Live at the Regal
B. B. King
ABC-Paramount Records ABCS-509
1965
Most of the world is paying tribute to Prince, but I'm just getting around to my tribute to B. B. King who died last May. I actually started this post several weeks ago, but then I got sick and didn't feel like listening to music much less blogging. My introduction to the blues mostly came second hand from English rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Cream and the Yardbirds who imitated American bluesmen. King was the first genuine blues performer I remember seeing, I saw him when I was a kid in the early 1970s on Flip Wilson's television show. The first real blues album I ever bought was King's "Live in Cook County Jail" which I picked up as a teenager. I have to admit that at first I wasn't all that impressed, I preferred the flashiness and showboating of the English guitar heroes. As I grew older and more musically sophisticated I came to appreciate King's economical and controlled playing style a lot more. I realized it was better to emphasize feeling like King than to show off technical prowess by playing a gazillion notes as fast you can like Alvin Lee. This is my favorite B. B. King album, an opinion that is hardly unique. The album is widely acknowledged as a classic record. It was recorded at the Regal Theatre in Chicago in 1964 in front of a loudly appreciative audience. King and his band were in top form as they ran through his back catalog delivering definitive versions of some of his best known songs. The record opens with "Every Day I Have the Blues" which was a hit single for King in 1955. It is a swinging, fast-paced performance that is my favorite version of this oft-covered song. I love it when King's voice soars in the final chorus. "Sweet Little Angel" was a 1956 single derived from the old blues song "Black Angel Blues." King introduces it as a "real oldie." His vocal is full of gusto. He was justly celebrated for his guitar work, but his ability as a blues singer was also outstanding. He shows off his range and power with a very emotional performance that elicits screams from the ladies in the crowd. "It's My Own Fault" is a cover of a John Lee Hooker song released as a b-side in 1960. It is a slow, smoldering blues with another spectacular vocal from King backed up by a wailing guitar solo. "How Blue Can You Get" was a 1964 single for King. King shows just how blue he could get with a volcanic vocal and some inspired guitar work in the intro. "Please Love Me" was a 1953 hit single written by King. It is a smoking hot song that gets me bopping and features a high-tempo yet impressively fluid solo from King. Side two opens with King's 1954 hit "You Upset Me Baby." It is a jumping track that opens with an exciting guitar run before King tears into the vocal. He lets his sax player take the solo which really cooks. "Worry Worry" was originally the b-side of a 1950 single that was re-released as an a-side in 1959. It is another slow blues that begins with a long fiery guitar intro from King that rouses the crowd. When King finally breaks into his passionate vocal the crowd starts screaming and I would have too if I had been there. It is a stunning performance on every level, the highlight of the album. I don't think the blues gets any better than this. "Woke Up This Mornin'" was written by King and was a hit single in 1953. It sounds like filler practically after the previous titanic track, but it is full of energy and fine singing from King. "You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now" was originally a b-side in 1960. It opens with a typically graceful and dynamic guitar solo from King before he gets down with another steamy vocal that he punctuates with short bursts from his guitar. His horn section gives the song extra oomph as it moves towards its conclusion. "Help the Poor" was a 1964 single for King. It is more rhythm and blues than straight blues and gets into a nice groove to close the album. This is truly a classic album, ten heartfelt tracks of superb singing and playing that showcase King's brilliance. As a vocalist/guitarist, King was as a virtuoso without parallel. I'm sure going to miss him. Recommended to people who believe that the blues need to be sung as well as they are played.
Moanin' In The Moonlight
Howlin' Wolf
Chess CH-9195
1959
This is a 1986 re-issue of the album originally released by Chess as LP 1434. It was part of a bunch of Chess albums reissued by MCA in the 1980s with the original front cover art but new back covers although they generally reprint the original liner notes. I chose this album for today's post to honor the blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin who died on December 4th of last year. Sumlin did have a solo career but he is most famous for his work with the great Howlin' Wolf. Like a lot of white kids of my generation I learned about Howlin' Wolf second hand via the interpretations of his work by British bands in the 1960s which is a sorry commentary on the undervaluing of African-American culture in this country for so long. In my case it was the Yardbirds and their classic cover of "Smokestack Lightnin'" which I found quite thrilling when I heard it as a teenager. By then the man who wrote it, Chester Burnett (aka Howlin' Wolf) was already dead. This was his first album, but it is basically a compilation album of his singles from the 1950s. Sumlin plays guitar on all but three of the twelve tracks. The album begins with the classic single from 1951 "Moanin' At Midnight" b/w "How Many More Years" which is among Howlin' Wolf's most celebrated recordings. Both sides were hit singles on the R&B charts and deservedly so, the blues don't get any grittier or more exciting than this. Ike Turner plays piano on the latter cut. I think the Wolf's 1956 recording of "Smokestack Lightnin'" is a little less exciting than the Yardbirds' cover, but there is no doubt that the Wolf's powerful vocal blows Keith Relf away. This is my favorite song on the album and it was also a hit single. "Baby How Long" dates from 1954 and features some dynamic piano from Otis Spann. It is a swinging number that really gets me going. "No Place To Go" is also from 1954 and it ought to be familiar to Led Zeppelin fans since they "borrowed" it for their song "How Many More Times" on their debut album. The Wolf's vocal is full of desperation as he bemoans his woman's treachery and his unhappy fate. It is a very powerful song with an insistent pounding riff that makes it utterly unforgettable. "All Night Boogie" from 1953 is a smoking number with frenetic harmonica playing by the Wolf and fast paced guitar lines from Sumlin and Jody Williams. It rocks as hard as any song I've ever heard from this period. Side two opens with "Evil" which was released on the flip side of "Baby How Long" in 1954. It was originally called "Evil Is Goin' On" on the single. It features more terrific piano work from Spann and a passionate vocal from the Wolf. "I'm Leavin' You" is listed as a 1959 recording on the album, but I've seen the single listed as a 1958 release in many Howlin' Wolf discographies. Whenever it came out, it is another excellent song with more woman trouble in the lyrics and some biting guitar work from Sumlin and L. D. McGhee. 1958's "Moanin' For My Baby" has a hypnotic guitar riff courtesy of Sumlin and Jody Williams and a vocal from the Wolf that effortlessly soars when he turns up the heat. "I Asked For Water" from 1956 features some of the most evocative lyrics on the album as the Wolf describes his lover's ill-treatment of him. "Forty Four" was released in 1954. It has a simple riff with martial drumming that drives it along. The album concludes with 1957's "Somebody In My Home." It is a moody, slow blues with another powerful vocal from the Wolf in which he sings of his recurrent theme of an unfaithful lover. Howlin' Wolf had one of the most remarkable voices in pop music. He combined the grace and passion of Muddy Waters with the range and the lupine roar of Captain Beefheart without ever sounding gimmicky or contrived. His music has so much feeling and power, it gives me goosebumps. I wish I could have seen him live, his shows must have been amazing. This is a flawless record, it basically functions as a best-of for his work in the 1950s. I highly recommend it, this is classic stuff, even if you don't like the blues very much, this transcends its genre. Recommended for Yardbirds fans who wish Keith Relf had a stronger voice.
