B.B. King Albums (73)
What The Critics Say
It's been so long since B.B. King stepped outside of his comfort zone that One Kind Favor comes as a bit of a shock. Unlike so many albums he's cut in the wake of the crossover success of The Thrill Is Gone way back in 1970, the sound is stripped-back, not splashy, there is not a reliance on guest stars, and the repertoire is pure blues -- and these are all songs that he's never recorded before, including three tunes by his longtime idol Lonnie Johnson. Credit for the concept must be given to producer T Bone Burnett, who applies a similar neo-rootsy aesthetic to One Kind Favor that he did to his production of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' Raising Sand -- an approach that's grounded in tradition but has a smoky, smeary veneer that's thoroughly modern. One Kind Favor has a noir-ish flair but it doesn't dwell on darkness, even if it takes its title from a line in Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean," a song that would seem to carry some import for the 82-year-old King. He may be approaching his twilight years but brooding has never been B.B.'s style -- he's too generous, too open-hearted in both love and loss, so he's naturally disinclined to turn this album into a meditation on morality. Instead, One Kind Favor is a celebration of life with all of its ups and downs, filled with heartbreak but also great joy, which is precisely what B.B. King's best music always has been. And this is indeed one of King's best latter-day albums, thanks to its sterling selection of 12 songs and the supple support of drummer Jim Keltner, pianist Dr. John, and bassist Nathan East, who give B.B. plenty of room for both his guitar and voice. Even if King winds up returning to his familiar slick, star-studded sound somewhere down the line, having an album as earthily elegant as One Kind Favor in his canon provides a fitting coda for one of the great musical careers of the 20th century. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Released the week of B.B. King's 80th birthday, 80 is a star-studded duets album, the first B.B. released since 1997's Deuces Wild. It was recorded in a variety of locations in the spring of 2005 and features a variety of guest artists, ranging from the familiar (Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Bobby Bland) to the unsurprising (Billy Gibbons, Mark Knopfler, Elton John, Sheryl Crow) to the frankly bewildering (John Mayer, Daryl Hall, Gloria Estefan). Unfortunately, the material isn't quite as wide-ranging -- in fact, it leans toward the overly familiar, with a pleasant, thoroughly bland version of "The Thrill Is Gone" with Eric Clapton sadly living up to its title. There are a couple other bum tracks -- most notably the turgid slow blues "There Must Be a Better World Somewhere," which drags on for an interminable seven minutes, or a full six minutes longer than needed to prove that sultry blues is not Gloria Estefan's forte -- but for the most part, 80 plays better than it reads on paper. Most of it is solid, straight-ahead big band blues, firmly within B.B.'s comfort zone and sounding appropriately comfortable -- not as in boring, but warm, relaxed, and friendly, whether he's playing with old friends like Bobby Bland or with John Mayer, who acquits himself well as a guitarist, even if his voice is overwhelmed by B.B.'s towering presence. There are couple of nice little surprises along the way, such as how "Ain't Nobody Home" with Daryl Hall works up a nice soulful groove or how Sheryl Crow reveals that she's a convincing blues singer (there are also some unpleasant surprises, as on "Tired of Your Jive," an otherwise fine track that's derailed by the realization that Billy Gibbons' voice has been torn to shreds, leaving a phlegmy mess behind), but the best moments come from the old guard of the British Invasion. Roger Daltrey proves that he's singing better than ever with "Never Make Your Move Too Soon," Elton John and his house band really cook on a terrific "Rock This House," but it's Van Morrison who steals the show with "Early in the Morning," a clean but down-and-dirty version of the standard. It's the best thing here, but it's unfortunate that it kicks off the album, since it suggests that this might be a harder-hitting blues album than normal from B.B. It's not -- it's a slick, stylish, professional record, one that's actually a little more straightforward than he's been at any time since, well, Deuces Wild. Coming after some truly interesting records over the last few years, the predictability of 80 is a bit of a disappointment, but there's still a bunch of good stuff to hear, and, no matter how you look at it, for B.B. to be recording and still sounding vital at 80 is a remarkable thing even if the album that commemorates his birthday falls short of the remarkable itself. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Night of Blistering Blues'
