Hey everyone! The Gus Knorr Show is back on the air after a several week absence due to spring break and general lots of stuff going on on my part. This week’s theme is covers of blues songs by British artists during the 1960s that helped contribute to the genre of British blues, as well as the songs as they were performed by the original artist. In each set of two songs, I’ll first play the original version of the blues song, and then the cover by a British band. Listen in and you’ll get the jist of what I’m doing.

• The first song tonight on The Gus Knorr is one by legendary Chicago bluesman Muddy Waters, and was released in 1956; it’s “Got My Mojo Working.”
• Next is a cover of “Got My Mojo Working” by the important British R&B band Blues Incorporated, which helped to popularize the genre in England in the early 1960s.
• Switching up a little bit, the next song is a new one, but it is by a British band, namely the Arctic Monkeys. This is their new, just-released single, “R U Mine?”
• The next song is another newly released one by a British band, and it’s “I Want More,” by The Hours.
• Moving back to blues songs, the next one is by Chicago blues musician Billy Boy Arnold, who recorded a song in 1955 that was later covered by an important British blues rock band. This song is “I Wish You Would.”
• One of the most notable covers of “I Wish You Would” was done by The Yardbirds, which is the next song. This band started the career of Eric Clapton, and their version of “I Wish You Would” was their first single released in 1964.
• Next up is a song by a blues musician that became a number one single in England when it was covered by a well-known band several years later. However, it was originally performed by Howlin’ Wolf, and I am talking about “The Red Rooster.”
• The well known cover version of “The Red Rooster” was released in 1964, though with a slightly different title. Of course, this song is “Little Red Rooster,” by The Rolling Stones.
• The next song is the original version of a song that has been covered many times over the years, including by a band from Northern Ireland in 1964. However, it was originally recorded way back in 1935 by Big Joe Williams, and it’s “Baby Please Don’t Go.”
• The cover of “Baby Please Don’t Go” that is next on The Gus Knorr Show is a more upbeat and rock-ish one by Northern Irish band Them, released in 1964. If you haven’t heard of him, they were known for consisting of one Van Morrison, and if you don’t know who he is, then we need to talk. Seriously.
• Next up is a song by a legendary harmonica player, which was later covered by another band featuring Eric Clapton. This legendary harmonica player, who played in Muddy Waters’ band, released this song, called “It Ain’t Right.”
• The cover version of this song that was played next is by John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, which Eric Clapton joined after leaving The Yardbirds. This was released on the classic 1966 album Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton.
• The Wesley Willis Song of the Week is next, and is about a business in Chicago, where he and many of these blues musicians lived. This song, “American Music World,” is about a store where he frequently bought his keyboards to play on his songs.
• The next song is a newer one by a British band, You Me at Six, and is off their new album Sinners Never Sleep; it’s “No One Does it Better.”
• Moving back to blues songs, the next one is by legendary Delta bluesman Robert Johnson, and is one of his best known songs from 1936. This song, “Cross Road Blues,” was well known for being covered in a live performance by a British blues rock band thirty years later. (Guess what? This band also consisted of Eric Clapton!)
• This band, of course, is Cream, who released a live version of “Cross Road Blues” called “Crossroads,” originally performed at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, and released on their 1968 album Wheels of Fire.
• Next up is a song that was covered by a hugely influential heavy metal band that still took some of its repertoire from blues music. The original version of this song was released by Chicago blues musician Otis Rush in 1956, and is called “I Can’t Quit You Baby.”
• This cover of “I Can’t Quit You Baby” was by Led Zeppelin, and was a track off of their first self-titled album, released in 1969. Coincidentally, Led Zep guitarist Jimmy Page was a member of the Yardbirds at one point, though after Clapton had left the group.
• The second to last song is one by Muddy Waters, and was later covered by a band that featured yet another guitarist who was a member of The Yardbirds, and replaced Clapton in the group. This song, like so many other blues songs, was written by Willie Dixon, and was performed by Waters in 1962; it’s “You Shook Me.”
• The version of “You Shook Me” that is the last song on The Gus Knorr Show tonight was performed by The Jeff Beck Group and released on their 1968 album Truth. The song features Beck on guitar and Rod Stewart as the lead vocalist, and was also covered by Led Zeppelin a year later.

That’s it for The Gus Knorr Show tonight, but stay tuned next week, Monday, April 2nd, at 9:30 PM for another episode, and more great music. Thanks for listening!