Saturday, September 18, 2010

Cocaine'll kill ya.....but it will also let you play the guitar like a hurricane.


4.Ten Years After - I'm Going Home

Alvin Lee leaves everything on stage with heavy soulful vocals and furious guitar riffs that'll run circles around a merry-go-round. Too stoned to even form a proper sentence, Alvin barely even opens his eyes yet nails every note and always manages to find the microphone.  At times during this performance you just don't believe that it is happening.  My favorite part of this video is at the end where he haphazardly throws his guitar aside and clumsily walks off with a watermelon on his shoulder, that of which was thrown on stage at the end of the song, as if that was his next order of business.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Swing Low.....Sing High

5. Joan Baez - Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Joan Baez's performance in the Woodstock documentary is my favorite female vocal performance ever.  With nothing but her voice and her guitar Joan Baez first sings, "Joe Hill" as a prideful antiwar protest.  Dropping her guitar, she then breaks into the most mindblowing version of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."  With magnificent cinematography and carefully placed transitions, Joan Baez comes off as a guardian angel glowing in the spotlight, blue flames flowing from her mouth as she nails the final high notes.