When Robert Randolph brings his family band along anywhere near where I live (and sometimes not so near) I make sure I see him. Part revival meeting, part instrumental master, with equal parts new age and old soul Robert Randolph has never disappointed always bringing a fresh approach with massive passion to anything he plays.
Somehow this song passed me by, I didn’t come across it until late tonight as I was surfing the Yahoo Blues Channel for a trip back to some blues guitar songs I had overlooked in what has been a pretty powerful year despite it becoming harder and harder to see or hear your favorite blues acts these days.
“If I Had My Way” is a swinging country blues number that allows Robert’s Family Band to show off their incredible talent – each one equally unique and soulful in his and her own right. Take a listen, for the die-hard Robert Randolph fan, there is something great about mixing his pedal slide guitar in with a different grooving style than you typically have heard from him in the past…love to see this one live.
What do you think?
Filed under slide guitar by on Oct 11th, 2011. Comment. 
I was listening to the latest Joe Bonamassa CD Black Rock
In fact, this is a straight forward, driving 12-bar blues number from the mid-40’s credited to James “Beale Street” Clark that has been done by the who’s who of blues guitar virtuoso’s including Junior Parker, Eddie Boyd, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy, through to Freddie King and twice this year with Joe Bonamassa and Steve Miller’s latest blues guitar oriented work “Bingo!”
The main chorus is unforgettable, the perfect blend of simplicity and perfection “Look over Yonder’s Wall Baby, Hand Me Down My Walkin Cane” – reflecting the story of the song based on a man that, due to a disability, is able to take advantage of lonely married women when their men have gone to the War…tell that doesn’t sound like a blues song!
Here is a version I scraped up from Youtube, this time the master slide guitar player Roy Rogers combines his amazing slide technique with a wonderful driving blues song…take a listen:
Filed under delta blues, slide guitar by on Nov 8th, 2010. Comment.
