Best of 1

B.B. King | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 29, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B000000WHZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #185,839 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars NOT the original recordings!, July 1, 2000

By 

Gregg A. Sneirson (Brookline, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best of 1 (Audio CD)

I am an enormous fan of B.B. King's early work -- I listen toit all the time. Don't be fooled by this CD: these are not theoriginal recordings they purport to be. In the late 60s, King's old label, Modern Records, wanted to cash in on his newfound popularity. They decided to reissue his early recordings, but they apparently thought that the sound quality was lacking. They overdubbed new bass, drum and horn parts onto them -- destroying the original character of the recordings, and making them all sound the same. This CD is a reissue of THAT release -- NOT of the originals. For a fantastic CD of the original, unadulterated cuts, get "B.B. King: His First Two Original Albums on One CD" on the Flair label. Amazon carries that one, too, and it's a 5-star CD!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When B.B. Was Really Hot..., February 25, 2003

By 

Fred Rafael Rednor (D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best of 1 (Audio CD)

This is one one the truly great Blues compilations. The recordings were made when B.B. was really doing more than just playing the Blues - both his singing and guitar work were "on fire". These are the songs that made him so legendary and influential.
Also, on this CD the songs haven't had a horn section over-dubbed onto the tracks. This was the case on some of the compilations that were issued on LP in the '60s. What you have here is the original sound - on the border between smooth and raw - made many years before B.B. decided to become a Pop performer.
By the way, one of the other reviews gives this CD only 1 star. I think the reviewer misunderstood the rating system, since the tone of his review is actually lauditory.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Correction to my previous review ("B.B. - When He Was Hot"), February 25, 2003

By 

Fred Rafael Rednor (D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best of 1 (Audio CD)

I made a comment about the horn sections on this CD and expressed it badly. There is a horn section on some of the tracks. But they're from the original sessions. Some re-issues of this material have extra horns dubbed over the older horn section in an attempt give the saxes and trumpets a more "full" sound.
That's it... This is a great CD.