# Best musical performances on Youtube **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486 "2012-04-01T15:59:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/1 "2012-04-01T15:59:28Z")
I was rather stunned not to be able to find a thread like this after searching back two years. All kinds of “Best… on Youtube” but for more specialized genres of music or other forms of entertainment. I’ll start with two of my favorites. I’m more interested in good musicianship and good quality recording than visuals. [Baba O’Reilly](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_Y26JNd3g4) – performed by Blue Man Group. This is the best rock & roll performance I’ve ever seen and heard on Youtube. Just incredible percussion – I can listen to it over and over – and I’m hoping one of you can show me better stuff. [Pipeline](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLb38LsYKHQ) – performed by Dick Dale and Stevie ray Vaughn. Put on some headphones! ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/2 "2012-04-01T16:51:17Z")
One I really like is David Bowie doing “Heroes” in 1978. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31sN0VhDDuE) The guitar, the drummer and, boy howdy, that eerie violin. And Bowie, starting easy and going hard to the end. Excellent! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/3 "2012-04-01T16:54:33Z")
Nickel Creek performing “The Fox” live. This is amazing. Really. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pk3O38cXQOI/hqdefault.jpg "Nickel Creek "The Fox"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk3O38cXQOI) ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/4 "2012-04-01T17:02:49Z")
One more. [Here’s They Might Be Giants, backed by Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show band in 1990.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6WKE4aYgOw) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/5 "2012-04-01T18:31:00Z")
This starts of as a pretty decent, if a bit plodding and reverential, cover of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” with Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne etc. Prince decides to liven it up at bit about half way through: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ifp_SVrlurY/hqdefault.jpg "Greatest Guitar Solo Ever") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifp_SVrlurY) (Also, doesn’t Dhani Harrison really look like his dad in this?) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/6 "2012-04-01T18:36:31Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > One I really like is David Bowie doing “Heroes” in 1978. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31sN0VhDDuE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31sN0VhDDuE) > > The guitar, the drummer and, boy howdy, that eerie violin. And Bowie, starting easy and going hard to the end. Excellent! Here’s another good Bowie moment - “Sorrow” from 1973 is about the most “Bowie” and “1973” thing ever: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LxDVc80Z3FI/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AG-AoAC8AGKAgwIABABGHIgUihDMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCY6Z20mFhQxkt-F2ITndjP2TM6EQ "David Bowie - Sorrow") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxDVc80Z3FI) ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/7 "2012-04-01T19:08:55Z")
Keep reminding yourself all the way through that this one man with one guitar – there is no band. [Michael Chapdelaine – Come Together](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u55G1VGuTfs) ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/8 "2012-04-02T07:50:55Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Here’s another good Bowie moment - “Sorrow” from 1973 is about the most “Bowie” and “1973” thing ever: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxDVc80Z3FI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxDVc80Z3FI) I thought I was the only human in the world who knew that song (the original by the Merseys). I have to say that, other than the very cool sax solo, I still prefer the Merseys’ version, though I won’t deny a personal bias for it and against Bowie. A song I just heard for the first time recently is a kind of swing-jazz number called Belleville Rendez-vous, also known as The Triplets of Belleville. A live version is [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbiRkXSjX7E) from a French-Canadian TV show. A better sounding studio version is [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFpci7XGrpQ&feature=related). The singer, Beatrice Bonifassi, went on to sing No Heaven with DJ Champion if you’re familiar with that song. She’s extremely versatile. She sings across a whole range of genres and speaks several languages. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/9 "2012-04-02T08:34:40Z")
Some of my favorites: This one is just… pure exhuberence and serendipitous artistry. [THRU YOU - Mother of All Funk Chords](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tprMEs-zfQA), by Kutiman. Compilation of God only knows how many performances spanning nations, ages, music styles, and years. Then there’s this gorgeous rendition of “Somewhere” from _West Side Story_ and Leonard Cohen’s _Hallelujah_ by the astonishing Drew Sarich. Unfortunately the original complete medley has been made private, but both halves can be heard separately. [Somewhere](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDYnB9vQEs0) and [Hallelujah](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EKFniMwSxA). To see what else he can do with his remarkable instrument, here’s him as [Jesus](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRrmLVXso_I&feature=related) and [Judas](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPT06Oez5zA). (I think the latter is my favorite. He makes a good Jesus, but he really sinks his teeth into the more challenging Judas role.) And finally: [Billie Holiday, singing “Strange Fruit.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs) Nothing else to say. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/10 "2012-04-02T11:00:08Z")
Great acoustic guitar from Pete Townshend ["Drowned" - Live at the Royal Albert Hall - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpjwE1_IJUw) ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/11 "2012-04-02T11:26:03Z")
[Big Country](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q50xzhDO9lI), Bela Fleck & The Flecktones ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/12 "2012-04-02T11:47:46Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > [Pipeline](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLb38LsYKHQ) – performed by Dick Dale and Stevie ray Vaughn. [Pipeline](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSjRggiSBrU), by Stevie Ray and Jimmy Vaughn, on the same guitar, at the same time, and Jimmy is playing blind. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/13 "2012-04-02T11:57:50Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > [Pipeline](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSjRggiSBrU), by Stevie Ray and Jimmy Vaughn, on the same guitar, at the same time, and Jimmy is playing blind. I saw them do that live once, when The Fabulous Thunderbirds opened for Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/14 "2012-04-02T13:35:39Z")
This [a’capella version of “Africa” by Toto](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjbpwlqp5Qw) is pretty sensational… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-musical-performances-on-youtube/617486/15 "2012-04-02T13:38:41Z")
Blossom Seeley and Benny Fields \*killing \*with “Hello, Bluebird” in 1927 – [Blossom Seeley 1927 - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv7e_DXLKJ8)