For those who don't know or don't remember, in 2007-2008 I hosted a "music log" on my website. Every week for a whole year, I picked a theme, and then each day of the week I posted a classic rock or blues song that relates to that theme. It was a fun way to celebrate my love of music, and satisfy my creative and organizational mind, similar to what I used to do as a college radio DJ.
After the series concluded in July of 2008, I added a handful of extra themes as they came to me. I call this the Redux. Then there was a long break, and in 2018 I added the first new theme in six years. It was meant to be the conclusion of the Redux and the final theme. But thinking about the music log again, and also sharing it with a friend, got my creative juices flowing, and I started working on a new series of themes.
Over the past six years, those themes have been stewing in my head. I put a lot of groundwork down on them in 2021, before turning my attention to other things. But early this year, I began to feel inspired, and I decided it was finally time to launch the "third season" of Zharth's Music Log - which I refer to as Threedux. I've been publishing themes low key since February, and have already filled out two new "quarters" (a quarter year's worth of weeks, or 13 themes), when combined with Redux.
I thought that would be the end once and for all. But since I've been polishing and finalizing these themes, I've been coming up with new ones left and right, which I am now working on. I think that I will comfortably be able to fill out a full second year (added to the original run), with 26 more themes than what I have currently published. After that, I plan to stop, but who can say what the future will bring? (The longer I go, the harder it is to avoid repeating songs). But until then, there'll be lots of music to (re-)discover as the weeks go by!
See all the themes at zharth.net/zml.
Showing posts with label ZML. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ZML. Show all posts
Sunday, June 9, 2024
Monday, May 14, 2018
ZML^2 - Yardbirds Covers
Preface: The last edition of Zharth's Music Log was posted almost six years ago, if you can believe that. But though this might not seem like a sufficiently awesome theme to resurrect the mlog over, the truth is, this is a theme I've been sitting on for a long, long time. And the Yardbirds - the quintessential guitar supergroup of the '60s, featuring no less than Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page on guitar (at various times) - interestingly, the focus of Joe Bonamassa's triple tribute to the British Blues Explosion, which is finally being released this month - is one of my favorite bands of all time. And they're not like Bob Dylan - official covers by high profile bands are few and far between. But every once in awhile I stumble upon one, and it's always a treat. And that's what we're celebrating this week.
The James Gang - Lost Woman (Live) [Live In Concert, 1971]
Comments: I think this is one of the first Yardbirds covers I stumbled across, and it's certainly the longest, being stretched out to a near 18 minute long mostly-instrumental jam by the early band that featured Joe Walsh of later Eagles fame - The James Gang, better known for their radio hit Funk #49 (you may not know it by name, but you'd probably recognize it if you heard it).
Rainbow - Still I'm Sad [Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, 1975]
Comments: Fresh from Deep Purple, guitar virtuoso Ritchie Blackmore paired up with one of heavy metal's first and foremost poster children - Ronnie James Dio - to form Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Opening with the radio hit Man On The Silver Mountain, their debut album closed with an interesting choice of a Yardbirds cover, the melancholy Still I'm Sad, ably interpreted as an instrumental with a very lyrical lead guitar part.
Fleetwood Mac - For Your Love [Mystery To Me, 1973]
Comments: Sandwiched between the trailblazing Peter Green era and the chart-topping Buckingham-Nicks era, comes this Bob Welch-era cover of what was itself a transitional song for The Yardbirds - For Your Love. It's rumored that Eric Clapton quit the band after the release of this song, their first hit single (on which he refused to play), because the band was going in a more experimental direction, away from their blues roots. He transferred to John Mayall's Bluesbreakers for a short stint before setting off on his own progressive experiment with the Cream. His replacement in The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, had and never has had a problem with musical experimentation.
Jeff Beck - Shapes of Things [Truth, 1968]
Comments: Recorded by a former Yardbird himself, not long off of his tenure with the band, on the debut album that paralleled Jimmy Page's own reinvention with Led Zeppelin's first album (a band that was originally billed as The New Yardbirds for contractual reasons), this is undoubtedly the least distilled cover we'll listen to this week, and yet, underneath Rod Stewart's distinctive vocals, Jeff Beck still manages to make it sound unique.
