The essential B.B. King experience was always in concert. For much of his career, King played more than 300 shows a year, and though these performances adhered to a certain road-tested formula, every night offered some distinctive variation. Each of these five recordings — the best of many commercially available — presents a different aspect of what made a B.B. King show something special. (Also see our full King obituary and our definitive 1998 profile, On the Bus With B.B. King.)