299. B.B. King, "Live at the Regal"

 


When you think of "the blues" today, you might picture a tired genre, a bunch of old guys slogging their way through a set of tiresome and predictable songs.  Or maybe not!  But either way, this album is a fantastic demonstration of why it wasn't always like that.  Maybe this is the blues, but this is not that kind of blues.

The first song is called "Every Day I Have the Blues" but it sounds more like "Every Day I Have the Jazz" to me.  It's a fast, almost frantic jam, with syncopated drums and blasts of horns, a real ride.  The next one, "Sweet Little Angel," is more the kind of thing you think of as "blues," but it's so full of life and verve there's no chance of getting bored.

I'm used to late-era B.B. King, the affable showman with his famous guitar, "Lucille," but I had never appreciated the man's voice before this record.  B.B. King could fucking SING.  Check out the incredible vocals on "Worry Worry," especially beginning around the 3:30 mark:


I mean, damn.  There's also a spoken word segment right after that in which B.B. counsels against domestic violence!  In 1964!

This album is widely regarded as one of the greatest blues recordings in history, and it's not hard to see why.  Even if you don't think you like the blues, give this a shot.  You probably do.

Does this album deserve to be in the Top 500? Oh yes.

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