Rush - Heart Full Of Soul [Feedback, 2004]
Comments: One of two Yardbirds covers (the other being the band's most popular and most frequently covered song, Shapes of Things) featured on Rush's 21st century EP of covers, appropriately titled Feedback, also including the likes of Buffalo Springfield and The Who. Though never having been a diehard fan of Rush (but Working Man was one of the hardest rocking songs of the '70s), when this EP came out, I sat up and took notice. A band is only as good as its influences, after all.
Aerosmith - Think About It [Night In The Ruts, 1979]
Comments: Speaking of influences, Aerosmith is another band with great influences - and one of the few I know of who has covered both The Yardbirds and the Peter Green era of Fleetwood Mac. If you've ever listened to their song Livin' On The Edge, it contains a not-so-subtle homage to The Yardbirds' Mr. You're A Better Man Than I (I'd've liked to've heard them cover that one!). Although Aerosmith is somewhat known for doing The Yardbirds' signature cover of The Train Kept A Rollin', and I also have a live version of them doing I Ain't Got You, for this theme I picked the somewhat more obscure Think About It, which is interesting in that it features the guitar solo that Jimmy Page recycled for the middle section of Led Zeppelin's epic Dazed and Confused.
David Bowie - I Wish You Would [Pinups, 1973]
Comments: Perhaps the most unexpected artist to show up this week, from David Bowie's own album of covers (preceding Rush's Feedback by three decades, however) - also including the likes of The Who (as well as Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd), and yet another version of Shapes of Things - comes Bowie's tripped-out version of the harp-heavy blues I Wish You Would.
Honorable Mention: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Tom Petty's cover of I'm A Man, which can be heard on his Live Anthology box set, released in 2009. Truth be told, I'd been holding off this theme for the sake of this very song, until I'd reached a point where I realized I had at least seven other Yardbirds covers accounted for! I'm not including it here because its heritage as a Bo Diddley tune is possibly even stronger than The Yardbirds' claim to it (although Muddy Waters might have something to say about that), and because it gives me an excuse to rule out another version of the song covered by The Who on their debut album from 1965, which I just don't have room for - there are only seven days in a week! It is absolutely still worth mentioning, however, as, like Aerosmith, Tom Petty was also an artist with strong influences, including both The Yardbirds and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. His unexpected passing last year has left a devastating hole in the music world.
The James Gang - Lost Woman (Live) [Live In Concert, 1971]
Comments: I think this is one of the first Yardbirds covers I stumbled across, and it's certainly the longest, being stretched out to a near 18 minute long mostly-instrumental jam by the early band that featured Joe Walsh of later Eagles fame - The James Gang, better known for their radio hit Funk #49 (you may not know it by name, but you'd probably recognize it if you heard it).
Rainbow - Still I'm Sad [Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, 1975]
Comments: Fresh from Deep Purple, guitar virtuoso Ritchie Blackmore paired up with one of heavy metal's first and foremost poster children - Ronnie James Dio - to form Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Opening with the radio hit Man On The Silver Mountain, their debut album closed with an interesting choice of a Yardbirds cover, the melancholy Still I'm Sad, ably interpreted as an instrumental with a very lyrical lead guitar part.
Fleetwood Mac - For Your Love [Mystery To Me, 1973]
Comments: Sandwiched between the trailblazing Peter Green era and the chart-topping Buckingham-Nicks era, comes this Bob Welch-era cover of what was itself a transitional song for The Yardbirds - For Your Love. It's rumored that Eric Clapton quit the band after the release of this song, their first hit single (on which he refused to play), because the band was going in a more experimental direction, away from their blues roots. He transferred to John Mayall's Bluesbreakers for a short stint before setting off on his own progressive experiment with the Cream. His replacement in The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, had and never has had a problem with musical experimentation.
Jeff Beck - Shapes of Things [Truth, 1968]
Comments: Recorded by a former Yardbird himself, not long off of his tenure with the band, on the debut album that paralleled Jimmy Page's own reinvention with Led Zeppelin's first album (a band that was originally billed as The New Yardbirds for contractual reasons), this is undoubtedly the least distilled cover we'll listen to this week, and yet, underneath Rod Stewart's distinctive vocals, Jeff Beck still manages to make it sound unique.
