BB King hips up his groove a bit here – picking up some of the crossover soul and rock touches used by contemporaries over at Chess/Cadet, and expanding his sound with a range of guests that include Leon Russell, JoeWalsh, and Carole King! Despite the presence of these bigger names, the set's very much in BB's own spirit – mostly focused on his vocals and guitar work, and still mostly including original compositions. A few tunes get nice and funky on the rhythms, although still very much in a blues-based way – and Jimmie Haskell contributes a few larger arrangements from time to time. Titles include "King's Special", "Until I'm Dead & Cold", "You're Still My Woman", "Hummingbird", "Go Underground", and "Chains & Things". (Blues, Soul)LP, Vinyl record album
(Black label stereo pressing with Artisan etch. Cover has some surface wear & aging.)
An interesting 70s session from Jimmy – rougher and rootsier than most of his jazz-inflected 60s recordings, in a style that was clearly trying to cross him over to the college kids who were buying so much blues at the time! The set's still got a lot of jazz players on it – including Stu Gardner, Gildo Mahones, Ray Brown, and Larry Bunker – but the overall style is more in a tripped-out, laidback mode that has plenty of righteous touches, including some female backing singers (Merry Clayton and Clydie King) on a few tracks. JoeWalsh plays a bit of guitar on the set, and the album's got a great version of "Handbags & Gladrags", plus the cuts "It's Time To Live", "Redneck", "Testifying", "Stay With Me Baby", and "Evil Man Blues". (Blues, Soul)LP, Vinyl record album
BB King hips up his groove a bit here – picking up some of the crossover soul and rock touches used by contemporaries over at Chess/Cadet, and expanding his sound with a range of guests that include Leon Russell, JoeWalsh, and Carole King! Despite the presence of these bigger names, the set's very much in BB's own spirit – mostly focused on his vocals and guitar work, and still mostly including original compositions. A few tunes get nice and funky on the rhythms, although still very much in a blues-based way – and Jimmie Haskell contributes a few larger arrangements from time to time. Titles include "King's Special", "Until I'm Dead & Cold", "You're Still My Woman", "Hummingbird", "Go Underground", and "Chains & Things". (Blues, Soul)LP, Vinyl record album