Customer Reviews

Christmas Celebration of Hope

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What can I say? It's been a long time comin' but this is one
of the best holiday albums that I have ever heard. There isn't
a bad track on this great cd and many of the songs are
wonderful new tunes for the holiday season. The backup band
could not be better. The piano, the horns, all of the band
is crystal clear and just beautiful. B.B. and his trademark
Gibson electric guitar, Lucille have never sounded better in my opinion and I'm a long-time fan of the man.
Buy this great cd and Happy Holidays!!!!

I'll preface this review by saying I am not a professional cd reviewer. I am a B.B. King fan from away back and this latest Christmas CD is a welcome addition to my Holiday favorites. It is excellent not only just for listening; but, also provides good background party music. It has a great feel for getting with your mood. Thanks for bringing out some good new songs along with my favorite oldies.

I've only had this CD for a week and it is already one of my favorites. When you think about it, it is amazing that B.B. King hasn't done a Christmas album before this. It was just meant to be. That big, warm, strong voice is the aural equivalent of a blazing fire. It was made for homey, comfortable Christmas songs. At the same time, even past seventy, he's got a sexy edge that makes a song like Clarence Carter's Back Door Santa at least as hot as the original. For me, the highlight is Merry Christmas Baby, a song that just about every blues or r&b singer of the past forty years has recorded (some of them brilliantly). This version would stand up to any of them, and wins my vote as the best ever, and, honestly, is among the toughest, hottest, most soul-drenched things I have ever heard B.B. King do. It there is such a thing as justice, this album is destined to become a classic.

This is not your typical Christmassy Christmas CD. It's definitely blue tinged, a blues Christmas, if you will. There aren't many familiar songs here, and what ones there are such as "Merry Christmas, Baby" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas" are nice and fresh arrangements. As for "Auld Lang Syne", well, how many ways are there to play that song?

However, the highlights for me were the great bluesy interpretation of "Please Come Home For Christmas", the playful "Back Door Santa", and the very sentimental rendition of
"Christmas In Heaven".

This is different for B. B. King. There is a more subtle power here than in much of his work, and this will likely put you in a contemplative mood. The blue mood permeates, but isn't depressing. There is, I believe, an attitude of hope expressed here although it's being expressed mostly from a very blue mood. One must remember that this record is to help AIDS victims, and this kind of expression seems very appropriate.

If it were not a Christmas record, I would probably rate it five stars, but because it is and yet doesn't express the Christmas spirit as openly as some records, I consider it a four star CD, but a very strong four stars.

This CD has been re-issued as The Christmas Collection... see the link under Our Customers' Advice. It's the same CD except for one track, it now has Merry Christmas Baby instead of What a Wonderful World. It's a fantastic Christmas CD, performed by a blues legend in his prime.

I love BB King. He lifts my spirits, elevates my soul, makes me smile, and activates my heart and my foot. That said, this new Xmas album feels as if some producer said, "BB sells. Xmas sells. A surefire combination!" and a tired, disinterested BB reported into the studio for duty.

"A Christmas Celebration of Hope" not only lacks hope, it lacks energy, variety, enthusiasm, and everything wonderful about BB King. Sorry BB.

A nice collection of Christmas (and New Years') tunes, arranged and performed in polished blues style. King's fans will love this, as will anyone who is looking for something a bit different than Bing Crosby, The Carpenters, et al. King remakes an earlier Christmas song (Christmas Celebration), which he originally cut for the Kent label, and which can be found on some budget comps, sometimes titled "Celebrate Christmas."

Mood-wise, King's playing is mostly slow or mid-tempo, so this will mix well with mellower, jazzier things, too. In fact, a nice appendage to this set would be a song done by Chris Cain in the King style - "The Little Drummer Boy Meets B.B."(It originally appeared on Cain's 1999 release, "Christmas Cain - Blues For The Holidays").

B.B. King's rendition of Christmas is great to listen to as a change from the regular fare of holiday traditional songs. My favorite is "I'll be home for Christmas" because you get to here just him in the band perform without vocals. A very enjoyable cd.

Whoa, baby - bring out the chestnuts and get in front of the fire. This CD will put you in the holiday mood in a rush. I plan on listening to it while I put up my tree. This CD is definitely for anyone who wants to listen to holiday music, but is tired of the usual sappy offerings. Put some blues kick into your holiday. Get this!

Before we begin let me say just one thing... I love BB King. His relationship with his guitar Lucille is legendary and he has a voice that can tell a complex story with a single word. I've been a fan of his for years and I've seen him in concert dozens of times.
Now that we have that out of the way, this CD is what it is... A collection of holiday related music set to assembly-line white-bread blues. BB King is capable of doing a lot better.
It's not a bad CD, in fact it's better than 99% of the X-Mas collections you'll find but it's not going to make you cry in your beer or jump for joy.
Buy this CD if you like the blues, if you're tired of listening to the same old Christmas songs every year and/or if you're a big fan of BB King... But if you're looking for something to compare with "Live in Cook County Jail" you'll be disappointed.