Rush - Heart Full Of Soul [Feedback, 2004]
Comments: One of two Yardbirds covers (the other being the band's most popular and most frequently covered song, Shapes of Things) featured on Rush's 21st century EP of covers, appropriately titled Feedback, also including the likes of Buffalo Springfield and The Who. Though never having been a diehard fan of Rush (but Working Man was one of the hardest rocking songs of the '70s), when this EP came out, I sat up and took notice. A band is only as good as its influences, after all.
Aerosmith - Think About It [Night In The Ruts, 1979]
Comments: Speaking of influences, Aerosmith is another band with great influences - and one of the few I know of who has covered both The Yardbirds and the Peter Green era of Fleetwood Mac. If you've ever listened to their song Livin' On The Edge, it contains a not-so-subtle homage to The Yardbirds' Mr. You're A Better Man Than I (I'd've liked to've heard them cover that one!). Although Aerosmith is somewhat known for doing The Yardbirds' signature cover of The Train Kept A Rollin', and I also have a live version of them doing I Ain't Got You, for this theme I picked the somewhat more obscure Think About It, which is interesting in that it features the guitar solo that Jimmy Page recycled for the middle section of Led Zeppelin's epic Dazed and Confused.
David Bowie - I Wish You Would [Pinups, 1973]
Comments: Perhaps the most unexpected artist to show up this week, from David Bowie's own album of covers (preceding Rush's Feedback by three decades, however) - also including the likes of The Who (as well as Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd), and yet another version of Shapes of Things - comes Bowie's tripped-out version of the harp-heavy blues I Wish You Would.
Honorable Mention: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Tom Petty's cover of I'm A Man, which can be heard on his Live Anthology box set, released in 2009. Truth be told, I'd been holding off this theme for the sake of this very song, until I'd reached a point where I realized I had at least seven other Yardbirds covers accounted for! I'm not including it here because its heritage as a Bo Diddley tune is possibly even stronger than The Yardbirds' claim to it (although Muddy Waters might have something to say about that), and because it gives me an excuse to rule out another version of the song covered by The Who on their debut album from 1965, which I just don't have room for - there are only seven days in a week! It is absolutely still worth mentioning, however, as, like Aerosmith, Tom Petty was also an artist with strong influences, including both The Yardbirds and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. His unexpected passing last year has left a devastating hole in the music world.
Monday, July 30, 2012
ZML^2 - Reinterpreting The Blues
Requisite Intro: Since this is the first time I'm using this blog for my ZML^2 posts, I believe an introduction is in order. As I explained previously on my other blog, Zharth's Music Log was an exciting project I worked on several years ago. For one full year between 2007 and 2008, I picked a theme every week and posted one song per day relating to that theme, with some information about the song and how it relates to the week's theme. It was a lot of fun, and a great, low-stress way to relive some of the excitement of programming a radio show, which I haven't done since I graduated college.
No doubt, choosing a song every day for a whole year is a lot of work (it's not much fun if I don't put any thought into it), so when the year was done, I was happy to take a rest. But there are still some themes I've got up in my head that I'd like to do some day, and every once in a while, I get the urge to bring back Zharth's Music Log, just for a single theme. And today, the theme is Reinterpreting The Blues. Enjoy!
Reinterpreting The Blues
Rock 'n Roll gained a foothold in American culture in the 1950s, with artists like Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and Elvis Presley. By the 70s, album-oriented rock was firmly entrenched in the culture. But the 60s was known for the British invasion, where many a talented British artist picked up on American roots and rock music, reinterpreted it their own way, and then presented it fresh to new audiences. It's no secret that a large portion of rock n' roll was inspired by the American blues tradition; many of the elder statesman of classic rock have openly and proudly admitted their debt to the legends of the blues. Muddy Waters himself, who penned the song that gave The Rolling Stones their band name, once said, "the blues had a baby, and they called it rock n' roll." Let's explore some of the most well-known classic rock tracks that are based on a strong foundation in the blues, yet that demonstrate the talent and creativity that rock artists brought to the table, reinterpreting the blues and giving it a new life all its own.
