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LIVE AT THE REGAL
(1965)
Key Tracks: "It's My Own Fault," "How Blue Can You
Get?"
Quick Take: King's commercial breakthrough came in
1952, when a cover version of Lowell Fulson's 1948 hit "Three
O'Clock Blues" reached #1 on the R&B chart. By the mid-sixties,
King's career appeared to be winding down, as black audiences began
to turn their backs on the blues. But the British blues revival
— which saw the Rolling Stones making a pilgrimage to
Chicago's Chess Studios — introduced the blues to young,
white American rock fans. Live at the Regal, recorded in
Chicago in 1964, paved the way for King's appearances on the
rock-concert circuit and FM radio. It remains his definitive live
set. His guitar sound was precise and powerful, driving emotional
versions of some of his most influential songs, including "Everyday
(I Have the Blues)" and "How Blue Can You Get?"
• Secrets of the Guitar Heroes: B.B. King
• The Ultimate B.B. King Playlist
• The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time
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LUCILLE
(1968)
Key Tracks: "Lucille," "Country Girl"
Quick Take: King dubbed his axe "Lucille" around
1954 when his guitar playing became more individual and increased
both the technical facility and emotional depth of his playing.
Lucille became is most accomplished album to date,
building on top of King's adroit playing with brass and a swagger
that set the tone for '70s R&B. Lucille also found
King finding his singing voice.
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LIVE & WELL
(1969)
Key Tracks: "Let's Get Down to Business," "Get Off
My Back, Woman"
Quick Take: While it doesn't match the fire and
majesty of Live at the Regal, Live & Well was
the first of King's releases to crack the Top 100 on the albums
chart, led by smoking cuts like "Let's Get Down to Business" and
the tender burn of Jimmy Johnson's "Don't Answer the Door."
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INDIANOLA MISSISSIPPI SEEDS
(1970)
Key Tracks: "You're Still My Woman," "Chains and
Things"
Quick Take: Indianola begins perfectly
with B.B. singing and playing down-home piano on the terse "Nobody
Loves Me But My Mother." "You're Still My Woman" is a slow,
reflective tune featuring B.B.'s guitar and vocal played against an
intelligent string arrangement, comparable to the role of the horns
on his early records. Particularly exciting are the pianists: the
more melodic Carole King and the percussive Leon Russell. With
Russell he tends to leash out full-blown (notice how a rhythm
guitar is added to these cuts for a more intense riffing fervor)
and up-tempo on "Ask Me No Questions," "King Special" and the
single "Hummingbird." With Carole King B.B. relaxes more and
involves himself in spasms of single-note guitarwork paced with
monologue-type vocals that are the highlights of the album.
Indianola Mississippi Seeds (MCA)
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TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME...LIVE
(WITH BOBBY BLAND) (1974)
Key Tracks: "It's My Own Fault," "Goin Down
Slow"
Quick Take: Together for the First Time . . .
Live, teams King with fellow trailblazer Bobby "Blue" Bland,
is a spectacular outing, as these two towering figures in American
music burn their way through a repertoire that includes "Three
O'Clock Blues," "Driftin' Blues," "Goin' Down Slow," and a medley
composed in part of "Rock Me Baby," "Driving Wheel" and "Chains of
Love." They would make other albums together, but their first
remains an incredible moment in time rife with blues energy.
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THERE MUST BE A BETTER WORLD
SOMEWHERE (1981)
Key Tracks: "The Victim," "Born Human Again"
Quick Take: By 1981 King's music had taken a turn
for the philosophical. With There Must Be a Better World
Somewhere, King set out to chronicle his own worldview in far
more personal terms than he had to this point, commenting on social
ills while maintaining that the future promises an era of
compassion and selflessness. That doesn't mean it's a low-key
album; in fact, some of King's most ferocious workouts are
contained on this album.
