B.B. King and His Orchestra, LIVE (Acrobat, 2008)
B.B. King LIVE. Again. The King of the blues has recorded a few albums by this title, or close to it. Live at the Regal is a classic from 1964. Live at Cook County Jail is a good one from 1970. Last year's B.B. King Live was not quite as good. It was a reasonable representation of a recent show all right, but the show I attended in 2007 was quite different from the shows I've attended in the past. After all, B.B. is over 80 now, and he's slowed down a bit. Cut the man some slack! This new release comes from an archival recording made in Cannes way back in 1983. He was only 58 then, and you can hear the extra zip in his step.
When I first heard about this recording I thought it might be from a few years earlier still. I saw B.B. fronting a hot band and playing a piece specially composed for orchestra and blues guitar. The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra tried to keep up with him. I had hopes that this symphonic experiment was repeated for posterity. No such luck. But what we do have here is an excellent live concert from the early '80s, when B.B. was master of all he surveyed. His band was hot, and big. Big like the classic Ellington bands, and they could swing every bit as hard as those bands of an earlier decade. With B.B. in front, Lucille on his hip, there was no stopping him.
After an intro instrumental by the band (called "B.B.'s Theme") out he comes to thunderous applause to do "Why I Sing the Blues" and "Darling, You Know I Love You" which are done as instrumentals and show the swing this band could add to the blues. That's followed by a mellow B.B. guitar solo which leads into "Sweet Little Angel". At the show I saw in '68 or so, someone called out for this one with the wrong title. They asked for "Sweet Little Sixteen" and B.B. was pretty upset about requesting songs he didn't do! Rightly so! Well, the buffoon argued with him! Sorry...I got distracted there for a minute...but here you have B.B.'s "Sweet Little Angel" in its sexy glory. His voice is almost sprightly as he sings the lyrics, his fingers find all the right notes. But it doesn't end there. Next up is a lively rendition of "Everyday I Have the Blues." These days you get the riff, the first verse and a chorus, a bit of noodling and maybe a racy story about Viagra, but back in '83 you got whole songs!
This is like a greatest hits collection, all in excellent versions performed by a masterful band. Kudos to the unnamed bass player! The only other player mentioned in the liner notes is band leader, trumpeter Calvin Owens, but the whole band deserves credit for providing a solid foundation and plenty of room for B.B. to sing and play. "Guess Who," "The Thrill Is Gone," "Caldonia," and the finale "Paying the Cost to be Boss" present the King of the Blues in an arena where his crown can truly shine. Thanks to Acrobat for making these recordings available.