Cream - Crossroads [Wheels of Fire, 1968]
Comments: With the release of Eric Clapton's album-long tribute to Robert Johnson, Me And Mr. Johnson, in 2004, Clapton's dedication to the legendary bluesman (who was rumored to have sold his soul to the devil) became recorded history. But all the way back in 1968, with the power trio supergroup Cream, Clapton recorded one of his most enduring hits: Robert Johnson's Cross Road Blues. You couldn't be faulted for not recognizing it as one of Johnson's songs; it was loud and it was heavy, and it was brimming with a rock n' roll energy that betrayed the haunting, acoustic quality of Johnson's recording. But it was an astoundingly successful - and unique - interpretation of a song from one who has become, quite possibly, the most inspiring and influential blues artist in history. Cream was also known for their rousing cover of Albert King's Born Under A Bad Sign, and Howlin' Wolf's Spoonful, which they developed into a long and impressive live jam centerpiece.
The Doors - Back Door Man [The Doors, 1967]
Comments: Hailing from the L.A. scene, Jim Morrison's talent as a lyrical poet didn't prevent him from covering a few blues songs with The Doors, and among other influences, the blues was definitely one of the ingredients that went into the melting pot that produced the band's unique sound. On their debut album, they recorded an immensely popular cover of Howlin' Wolf's Back Door Man, where Wolf's characteristic howlin' vocals (he didn't get that name for nothin') are substituted by Jim Morrison's impassioned ravings. The Doors also covered a song popularized by John Lee Hooker - Crawling King Snake - on their most blues-influenced album, L.A. Woman.
George Thorogood - One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
[George Thorogood and The Destroyers, 1977]
Comments: Speaking of John Lee Hooker, George Thorogood was an excellent match to cover Hooker's boogie style, while introducing a rather harder rockin' edge. Thorogood's popular hit One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer is actually a seamless amalgam of two blues songs, Hooker's House Rent Boogie, and the track's namesake, which was an even older song popularized by John Lee Hooker. One of George Thorogood's other really popular songs is Who Do You Love?, written and originally recorded by Bo Diddley, who was immensely influential among many burgeoning rock artists.
Foghat - I Just Want To Make Love To You [Foghat, 1972]
Comments: This is another track you couldn't be faulted for not recognizing as the blues. Hearing Foghat's popular hits on the radio, you wouldn't think they were heavily influenced by the blues, but they were. But they had such a unique and driving sound, it's a perfect example of how a rock band can take the blues and turn it into something fierce. Case in point, one of their biggest hits, released on their debut album, was I Just Want To Make Love To You, which is one of many songs penned by Willie Dixon, and originally recorded by Muddy Waters. But Foghat totally makes it their own, far surpassing the original.
Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love [Led Zeppelin II, 1969]
Comments: Led Zeppelin is one of those bands whose blues influences were pretty darn obvious. Or were they? The band has been criticized as frequently 'burying the lead' in terms of being less than straightforward about their sources of inspiration, but many of their songs, history has revealed, are heavily based in the blues. Among the more obvious ones (to the discerning listener) are The Lemon Song (Howlin' Wolf's Killing Floor, sneakily renamed, with some other influences peppered in), Bring It On Home (which combines an effective Sonny Boy Williamson imitation with a wholly original rock composition), Muddy Waters' You Shook Me and Otis Rush' I Can't Quit You Baby (both penned by Willie Dixon and recorded for Zeppelin's bluesy debut album), and a more or less straightforward (for Led Zeppelin) rock update of Robert Johnson's Traveling Riverside Blues.
But here I present you with one of the band's most popular songs from their entire catalog, which is cleverly based on another Willie Dixon-penned/Muddy Waters-recorded song, this one titled You Need Love. And though the arrangement borrows from another rock band's previous interpretation of the song (The Small Faces), Zeppelin adds enough of their own unique flair to make the song a rock n' roll tour de force. (For more information about Led Zeppelin's musical influences, see The Roots of Led Zeppelin Project)
Ten Years After - Good Morning Little Schoolgirl [Ssssh, 1969]
Comments: Ten Years After were, lamentably, not as popular as they deserved. Perhaps because their songs often overreached, not infrequently on account of frontman Alvin Lee's frenetic and drawn out guitar solos (though one of the reasons I so love the band). But they had lots of excellent rock hits to their name, many of them blues-inspired (but most of them admirably original in content). Good Morning Little Schoolgirl is one perfect example of a fairly simple traditional blues song (by Sonny Boy Williamson), covered to less fanfare by many other bands, that in the hands of Ten Years After was transformed into a rock n' roll force of nature. The band did the same thing with another simple blues, Help Me, by the second bluesman to adopt the name Sonny Boy Williamson.
Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return) [Electric Ladyland, 1968]
Comments: This is another track that, without the right listening experience, you might never have guessed was based on a blues tune. But on the album that it was released, there was another song with a similar title ("Voodoo Chile") that reveals the connection. That track is an extended jam that very obviously plays off of the Muddy Waters song Rollin' Stone. And where Voodoo Chile is an extended improvisation on that song, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) is a further distillation of the theme, transforming it into an almost entirely brand new song, which has the honor of being one of the fiercest guitar songs in rock history, by one of rock's most talented and influential guitarists of all time. But what remains underneath all of that innovation is the very simple riff from Muddy Waters' song, flipped on its head and turned up to eleven. This is what they mean when they say that rock n' roll was born from the blues.
Afterthought: Honorable mention goes to two songs that seem at best only vaguely related to the blues, but whose titles very conspicuously suggest two popular blues tracks, by two veteran bands of the classic rock era: AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long [Back In Black, 1980]; and Steppenwolf's Rock Me [At Your Birthday Party, 1969] (which recalls the song Rock Me Baby that B.B. King made popular).
No doubt, choosing a song every day for a whole year is a lot of work (it's not much fun if I don't put any thought into it), so when the year was done, I was happy to take a rest. But there are still some themes I've got up in my head that I'd like to do some day, and every once in a while, I get the urge to bring back Zharth's Music Log, just for a single theme. And today, the theme is Reinterpreting The Blues. Enjoy!
Reinterpreting The Blues
Rock 'n Roll gained a foothold in American culture in the 1950s, with artists like Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and Elvis Presley. By the 70s, album-oriented rock was firmly entrenched in the culture. But the 60s was known for the British invasion, where many a talented British artist picked up on American roots and rock music, reinterpreted it their own way, and then presented it fresh to new audiences. It's no secret that a large portion of rock n' roll was inspired by the American blues tradition; many of the elder statesman of classic rock have openly and proudly admitted their debt to the legends of the blues. Muddy Waters himself, who penned the song that gave The Rolling Stones their band name, once said, "the blues had a baby, and they called it rock n' roll." Let's explore some of the most well-known classic rock tracks that are based on a strong foundation in the blues, yet that demonstrate the talent and creativity that rock artists brought to the table, reinterpreting the blues and giving it a new life all its own.
Cream - Crossroads [Wheels of Fire, 1968]
Comments: With the release of Eric Clapton's album-long tribute to Robert Johnson, Me And Mr. Johnson, in 2004, Clapton's dedication to the legendary bluesman (who was rumored to have sold his soul to the devil) became recorded history. But all the way back in 1968, with the power trio supergroup Cream, Clapton recorded one of his most enduring hits: Robert Johnson's Cross Road Blues. You couldn't be faulted for not recognizing it as one of Johnson's songs; it was loud and it was heavy, and it was brimming with a rock n' roll energy that betrayed the haunting, acoustic quality of Johnson's recording. But it was an astoundingly successful - and unique - interpretation of a song from one who has become, quite possibly, the most inspiring and influential blues artist in history. Cream was also known for their rousing cover of Albert King's Born Under A Bad Sign, and Howlin' Wolf's Spoonful, which they developed into a long and impressive live jam centerpiece.
The Doors - Back Door Man [The Doors, 1967]
Comments: Hailing from the L.A. scene, Jim Morrison's talent as a lyrical poet didn't prevent him from covering a few blues songs with The Doors, and among other influences, the blues was definitely one of the ingredients that went into the melting pot that produced the band's unique sound. On their debut album, they recorded an immensely popular cover of Howlin' Wolf's Back Door Man, where Wolf's characteristic howlin' vocals (he didn't get that name for nothin') are substituted by Jim Morrison's impassioned ravings. The Doors also covered a song popularized by John Lee Hooker - Crawling King Snake - on their most blues-influenced album, L.A. Woman.