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LIVE AT SAN QUENTIN
(1990)
Key Tracks: "Every Day I Have the Blues," "Sweet
Little Angel"
Quick Take: King ushered in the 1990s with another
scorching live album, proving that even though he was getting on in
years he hadn't lost any of the skill or the energy to kick ass
live. The version of "The Thrill Is Gone" captured on this album is
one of the finest ever recorded.
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HEART AND SOUL
(1992)
Key Tracks: "You Can't Fool My Heart," "I'm
King"
Quick Take: King's tender side is the focus of
Heart and Soul: A Collection of Blues Ballads. The chart
hits are supplemented by previously unissued alternate takes, B
sides, and otherwise obscure singles. King fans will appreciate the
way he melds blues, R&B, and pop on several tracks. Heart
and Soul shows that later efforts, such as Midnight
Believer and Love Me Tender, are consistent with and
rooted in a long-standing, broad stylistic definition of the blues
universe.
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BLUES ON THE BAYOU
(1998)
Key Tracks: "Bad Case of Love," "Shake It Up and
Go"
Quick Take: As he was approaching 73 years of age,
and had been recording for nearly 50 years, King decided the time
was right for another serious studio album, and he came up with the
self-produced Blues on the Bayou. King took his road band
— which he describes as "my best ever" — to Dockside
Studio in Maurice, LA, and delivered the goods over the course of
15 songs, all of them written or cowritten by King himself. The
feel is laid-back but spirited, with the impressive synchronicity
between the bandleader and the musicians resulting in invigorating
instrumental interplay among the soloists. The songs are a mix of
old and new King tunes, the most familiar of the lot being "I Got
Some Outside Help I Don't Need," a beloved concert tune in King's
repertoire, guaranteed to get a crowd going with its wry, sardonic
wit and steady rhythmic pulse, on top of which King constructs a
series of ruminative solos.
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RIDING WITH THE KING (WITH ERIC
CLAPTON) (2000)
Key Tracks: "Key To the Highway," "Worried Life
Blues"
Quick Take: Following the high of Blues on the
Bayou, the Eric Clapton collaboration on Riding With the
King is a bit of a letdown. On the plus side, King stands out
in any situation, so even on a substandard song such as "Marry
You," his gruff vocal carries a certain gravitas, but the wah-wah
guitar and hard-rock approach leave him little room to assert his
own personality.
Riding With the King (Reprise)
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ANTHOLOGY
(2000)
Quick Take: The two-CD Anthology
encompasses 34 songs, live and studio tracks alike, from the '60s
through the '90s, its earliest track being 1962's "Sneakin'
Around," its latest the stirring "I'll Survive" from Blues on
the Bayou, although the emphasis is on '60s and '70s
recordings. This is no mere history lesson; its music is vital and
vibrant. Highlights include two cuts from Live at the
Regal ("Every Day I Have the Blues" and "Sweet Little Angel,"
which could be taken as the representative '50s tracks, making this
collection career-spanning at the time of its release); "The Thrill
Is Gone"; the single version of "I Got Some Help I Don't Need"; and
the single version of "When Love Comes to Town," recorded with
U2.
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HERE AND THERE: THE UNCOLLECTED
B.B. KING (2001)
Key Tracks: "Six Pack," "Three O'Clock
Blues"
Quick Take: Here & There: The Uncollected
B. B. King fills in a few gaps in the catalogue by focusing on
soundtrack cuts, songs recorded for other artists' albums, and two
tracks previously unreleased in the U.S. These range from a searing
rendition of "'T Ain't Nobody's Business (If I Do)," produced by
Robbie Robertson for Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy
soundtrack; a sprightly jazz instrumental, "Six Pack," for the
like-titled album by vibraphonist virtuoso Gary Burton; a
mid-tempo, jazz-inflected version of "Three O'Clock Blues" with
organist Jimmy Smith for Smith's dot.com blues album; and
a potent duet with Willie Nelson on a reinvigorated "The Thrill Is
Gone," for Nelson's Milk Cow Blues album.