Anthology [Original recording remastered]

B.B. King | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 14, 2000)
• Original Release Date: November 14, 2000
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B000051Y0S
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,325 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #50 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > Memphis Blues

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. How Blue Can You Get?

2. Sneakin' Around

3. Help The Poor

4. Stop Leadin' Me On

5. Never Trust A Woman

6. Every Day I Have The Blues (Live At The Regal)

7. Sweet Little Angel (Live At The Regal)

8. All Over Again

9. Don't Answer The Door

10. Gambler's Blues

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Ain't Nobody Home

2. Ghetto Woman

3. I Got Some Help I Don't Need (Single Edit)

4. Guess Who

5. To Know You Is To Love You

6. I Like To Live The Love

7. Let The Good Times Roll

8. Never Make Your Move Too Soon

9. Better Not Look Down

10. There Must Be A Better World Somewhere

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excelent Sampler From the King of the Blues, January 1, 2001

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anthology (Audio CD)

For the novice fan on a budget, this is an excellent primer from one of the giants of modern electric blues. It completely duplicates 1998's single-disc Greatest Hits and expands it with an additional 18 songs--all of them gems. This collection begins with his first single for MCA "How Blue Can You Get" from 1963 through "I'll Survive" from 1998's Blues on the Bayou. [The only other track from the Nineties is "Playin' With My Friends," a duet with Robert Cray from Blues Summit. While recent albums like Riding with the King, Making Love Is Good for You and Let the Good Times Roll show that King is still a viable artist, you can't include everything on a two-disc set that covers 35 years!]

Short of buying the 4-disc box set King of the Blues, a more economical second purchase would be ACE Records excellent single-disc, 25-track The Best of the Kent Singles to give you a sampling of B.B. King's pre-1963 output.

If you're looking for confirmation that B.B. King is truly the King of the Blues, these 34 tracks should be adequate proof. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Collectors Only, August 14, 2003

By 

Redgecko (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anthology (Audio CD)

If you're a B. B. King collector then this compilation has 3 unique offerings that are noteworthy:

1. complete version of Gambler's Blues (90 seconds longer) than found on King of the Blues (4 CD box set). Due to some unfathomable screw-up, the 90 second guitar intro was cut off of the version on the Box Set!! The whole song is on this Anthology collection (also complete version is on Classic Live performances). It is a great live intro.

2. long version (7" version) of When Love Comes to Town is on this Anthology. A one minute shorter version is on the King of the Blues box set (recorded without the solo Bono verses). In my opinion, the longer version with Bono doing more singing is better.

3. This Anthology has a longer (by 4 minutes) version of Stormy Monday Blues than appears on the album Blues Summit. The Anthology album notes say that theirs is the unedited version but it is actually a different version. If you listen to the part where Albert Collins takes over the vocals, it is obvious that his singing is totally different than on the Blues Summit version. Also note that Stormy Monday Blues was recorded over a 5 day period indicating that multiple takes were done.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ***1/2. Quite good, but not quite good enough, July 31, 2004

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anthology (Audio CD)

This extensive anthology provides a very thorough overview of B.B. King's career after 1962. The tracks list is stronger than on the good-but-not-great "His Definitive Greatest Hits", and "The Anthology 1962-98" wisely omits completely inessental items like King's duets with U2 and Gary Moore.

The compilers lean heavily towards King's 60s and 70s material, with only a few later songs, and virtually all of his best 60s and 70s songs are here - songs like "Sneakin' Around", "Paying The Cost To Be The Boss", "Why I Sing The Blues", "Help The Poor", the crossover hit "The Thrill Is Gone", and King's version of Robert Nighthawk's "Sweet Little Angel".

But it is a great shame that King's earlier Flair sides aren't included, and the fact that 50s classics like "3 O'Clock Blues", "Woke Up This Morning", "Please Love Me", and "Crying Won't Help You" are missing means that this compilation is not all that it could have been. And there are a few minor items here as well, like the duet with Robert Cray and the bland "There Must Be A Better World Somewhere" and "To Know You Is To Love You", which drag down disc two and mainly serve to remind the listener that B.B. King's career has been winding down, creatively at least, for a long time.

You should pick up "Do The Boogie: B.B. King's Early Classics" from Virgin, and then, if you want more, get this collection as well. It's good, but not quite good enough to work as a thorough career overview by itself.
Three and a half stars.