George Thorogood - One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
[George Thorogood and The Destroyers, 1977]
Comments: Speaking of John Lee Hooker, George Thorogood was an excellent match to cover Hooker's boogie style, while introducing a rather harder rockin' edge. Thorogood's popular hit One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer is actually a seamless amalgam of two blues songs, Hooker's House Rent Boogie, and the track's namesake, which was an even older song popularized by John Lee Hooker. One of George Thorogood's other really popular songs is Who Do You Love?, written and originally recorded by Bo Diddley, who was immensely influential among many burgeoning rock artists.
Foghat - I Just Want To Make Love To You [Foghat, 1972]
Comments: This is another track you couldn't be faulted for not recognizing as the blues. Hearing Foghat's popular hits on the radio, you wouldn't think they were heavily influenced by the blues, but they were. But they had such a unique and driving sound, it's a perfect example of how a rock band can take the blues and turn it into something fierce. Case in point, one of their biggest hits, released on their debut album, was I Just Want To Make Love To You, which is one of many songs penned by Willie Dixon, and originally recorded by Muddy Waters. But Foghat totally makes it their own, far surpassing the original.
Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love [Led Zeppelin II, 1969]
Comments: Led Zeppelin is one of those bands whose blues influences were pretty darn obvious. Or were they? The band has been criticized as frequently 'burying the lead' in terms of being less than straightforward about their sources of inspiration, but many of their songs, history has revealed, are heavily based in the blues. Among the more obvious ones (to the discerning listener) are The Lemon Song (Howlin' Wolf's Killing Floor, sneakily renamed, with some other influences peppered in), Bring It On Home (which combines an effective Sonny Boy Williamson imitation with a wholly original rock composition), Muddy Waters' You Shook Me and Otis Rush' I Can't Quit You Baby (both penned by Willie Dixon and recorded for Zeppelin's bluesy debut album), and a more or less straightforward (for Led Zeppelin) rock update of Robert Johnson's Traveling Riverside Blues.
But here I present you with one of the band's most popular songs from their entire catalog, which is cleverly based on another Willie Dixon-penned/Muddy Waters-recorded song, this one titled You Need Love. And though the arrangement borrows from another rock band's previous interpretation of the song (The Small Faces), Zeppelin adds enough of their own unique flair to make the song a rock n' roll tour de force. (For more information about Led Zeppelin's musical influences, see The Roots of Led Zeppelin Project)
Ten Years After - Good Morning Little Schoolgirl [Ssssh, 1969]
Comments: Ten Years After were, lamentably, not as popular as they deserved. Perhaps because their songs often overreached, not infrequently on account of frontman Alvin Lee's frenetic and drawn out guitar solos (though one of the reasons I so love the band). But they had lots of excellent rock hits to their name, many of them blues-inspired (but most of them admirably original in content). Good Morning Little Schoolgirl is one perfect example of a fairly simple traditional blues song (by Sonny Boy Williamson), covered to less fanfare by many other bands, that in the hands of Ten Years After was transformed into a rock n' roll force of nature. The band did the same thing with another simple blues, Help Me, by the second bluesman to adopt the name Sonny Boy Williamson.
Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return) [Electric Ladyland, 1968]
Comments: This is another track that, without the right listening experience, you might never have guessed was based on a blues tune. But on the album that it was released, there was another song with a similar title ("Voodoo Chile") that reveals the connection. That track is an extended jam that very obviously plays off of the Muddy Waters song Rollin' Stone. And where Voodoo Chile is an extended improvisation on that song, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) is a further distillation of the theme, transforming it into an almost entirely brand new song, which has the honor of being one of the fiercest guitar songs in rock history, by one of rock's most talented and influential guitarists of all time. But what remains underneath all of that innovation is the very simple riff from Muddy Waters' song, flipped on its head and turned up to eleven. This is what they mean when they say that rock n' roll was born from the blues.
Afterthought: Honorable mention goes to two songs that seem at best only vaguely related to the blues, but whose titles very conspicuously suggest two popular blues tracks, by two veteran bands of the classic rock era: AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long [Back In Black, 1980]; and Steppenwolf's Rock Me [At Your Birthday Party, 1969] (which recalls the song Rock Me Baby that B.B. King made popular).
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