Blues Is King
Blues Is King | ||||
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Live album by B.B. King | ||||
Released | 1967 (1967) | |||
Recorded | November 5, 1966 | |||
Venue | International Club, Chicago | |||
Genre | Blues | |||
Length | 40:27 | |||
Label | BluesWay | |||
Producer | Johnny Pate, Louis Zito | |||
B.B. King chronology | ||||
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Blues Is King is a live album by blues musician, B.B. King. It was recorded in Chicago in 1966 and released by the BluesWay label in 1967.
Critical reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
A staff review by AllMusic commented:
By 1967, King had refined his singing and guitar style (which were always intertwined) to a fine point. What was just beginning to emerge during this period was King the showman, the singer with a story to tell his audience; sometimes a sad story, sometimes an angry one, occasionally even a downright mean one. Nowhere was this more apparent than in live performance. Here he's captured in concert in Chicago, home of the blues and the ideal place to testify to the congregation ... B.B. lets his audience in on the ups and downs of romance in no uncertain terms, both through his impassioned vocals and characteristically stinging guitar. The effect is both cathartic and awe-inspiring.[1]
The album title influenced the Marshall Crenshaw song of the same name.[4]
Track listing
Details are taken from the original BluesWay LP and may differ from other sources.[5]
Side one
- "Waitin' on You" (B.B. King, Ferdinand Washington) – 2:23
- "Gamblers' Blues" (arr. by B.B. King, J. Pate) – 4:38
- "Tired of Your Jive" (Janet Despenza, Johnny Pate) – 3:30
- "Night Life" (Willie Nelson) – 4:45
- "Buzz Me" (Danny Baxter, Fleecie Moore) – 4:05
Side two
- "Don't Answer the Door" (Jimmy Johnson) – 4:00
- "Blind Love" (B.B. King, Joe Josea) – 3:25
- "I Know What You're Puttin' Down" (Buddy Allen, Louis Jordan) – 3:30
- "Baby Get Lost" (Billy Moore) – 3:57
- "Gonna Keep on Loving You" (B.B. King) – 3:45
Bonus tracks on 1992 See For Miles CD Blues is King... Plus
- "Sweet Sixteen (Part One)" – 3:27
- "Sweet Sixteen (Part Two)" – 2:48
Taken from the BluesWay single 45-61012.
Bonus tracks on 2012 and 2015 Japanese CD reissues
- "Goin' Down Slow" – 6:33
- "Sweet Sixteen (Complete Version)" – 6:10
"Goin' Down Slow" and the reconstructed full version of "Sweet Sixteen" were previously issued on King of the Blues and come from the same live performance as the Blues is King album. (An edit of the recording without the opening guitar solo and the ending was released on the compilation His Best – The Electric B. B. King, for the box set the master of this version was combined with a vinyl rip of the BluesWay single.)
Personnel
- B.B. King – guitar, vocals
- Kenneth Sands – trumpet
- Bobby Forte – tenor saxophone
- Duke Jethro – organ
- Louis Satterfield – bass
- Sonny Freeman – drums
References
- ^ a b AllMusic. B. B. King: Blues Is King – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
- ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 118. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ^ Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin. p. 355. ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.
- ^ Murray, Noel. "Marshall Crenshaw on songwriting, covers, and the album cover he absolutely hates". Music. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ Dance, Stanley (1967). Blues Is King (Album notes). B.B. King. New York City: BluesWay Records. Back cover. BLS-6001.
- v
- t
- e
- 1960: My Kind of Blues
- 1968: Blues on Top of Blues
- Lucille
- 1969: Completely Well
- 1970: Indianola Mississippi Seeds
- 1971: B.B. King in London
- 1972: L.A. Midnight
- Guess Who
- 1973: To Know You Is to Love You
- 1974: Friends
- 1975: Lucille Talks Back
- 1977: King Size
- 1978: Midnight Believer
- 1979: Take It Home
- 1981: There Must Be a Better World Somewhere
- 1982: Love Me Tender
- 1983: Blues 'N' Jazz
- 1985: Six Silver Strings
- 1988: King of the Blues: 1989
- 1991: There Is Always One More Time
- 1993: Blues Summit
- 1994: Heart to Heart
- 1997: Deuces Wild
- 1998: Blues on the Bayou
- 1999: Let the Good Times Roll
- 2000: Riding with the King
- Makin' Love Is Good for You
- 2003: Reflections
- 2005: B. B. King & Friends: 80
- 2008: One Kind Favor
- 1965: Live at the Regal
- 1967: Blues Is King
- 1969: Live & Well
- 1971: Live in Cook County Jail
- 1974: Together for the First Time... Live
- 1976: Bobby Bland and B. B. King Together Again...Live
- 1980: Now Appearing at Ole Miss
- 1990: Live at San Quentin
- 1991: Live at the Apollo
- 1999: Live in Japan
compilations
- 1957: Singin' the Blues
- 1958: The Blues
- 1968: His Best – The Electric B. B. King
- 1983: Why I Sing the Blues
- 1992: King of the Blues
- 1995: Lucille & Friends
- 1999: His Definitive Greatest Hits
- 2005: The Ultimate Collection
- 2007: The Best of the Early Years
- 2012: Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. B.B. King
- 1951: "3 O'Clock Blues"
- 1952: "Shake It Up and Go"
- 1952: "You Know I Love You
- 1955: "Every Day I Have the Blues"
- 1956: "Sweet Little Angel"
- 1959: "Sugar Mama"
- 1961: "Someday Baby"
- 1962: "Goin' Down Slow"
- 1963: "Trouble in Mind"
- 1964: "How Blue Can You Get"
- "Rock Me Baby"
- "Please Send Me Someone to Love"
- 1965: "Blue Shadows"
- 1966: "Eyesight to the Blind"
- "Just Like a Woman"
- "Five Long Years"
- "Ain't Nobody's Business"
- 1970: "The Thrill Is Gone"
- "Worried Life"
- 1976: "Let the Good Times Roll"
- 1985: "Big Boss Man"
- 1988: "When Love Comes to Town"
- 1992: "Since I Met You Baby"
- 1961: "Driving Wheel
- 1974: "Black Night"
- 1977: "Don't You Lie to Me"
- 1985: "In the Midnight Hour"
- 1995: "You Shook Me"
- 1998: "Mean Ole' World"
- 1999: "Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens"
- "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby"
- "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie"
- "Buzz Me"
- "Saturday Night Fish Fry"
- "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"
- "Early in the Mornin'"
- 2000: "Hold On, I'm Comin'"
- "Come Rain or Come Shine"
- "Since I Fell for You"
- 2005: "Need Your Love So Bad"
- "Early in the Morning"
- 2008: "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean"
- "Sitting on Top of the World"