Great Songs That Pay Tribute

I'm not talking about great tribute bands, but actual songs that pay tribute to great artists.

One of my favorite songs is Six Strings Down, which is a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan by his brother, Jimmie. He shares the stage with some other legends, who also pay tribute: Jimmie Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, B.B.King, Buddy Guy, Dr.John, Art Neville and Double Trouble.

Per Wikipedia,

quote:

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"Six Strings Down" is a song written by Art Neville, Eric Kolb, Aaron Neville, Cyril Neville, Kelsey Smith, and Jimmie Vaughan, and which first appeared on Jimmie Vaughan's album Strange Pleasure in 1995.

The song was written as a eulogy to Jimmie Vaughan's brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and, by extension, many other fallen guitarists. In its original incarnation, the song takes the form of an acoustic blues.

The opening line, "Alpine Valley/Middle of the Night" refers to the Alpine Valley Music Theater near East Troy, Wisconsin where the helicopter carrying Stevie Ray Vaughan and several others crashed following a concert in 1990.

The song references many other deceased blues music guitarists including Jimi Hendrix (the "voodoo chile"), Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones, Freddie King, and Albert King. The song's refrain mourns that "Heaven done called another blues stringer back home".

All-star versions of the song were played at a tribute concert to Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1996 and, in a raucous version, at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2004.

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btw, to those who performed Six Strings Down. I could watch them perform that over and over!


I'm sure there are other songs out there. I know some of Pink Floyd's songs subtly paid tribute to Syd Barrett. I want to know some more, because I like the history behind good songs.