The Classic Years – BB King

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]B.B. King was born Riley B. King on the 16th September 1925 in Indianola, Mississippi, USA, and the son of sharecropper parents.

Like most of the blacks in Mississippi, King as a young man worked on the plantations and sang in amateur gospel groups from an early age. At 16 B.B. was playing Blues guitar, adding to his singing in the streets. From these humble beginnings, King played venues and radio stations before making his first recording on Bullet Records in 1949. These recordings in turn, brought B.B. to the attention of Modern Records, for whom he was going to record for the next ten years. By 1952, King had become a star of national status, having an R&B hit on the Billboard charts for 15 weeks with ‘Three O’ Clock Blues’. King’s influences are Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson and The great tenor saxophonist, Lester Young. All of these musicians contributed to B.B’s style of phrasing and harmony. 1960 saw King switch to the ABC label without too much success, but then in the late 1960’s gained the interest of white blues enthusiasts and musicians in the real folks’ blues etc., thereby revitalising most blues artists, including King, who in 1968 played the Fillmore West with Mike Bloomfield and Johnny Winter. In 1970, B.B. recorded his first album with the rock musicians produced by the great Leon Russell. Basically, King since then has gone onto become a blues legend, playing with great artists such as Alexis Korner, Steve Winwood, Ringo Starr and The Crusaders. His well experienced, well developed and unique sound of blues guitar – along with that seasoned blues voice, which has made B.B. King unique and one of the now oldest exponents and masters of the blues, whose rich history is deep in great recordings as this album is a prime example. B.B. King is still making new and great albums utilising a whole bunch of new and old established artists and is without doubt a well-earned blues great.

Sleeve notes: Keith C. Thomas. Special thanks to Keith C. Thomas and Christian Baldock of Prestige Elite Records Limited[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

• DISC 1

  1. EVERY DAY I HAVE THE BLUES

  2. B.B. BLUES

  3. THE WOMAN I LOVE

  4. THE OTHER NIGHT BLUES

  5. PLEASE ACCEPT MY LOVE

  6. THREE O’CLOCK BLUES

  7. TEN LONG YEARS

  8. DON’T YOU WANT A MAN LIKE ME

  9. YOU KNOW I GO FOR YOU

  10. MISTREATED WOMAN

  11. SWEET LITTLE ANGEL

  12. WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME

  13. JUMP WITH YOU BABY

  14. FINE LOOKING WOMAN

  15. EARLY IN THE MORNING

  16. BLIND LOVE

  17. DID YOU EVER LOVE A WOMAN

  18. TAKE A SWING WITH ME

  19. YOU UPSET ME BABY

  20. SHE’S DYNAMITE

  21. WHOLE LOTTA’ LOVE

  22. YOU DIDN’T WANT ME

  23. DAYS OF OLD

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