Customer Reviews

B.B. King Live [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an awesome DVD. Best concert video I have ever seen, and I love concert videos. With my new OPPO Blu Ray player and a 73 inch screen with great sound system the sound and the video are just amazing. The concert is awesome too! Filmed over several nights at BB's clubs, it is the first live concert of BB King filmed in 13 years. I believe Amazon showed this as not being wide screen, but it is wide screen.

Buy it immediately. You will not regret it.

Great Video and great Audio.
Blu Ray is perfect.
BB King gets very personal on this DVD.
The special BB message to the fans is proof BB is getting old and he knows it.
This is a must buy for Blues fans or BB King fans.
Rated 10 plus.

Great show filmed in a small club, all songs you ever wished to hear at one event are there, B.B.King interaction with the audience is a one of the highlights of this concert. From technical point of view this blu-ray disc is brilliant: audio & video are really first rate ( you can't say that in a case of many other BR editions ) and deliver what BR was promissing. Simply, a must have disc.

This DVD has an excellent widescreen transfer and Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks. I preferred the DTS soundtrack. This 2011 (dated on package) DVD appears to be a re-issue of the 2009 Soundstage show in Chicago (Credits indicate filmed in 2008), which is a one night performance.

This DVD is as described by Amazon. There are a few Blu-Ray reviews that differ (which I partially based my decision on) - Amazon does overlap reviews of different formats and titles, which they did in this case.

NOTE: After my review, I checked Amazon, and there is an overlap of reviews on several different DVD titles. This is from the page I ordered my DVD -

B.B. King: Live (2009)
B.B. King (Actor), Charlie Dennis (Actor), Joe Thomas (Director) | Rated: NR | Format: DVD

ASIN: B004USUOUE

Song List: Everyday I Have the Blues, See That My Grave Is Kept Clean , How Many More Years, Downhearted, I Need You So, I Got Some Help I Don't Need, Thrill is Gone, Nobody Loves Me But My Mother, Let the Good Times Roll, Thrill is Gone, When The Saints Go Marching In, Key to the Highway


B. B. and his band are great. Nice Horn section. Great song list with one I had not heard before - See That My Grave Is Kept Clean. The concert is ~ 54 minutes and the bonus song is ~ 6 minutes.

As noted on Amazon, there are special guests. B. B. and his band perform the first four songs, which was my favorite part of the show. Then the guests roll in - Terrence Howard (vocals with B. B. on a few songs and the finale), Solange (vocals with B. B. on one song and the finale), and guitarist Richie Sambora (on a few songs, the finale and the extra bonus song). Richie tears up the place and jams on the guitar, which was the best part of any of the special guest's performance with B. B.

NOTE: The bonus song Key to the Highway, highlighting Richie Sambora, only has a DTS soundtrack, which needed my amp's DTS decoder to be heard. Also, the sound seemed a bit off from the clean sound of the main concert recording.

When I watch this again, I will probably fast forward through some of the special guest material. I do have a few song favorites, which I have already watched a few times in the last two days.

Hope this helps. j

This is a collage of 4 different concerts pieced into 1, so be prepared. Good to see him performing but sad to say he's getting older and has put on a LOT of weight which is not healthy. I also kind of wonder about his eye sight, being diabetic, he was led on and off the stage. That said, Great Performance! Each song is personalized with an introduction or story while the band played in the back ground. Historic, as he says. If you are a fan of B.B. or the blues this disc will complete ANY concert recording collection, especially one on Blu-ray.


I wish Amazon had a 3 Criteria rating that would make for a quicker and more accurate and fair rating of Cd's, DVD's and Blu-ray's.

1. Performance
2. Quality of Audio
3. Quality of Video (for DVD's and Blu-ray's)

1.*****
2.*****
3.*****

Bands that wish to have there performances recorded and recognised should be held to a standard. Poor audio, no matter how good the performance, is still a bad product. Those who would still purchase sub-standard audio quality recordings and rank that product highly are not doing the industry or the band justice. Demand better and we will get it, settle for less and that's what you'll get.

