Record Boy Ink:
It’s no secret that Record Boy loves B.B. King. No one
could have been happier for B.B. with his recent string of solid selling albums
like “Deuces Wild”. “Blues Summit” and “Blues On The Bayou”.
However, a couple of months ago MCA released B.B.’s latest
studio album “Makin’ Love Is Good For You” which quickly disappeared into the
abyss…and rightly so. The record harkened back to many of B.B.’s ‘70s and ‘80s albums, phoned in vocals,
distinctive but passionless guitar playing. Record Boy’s first impression of
this album was that B.B. needed a new A&R person and something to get his
passion for his music stirred up again.
Well my hopes for B.B. were answered weeks later with
the release of B.B. King and Eric Clapton’s RIDING WITH THE KING (Reprise)
This teaming of the master with one of his most famous acolytes is 12 tracks of
fun.
B.B. launches himself into this record like it’s a late
night cutting session at some backwoods Mississippi juke joint. He sings every
song like he means it and as good a player as Eric Clapton is, he is outclassed
from beginning to end. B.B. plays some of the nastiest solos he’s put down on
tape in years. His guitar Lucille’s tone is so much warmer than Clapton’s
Strat, that each of his solos sound like an extension of his awesome blues
singing.
The choice of material here is interesting. The title
track is one of Record Boy’s favorite John Hiatt tracks and its inclusion here
is one great job of A&Ring. Clapton of course is comfortable with this kind
of material and his guitar soars throughout the track. B.B. hangs with the tune
and captures its lighthearted spirit. Other tracks include remakes of four
classic cuts from B.B.’s ‘50s catalog: “Ten Long Years” (which has one of
Clapton’s better solos), ”Three O’Clock Blues,” “Days Of Old”(which has the
greatest live in the studio sound! Steve Gadd’s snare drum rattles and buzzes
from start to finish.) and “When My Heart Beats Like A Hammer.”
Two of the tracks are written by guitarist Doyle
Bramhall II (he of Arc Angel fame) and their inclusion here is also a point of
interest as these are not the type of songs that you’d expect to hear B.B. King
sing and play on. “Marry You” is a funky track and “I Wanna Be” is a rock
track, but just as B.B. showed us by teaming up with U2 on “When Love Comes To
Town” all those years ago, he is a versatile singer and guitarist…up to any
challenges.
Eric and B.B. also revisit Sam and Dave’s “Hold on I’m
Coming” and make it their own. Perhaps the most affecting performance on the
whole disc is their take on the Mercer/Arlen classic “Come Rain Or Come Shine.”
Both B.B. and Eric sing their hearts out pushed forward by an orchestral
arrangement by the legendary Arif Mardin.
Don’t be insulted by the decision to keep all of Eric’s
solos in the left channel and all of B.B.’s in the right (as if you couldn’t
instantly tell who was who!) This is exactly the kind of album one expects from
people with larger than life talents. On top of these outstanding performances,
you get a photo in the booklet taken in the ‘60s of B.B. and Eric sitting on
their Fender Reverb amps, jamming on their guitars.
You could hardly ask for anything more.