Metallica performed a cover of Tom Jones’ “Delilah” during their concert on Sunday night at Cardiff, Wales’ Principality Stadium, a venue where the song has been banned for the past few years.
Throughout Metallica’s long-running “M72 World Tour,” bassist Robert Trujillo and guitarist Kirk Hammett have been honoring acts local to the venue with a cover song during their “doodle” portion of the concert. In this case, they paid tribute to Welsh legend Jones with a rendition of his classic song “Delilah.”
Either Metallica didn’t get the memo or were being a bit rebellious, because “Delilah” has been banned from that stadium since 2023.
“Delilah” had been a staple at the stadium during rugby games, but was banned because of the lyrical content, which tells the story of a husband murdering his wife. The Welsh Rugby Union stated at the time, “The WRU condemns domestic violence of any kind.”
That didn’t sit well with Jones, who commented after the ban, “You can’t stop us singing ‘Delilah.’ Can you imagine… Who was the man who didn’t want us to sing ‘Delilah’?”
All that said, Trujillo and Hammett went ahead and performed the tune, with the crowd singing along to the hometown anthem. Video of the performance can be seen below.
My “songs with the name of the month in the title”-project continues, and when I woke up today it was the first morning in July. There’s can only be one thing to do then!
Buckle up for a big post again, because it’s time to celebrate the memory of a giant in the history of blues and rock, because Willie Dixon was born 111 years ago today. Not only a giant of a man (almost two meters tall and 113 kilos), he may also be the most prolific songwriter in the blues of the 1950’s and 60’s. Along with Muddy Waters he’s considered to be the most important musician in shaping modern blues.
Willie Dixon wrote or co-wrote over 500 songs, which have been recorded by numerous artists. A fair number of them have become standards in blues and rock, and many of them have been recorded by some of the biggest names there is in blues and rock, like the Stones, Zeppelin, the Doors, Clapton and Aerosmith, just to mention a handful. I’ll leave a link to a more comprehensive list of Willie Dixon songs here. Check it out, it is impressive:
Willie Dixon was born in 1915, as one of 14 children. At the age of four he made his first public appearence, when he sang in the local church. In his teens he started putting music to some poetry he wrote, and sold his first songs to local groups. In 1935 he moved to Chicago, and pursued a career as a boxer. Due to his considerable stature, he actually had some success, even going professional for a short while.
Still, Willie Dixon kept on doing music beside the boxing. Around 1940 he was adviced to seriously pursue a career in music. However, it wasn’t until the 1950’s he became successful, when he started working with the big names in blues at the time, like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Chuck Berry.
Then in 1964 The Rolling Stones got their second number 1 in the UK with one of Willie Dixon’s songs. And as the old cliche goes, the rest is history, both for Willie Dixon and the Stones.
The Rolling Stones - Little Red Rooster (1964)
Willie Dixon also had a career as an artist. He played some guitar and was very skilled on the upright bass, and the toured and released several albums under his own name. Also he had a more than decent voice.
Willie Dixon - Sittin’ Here And Crying the Blues (live, 1963)
Willie Dixon remained active during the 1970’s, 80’s and into the 90’s, in spite of failing health due to diabetes. He appeared live now and then, and his last album Hidden Charms was released in 1989.
Willie Dixon - I Love the Life I Live (I Live the Life I Love) (1989)
Willie Dixon passed away in 1992 aged 76. Here’s to the memory of one of the true greats
Glad to see someone is picking up on this theme.
Still, just to make sure, you get that the songs we post with this in mind is about the month we are in when we post them? Having said that, this one was still relevant, as Rio Reiser is singing about the motnth of June being over.
I’ve kind of been waiting for others to join in here, but perhaps I’ve been a little too…
Of course anyone is more than welcome to post favourite songs with the name of the actual month in it. We still got six months to go, so there should be plenty of fine songs to come
While I’m at it, because it’s July and because it is today, the late great John Prine.
Now when this is settled, let’s move on. And by the way, I choose July. Not because it is July now, but because it is such a slow and lazy month. I like slow and lazy
And just to cheer us up a little, and because it is today…
