Customer Reviews

Best of 1

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

 

 

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!

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.

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.

Most "best of's" really aren't. However this CD combined with the "Do the Boogie!" CD are truely B.B.'s best stuff. Compare modern B.B. King and this stuff from the early and mid fifties. You will see that in the fifties he was clearly at his peak. Awesome stuff!

This album contains a lot of clunkers. Many of these tracks were not originally released and it's easy to see why. Don't waste your money on this CD.

This is a great party CD of early B.B. King. A welcome addition to any CD collection.

I don't know, sometimes, a CD just comes out that you know is special. BB King is one of the greatest blues masters in history.