'Glory Bee' - Lightnin' Hopkins

Lightnin' Hopkins was known for his haunting vocals, enchanting lyrics and fiery guitar skills. This song combines them all in a chilling blues track, called 'Glory Bee'.

Organic Sounds - Tribute to Nepal Concert

Delta Blues Playlist

via mojohand.com

The Mississippi Delta is the region in the southern United States, also known as the Deep South, where blues music originated. The area, known for its poverty, sharecroppers and farming, is the place where African-Americans on the plantations started singing the music originating from West Africa, combining it with work songs, spirituals, and instead of talking about God (gospel), talked about women, working conditions, and poverty, which became the blues. 

From this focal point between the banks of the Mississippi River lie the states of Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas, where the most famous movers and innovators and legends of the blues emerged. From Robert Johnson to Muddy Waters to BB King to John Lee Hooker and hundreds more, this was not just fertile land for farming but also for growing legends.

The country style, usually with a bottleneck slide, no amplification, and loose, raw, solo arrangements define the sound of the delta blues. It is the origin, and from the 1920s onwards was the prime location for bluesmen to shine.

I've complied a list of 10 songs from the Delta for your blues needs:

10. Depot Blues - Son House

9. Country Blues - Muddy Waters

8. Sittin' on Top of the World - Mississippi Sheiks

7. Goin' Down to the River - Mississippi Fred McDowell 

6. Big Road Blues - Tommy Johnson

5. Someday Baby - Sleepy John Estes

4. Grandpa Got Drunk - Kokomo Arnold

3. Good Gal Blues - Sonnyboy Williamson I

2. Black Spider Blues - Robert Lockwood Jr.

1. Crossroad Blues - Robert Johnson

Standard of the Week - 'Walkin' Blues'

In 1936, Robert Johnson recorded the definitive version of "Walkin' Blues", which contained the classic line:

"Woke up this mornin' feelin round for my shoes
But you know by that, I got these old walkin' blues"

It contains traditional blues lines originally attributed to the legend Son House, who was a major influence on Robert Johnson. 

Since then it's been considered one of the main blues standards, and has been covered by hundreds of musicians across genres, such as:

MUDDY WATERS

ERIC CLAPTON

HOT TUNA

CEE-LO GREEN ft. KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD (wtf)

ROY ROGERS

JOE BONAMASSA

SRV Stands Tall During Texas Floods

There are currently some floods happening in Texas; but the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue in Austin was also not safe. However, the statue looked like it was walking on water, in a biblical reference to the importance and relevance of SRV to Texas and floods.

For those who don't know:

'Hardtime Blues' - Uncle Jessie White & The 29th Street Band

Uncle Jessie White was great Detroit bluesman, who moved there in 1950 from Mississippi; he played piano with The 29th Street Band for decades, landing his most famous album in 1991. He kept performing until his death in 2008.

Below is a track from the 1991 album Uncle Jessie White & The 29th Street Band:

I'm Confirmed for Beirut Fête da la Musique!

I received the official word last night; I'l be performing a blues set at Beirut's Fête de la Musique on the 21st of June! The event will take place in various locations around Beirut; my set will be at Samir Kassir Square in Downtown, at 11:20pm.

This will be my first official gig in Beirut as a solo musician, and will also be my first official gig in Lebanon since 2005 (see more about my Beirut music journey here). I have discussed with my old band mates and they will be performing with me on stage, reunited after all this time.

More details will be coming later on; hope to see you there!

B.B. King Memorial Planned in Las Vegas

I've been in mourning for the past few days since B.B. King passed away... we also did a tribute if you missed it (link).

There will be a public viewing on Friday May 22 in Las Vegas, before moving to the burial in his hometown of Indianola, Mississippi as announced.

Read some of the comments people are sharing about King's passing [here].

B.B. King Tribute - 'Thrill is Gone' / Ali Sleeq & Hashim Al-Nasser

In memory of the late B.B. King, my good friend Hashim and I recorded his most famous song "Thrill is Gone". 

RIP B.B.

The Last King of the Blues is Dead; RIP B.B. King

All good things come to an end; kingdoms may rise and fall, but legacies endure the test of history.

Sad news this morning; the last king of the blues, one of the only remaining classic bluesmen, Riley B. King, most well known as B.B. King, has died at the age of 89.

I find it very difficult to grasp, that one of music's greatest pinnacles was currently in hospice and taken ill. It was inevitable, but we always don't like to admit it when the time comes.

I also had a shiver down my spine, as I performed one of his songs last night as a tribute; was it an omen?

B.B. King's legacy from his young upbringing in Mississippi, to capturing the audiences of all races and ages in the big cities is a huge success story; he won Grammys, countless Halls of Fames, hundreds of awards, and thousands of fans and proteges.

Today, we mourn the death of the last remaining King of the Blues. 

The thrill is gone, thrill is gone away.