed poster of Muddy by famed Chicago blues photographer Raeburn Flerlage.

After that, Fender released a standard version (Made in Mexico) for about over 10 years, and it was sadly discontinued sometime in 2008/2009.

Here's a video of Muddy playing his unique slide guitar on his Telecaster, (solo starts at 2:25)

Paul Rodgers feat. David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) Cover Muddy Waters

Paul Rodgers, of the band Free and Bad Company, released an entire album dedicated to the legendary bluesman Muddy Waters in 1993. 

The featured artists are: Jeff Beck, David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Buddy Guy, Brian May (Queen), Steve Miller, Gary Moore, Trevor Rabin (Yes), Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi), Neal Schon (Journey, Bad English), Brian Setzer, and Slash (Guns n' Roses, Velvet Revolver).

Now that's a great list of musicians, for which they all have a lot to thank Muddy Waters for. There are 15 tracks, including songs like 'I Can't Be Satisfied', 'Hoochie Coochie Man' and 'Rolling Stone'. 

Here's 'Standing Around Crying' and features David Gilmour; enjoy!

Gary Clark Jr. Covers Albert King's 'Oh Pretty Woman'

Gary Clark Jr. is a young fellow at 30 years old, but already has the music business buzzing. He's won the Grammy for best Traditional RnB album this year, and other local awards.

He's a young generation of blues music pioneers, providing a musical freshness to this drivel led age.

Here's him covering Albert King's classic cut 'Oh Pretty Woman'. Gary and John Mayer inducted Albert King at the 2013 Rock n' Roll hall of Fame, and they performed it at the show.

'Weird Al' Yankovic Sings The Blues

Funny music man Weird Al Yankovic has made a name for himself by performing parody versions of popular songs, most notably Amish Paradise (mock of Gangsta's Paradise), Smells Like Nirvana (mock of Smells Like Teen Spirit) and Like A Surgeon (mock of Like A Virgin) etc.

Well, he also sang the blues; while the lyrics are not THAT funny it's a great vocal delivery, and the backup band kicks the blues to 11.

Here's the Generic Blues:

Essential Hollywood Blues Movies

There have been several movies based on or involve the music and themes of the Blues. Most of them have been very good, and worth watching (none of that fluff we're used to with romantic-comedies etc).

So here's an essential list of some of my favorites:

BLUES BROTHERS

Needs no introduction.

BLACK SNAKE MOAN

Anything with Samuel L. Jackson is worth watching anyways.

CROSSROADS

Steve Vai versus the Blues?!?! HELL YEAH. The below is the famous "guitar duel" from the movie.

CADILLAC RECORDS

A good representation of the Chess Records era of the Blues, showing what Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, etc went through. 

'Can't Hold On Much Longer' - Little Walter

In 1957, Chess Records released a compilation album featuring the top hits of blues harp legend, Little Walter. He had 10 hits on the Billboard chart in the 50's, making him a staple of the post-war Chicago blues.

Walter, not just a proficient solo artist, was also the main harp player for Muddy Waters and many other bluesmen, such as Johnny Shines, Otis Rush, Jimmy Rodgers, and others.

His legacy as a blues harpist was evident when he was inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, and is the only harmonica player to receive such an award.

Here's 'Can't Hold On Much Longer', which features label mates Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rodgers on guitar. 

Blues Thought for Valentines

"...there ain't but one kind of blues, and that consists of between male and female that's in love. Two people supposed to be in love. And one or the other deceives the other who they love. Sometimes that kind of blues will make you even kill one another or do anything, that kind of love. It goes here, this side (puts his hand on heart) that's where the blues started..."  - Son House

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