Release Date 8/8/2005
Tracks 12
Label MPG
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What The Critics Say
"Easy Listening Blues" is a bit of an oxymoron, especially in the hands of B.B. King, who might be smooth and urbane in some respects, but who's rarely recorded music that could be categorized as easy listening. That's the title that Crown used, however, for this all-instrumental 1962 collection. Just prior to leaving Modern for ABC, King did a lot of recording that Modern milked for sides to put out after he'd left the company, and the liner notes to the Ace CD reissue of the album speculate that these tracks were laid down in late 1961 as part of this process. Since a big part of the pleasure of listening to B.B. King is hearing his voice, and hearing the songs he wrote and interpreted, an all-instrumental album -- no matter how competently done -- is almost bound to sound like something's missing. And although this is a competent record, it's got to rank as one of his less essential efforts, the ten numbers often sounding like warm-up tunes or background generic blues club filler, hastily ground out to meet a quota. That doesn't mean that it's worthless -- the tunes are pleasant if unimaginative, and King plays with his usual authority, making occasional nods toward the rock & roll twist craze in cuts like "Night Long" and "Hully Gully Twist" (aka "Hully Gully"). The 2004 Ace CD reissue adds historical liner notes and, more importantly, eight instrumental bonus tracks, taken from instrumental odds 'n' ends like the 1955 single "Talkin' the Blues"/"Boogie Rock" (aka "House Rocker"); the 1962 single "3 O'Clock Stomp" (aka "Poontwangie"); a couple Modern outtakes that didn't surface until a 1987 Ace compilation; and three previously unissued recordings, those being "Really the Blues" (aka "Slidin' and Glidin'"), "King's Rock Jazz," and a "previously unissued extended take" of "Mashing the Popeye." Some of these extras are among the best the expanded CD has to offer, particularly the swinging "King's Rock Jazz" (where the horns are as prominent as King's guitar) and "Boogie Rock," which benefits from a Maxwell Davis sax solo. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Originally released in 1958 by the budget-priced Crown label, The Blues collected a dozen sides B.B. King cut for RPM and Kent between 1951 and 1958. (RPM and Kent were owned by the Bahari Brothers who also ran Crown, which explains how one of the true prestige artists of the blues ended up on such a notoriously cheap-o label.) As was often the case with Crown's product, The Blues used a single hit tune (in this case "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer," a Top Ten R&B chart entry in 1954) to help sell a package of lesser-known material, but thankfully the label also picked some great tunes that hardly sound like filler, even if they didn't make the charts. The material on The Blues is dominated by muscular, horn-driven performances with King's interjections of single-note riffs and powerful string bends punctuating the arrangements, and King's songwriting was already stellar, with "I Want to Get Married," "Don't You Want a Man Like Me," and "Ruby Lee" demonstrating his way with a melody and a lyrical conceit. While King's recordings gained a greater depth and emotional force as he moved into the '60s, his RPM takes were the work of a man who already had an enviable command of his instrument and a real gift as a vocalist and songwriter, and though he would get better with time, The Blues demonstrates he was already near the top of his class. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'A Christmas Celebration of Hope'
Release Date 11/6/2001
Tracks 13
Label MCA
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
It took B.B. King a long time to get around to his first Christmas album, which didn't appear until about half a century into his recording career. It's an adequate, good-humored reprisal of various holiday chestnuts, among them some material with blues/R&B origins, like "Merry Christmas Baby." King wrote just one new song for the album, the instrumental "Christmas Love," though he did originally record another of the tracks, "Christmas Celebration," back in 1960. Wisely he plays "Auld Lang Syne" as a funky instrumental instead of vocalizing the singalong lyrics. In addition to periodic bursts of King's trademark guitar, there is plenty of brass and organ in the peppy arrangements. The Nashville String Machine adds its strings to just three tracks, which cuts down on over-produced excess (which is only a problem on "Please Come Home for Christmas"). It's hardly the first King you'll pull off your shelf, and not the first R&B Christmas album you'll turn to either, but you could do worse in the holiday season. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
