A glorious performance from one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction concerts of the Chuck Berry classic “Sweet Little Rock and Roller,” featuring (at least) Kid Rock, Steve Winwood, Tom Petty, and tons more (it’s just billed as “Kid Rock and the Rock Hall Jam Band,” which is less than helpful).
Today begins Farpoint 2023, and as per usual, my band the Boogie Knights will be performing a concert on Saturday morning. In honor of the occasion, here’s the band ten years ago at Farpoint 2013 performing “Brewing in Elsinore,” a Hamlet-themed spoof of John Fogerty’s “Looking Out My Back Door.”
Today I’m driving down to Maryland to rehearse with the Boogie Knights for our concert at Farpoint next weekend. Here’s one of my favorites of our songs, “House on Pooh Corner,” a tribute to A.A. Milne’s books to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun.”
We’re in the midst of the eight days of Hanukkah, and so what better time to present one of the few Hanukkah carols? The incredibly catchy “Hanukkah in Santa Monica” is written by Tom Lehrer, who reportedly wrote this song because all the Jewish songwriters were too busy writing Christmas carols…..
Another one from the Montserrat concert in 1997, this is Mark Knopfler, backed by a full orchestra, doing a lovely rendition of “Brothers in Arms,” the title track of the 1985 album Dire Straits recorded at George Martin’s studio in Montserrat.
A beautiful version of Paul Simon’s “American Tune,” featuring Simon teaming up with Rhiannon Giddens. Two of my favorite performers on stage together at the Newport Folk Festival earlier this month. Just glorious.
Here’s another piece from the Boogie Knights 40th-anniversary concert last weekend at Shore Leave 42. This is our riff on “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” John Scheeler’s mic isn’t as loud as it should be, but I still like this for the harmonies and my percussion work…..
Here’s another piece from the 1986 Prince’s Trust concert. This one didn’t make the cut for the VHS tape of the concert that I wore out back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. What annoys me is that the tape did include two different versions of Paul Young’s “Every Time You Go Away” for no compellingly good reason (the second had George Michael duetting with Young), but didn’t include this or a bunch of other songs. Bastards.
Anyhow, here’s Howard Jones doing one of his hits, “No One is to Blame,” complete with (as expected) great piano work by keyboard master Jones, as well as (less expected, but in character) a superb Mark Knopfler guitar solo. Note also the great percussion work by Ray Cooper…..
From the Prince’s Trust Gala Concert 1986, a VHS tape I pretty much wore out during my college years, here’s Paul McCartney leading a stellar version of “Get Back” for which he’s joined on vocals by Tina Turner, Paul Young, and Bryan Adams, with Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton providing great guitar solos, and Elton John on piano, Ray Cooper on percussion, Howard Jones on keyboards, and Phil Collins on drums. Yeah.
It doesn’t get much better than this……
A song that should always be on the list of covers that surpass the original — as great as Tommy James and the Shondells’ original is, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts totally made the song their own in 1981, to the point where it’s more considered a Joan Jett song than a Tommy James song…..
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