Very well produced DVD. Excellent audio and good camera work in an intimate setting for a concert. Blu-Ray edition is very sharp looking. Top quality Music DVD. When BB plays you can hear how he has been a life long influence on the British Blues rockers, Clapton, etc.

Four performances by B. B. King in 2006 were selected to create this Blu-Ray disk. Here too another legendary artist has given the public a disk recorded recently with current technology as opposed to a tape transfer from years ago.

B. B. plays standards before a very adoring audience in Tennessee with an excellent band. He does not steal the show but rather makes room for the entire group to shine, and intersperses with his classic tales.

Both audio and video quality are as expected for a Blu-Ray disk- super. If you love the old man here's one more for the road.

This review is for the 2011 Blu-ray disc.

I am a big fan of B.B. King, A.K.A. The Mayor of "Bluesville". My blu-ray disc must be defective based on the other reviews.

All musical instruments and vocals came from my front speakers. There was very, very little sound from my left and right side speakers. At first, I thought there were none, but if I stood about six inches from them I heard very, very faint background music.

What happened to "Nobody Loves Me But My Mother" ?? There was an intro to the song, then B.B. and Richie went directly into "Let the Good Times Roll" after B.B. said "We've better play something we know"!

I purchased this disc after verifying that "Nobody Loves Me But My Mother" was on the disc. I am very disappointed with the missing / incomplete song and the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix!

If I wanted to hear 2 channel stereo I've used my Bose 901 setup instead of playing this disc via my 5.1/7.1 system.

This disc is only 54 minutes long....come on B.B.!! I guess I'll get my B.B. fix on XM's Bluesville in the future due to the poor mix, the missing / incomplete song and only 54 minutes of music!

I know it not the "same" type of music but if you want to hear an almost perfectly mixed Blu-ray disc listen to Diana Krall's "Live in Rio". You do not need to crank up the volume to hear Diana's conversation between the songs unlike B.B's and then quickly lower the volume when B.B. starts playing. See my review of Diana Krall's "Live in Rio".

great concert jusy way too short for our money!!!Are you listening Mr BB? Great sound and tunes. Would I buy another, probably not.

B.B.King is one of the most well known blues players to ever live. He's an artist who took the blues and made them famous, perhaps more so than any other blues performer. This doesn't mean he is the greatest that ever lived and fans of the blues would tell you so. But he sits high in the ranks of the best. King has made the blues accessible for everyone and for that deserves high praise.

B.B.KING LIVE features King playing on the show SoundStage set in Chicago. The set features the usual SoundStage backdrop with the performers name in red flowing lights and little else. The music is the thing here, not the stage set up. Accompanied by his band, King sits in a chair center stage and plays his guitar, the famous Lucille, like few others ever have or ever will.

The thing about King's playing is that when first listened to it sounds so simple. These aren't the fast maneuvering finger romps that have made stars out of people like Eddie Van Halen, these are meticulously played notes that are stretched and strained to offer up an emotional feeling that is known simply as the blues. And King makes each note one that draws up feelings know well to those who have suffered pain.

On occasion in this special King features a guest who he teases and coaxes performances out of as well. For me the biggest surprise was how well actor Terrence Howard sang. I'm not saying I didn't expect him to be good, just that I've never seen anything that would have led me to believe he was this good. The disc also features a performance by singer Solange who King flirts with non-stop as she sings his only major hit song, "The Thrill Is Gone". Lastly, King brings out guitarist Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi fame to accompany him on several tunes.

The songs aren't long by any means, but each one is a blues great that King performs better than near anyone. The line up includes the following:

1. Everyday I Have the Blues
2. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
3. How Many More Years
4. Downhearted
5. I Need You So
6. I Got Some Help I Don't Need
7. The Thrill Is Gone
8. Nobody Loves Me But My Mother
9. Let the Good Times Roll
10. The Thrill Is Gone (performed this time by King)
11. When the Saints Go Marching In
12. Key to the Highway

King fans will want to make it a point to add this new blu-ray edition to their collection featuring DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Fans of the blues will want to have this on hand as well. And if you've never experienced the blues by a performer like King, then by all means you need to check this one out immediately.