Customer Reviews

Eric Clapton: Riding With the King

5 star:		(233)
4 star:		(60)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

Forget any apprehensions you may have had about this pairing of blues legend B.B. King and guitar god Eric Clapton. This CD should satisfy fans of King, Clapton and blues purists alike. Unlike the sometimes strained vocals on Clapton's 1994 blues album From The Cradle, there is nothing forced about this collaboration.

Some of these songs are reworkings of some of King's earliest sides like 1951's "Three O'Clock Blues," where King's single-note leads are balanced against Clapton's more fluid runs. And Joe Sample's piano playing is stellar throughout. Or the slow blues of 1954's "Heart Beats Like a Hammer" and 1955's shuffling "Ten Long Years," where Clapton steps back from the mic and lets King's vocal carry the song. (Although with Clapton now in his mid-fifties, he's nearly twice as old as King was when he first recorded these songs and has earned the right and acquired the ability to sing the blues with authority as he does on the rest of the tracks on this CD.)

Whether they're playing the acoustic blues of Big Bill Broonzy's "Key To The Highway," a funky version of the Sam and Dave classic "Hold On I'm Coming" or the electrifying "Days Of Old," these two artists play the blues with conviction. And the supporting cast is superb, including guitarists Andy Fairweather Low and Texas blues sensation Doyle Bramhall II. (In fact, two of Bramhalls's songs from last year's Jellycream--"Marry You" and "I Wanna Be"--are included here.)

The only song that at first glance seemed out of place was John Hiatt's title track, but once I hit the play button any misgivings I had immediately disappeared. There is not a false note on this album. The only disappointment is that after sixty minutes, it's over. If King can still play like this at his age--he'll turn seventy-five this fall--I'm looking forward to what clapton will be doing in another twenty years. This is as good as the blues gets. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Ok, I'm a tad biased as I'm a huge Clapton fan (heck, he's still "god" in my book). The disc shows how to giants in the guitar world can show restraint and taste by sharing guitar and vocals. Clapton's tone is so sweet, pure strat and BB, well, he's the best at those short, jabs and staccoto licks. The playing is never over the top, which is a good thing, but adding the true bite or smooth emotion each song deserves. This album combines old blues gems like "Ten Long Years" & "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer", with Derek and the Dominoes "Key to the Highway" (done acoustic, a real treat) along with a few contemporary R&B covers penned by Doyle Bramhill II "Marry You" and "I Wanna Be" (Doyle also plays rhythm guitar on this disc...he's gotta be smiling !).

Texas blues great Jimmie Vaughan adds a few biting solos to "Help the Poor". The backing band is also very tight and some of the finest around...Andy F. Low (guitars, EC's sideman) Nathan East (bass), Steve Gadd (drums), Joe Sample (piano) and Tim Carmon (B3 Organ.

The overall feel of this is "good time" blues, bouncing rhythms and the two blues guitar masters having fun. It's not the heavy sound of EC's "From the Cradle", but more like BB's "Blues on the Bayou".

A great cd that will no doubt win a Grammy and delight millions of blues fans (not to mention guitar players, like me).

Super summer driving tunes like the title track or "Marry You" will have their melodies locked into you head for days.

You can read other reviews here that comment on the excellent playing and signing by both blues greats.

I would like to comment on the way this album was mixed - EC's vocals and playing come from the left channel and BB from the right. All other sounds seem to be well balanced between right and left.

I really enjoyed this effect - it gives the performances an almost live sound. With a decent home system (some digital sound fields) you can almost see EC & BB smiling back and forth as they play in a classic blues small venue.

The other reviews say it all, from one perspective to another, the consensus is this album is a winner! One reviewer remarked that it would be a Grammy contender. That was my thought exactly on my second listen through. When Eric stated 5 years ago that he was going to go the "Blues" route, I hoped he meant it. Not that I did not like Pilgrim, I do, but you have to appreciate it with its Curtis Mayfield flavor. Riding with the King is the direction Clapton has to go in. He can do more for himself and other Blues greats by making the rounds and playing on disc or live with as many as he can. This not only continues the work begun with From the Cradle, but takes it to an entirely new level. Bravo EC and BB!

For many people this CD will seem like a dream come true. For Eric Clapton and B.B. King, this CD probably represents the dream of two old friends finally realized. Through out the CD, Clapton and King play off of one another, each safe in the knowledge that neither has anything more to prove except the joy in knowing that music can be made simply because it exists.

It should come as no suprise that this CD is mostly a collection of straight up blues: the disk contains several B.B. standards - notably "Ten Long Years" and "Three O' Clock Blues", but the songs are played in a way that makes them seem brand new. An all acoustic version of the classic "Key to the Highway" with its rambling acoustic shuffle will be a real treat for lovers of acoustic blues, and the heartfelt rendition of "Come Rain or Come Shine" makes for a nice sentimental contrast to the funky R & B styling of songs like "Marry Me".

Riding with Slowhand and the King - tunes to live and drive by on a soul trip for the road with the top down and your hair flying in the wind - buy it and drive!

I live in Memphis.One perk of this unfortunate geographic challenge is the legal dispute that forces BB King to perform at his original club on Beale Street on rare occasions. The performance dates are not advertised far in advance, so we locals have a chance to see a show. I watched BB from 6 feet away last year. This album recapitulated some of that incredible experience. It is hard to overestimate the impact of BB King on todays music.

I have always been a Clapton fan (although he is not terribly gifted in the vocal arena). In his words "BB is my hero". This is obvious on the CD, even the cover is a tribute- BB relaxed in the back of the convertible with Lucille, Clapton is driving and having a great time.

Despite Eric's prodigious talent, he is overshawdowed by the relaxed yet vibrant delivery of the master. Track 10 "When my Heart.. ." Showcases BB's mastery, track 11 "Hold on ..." allows a side-by-side comparison of the respective abilities.

Nevertheless, this is now one of my favorite Clapton albums. I admire him for putting this together. There may never be another album that links the Delta Blues to modern rock with such style, grace, enthusiasm, and honesty.

If "Clapton is God," as worshipful graffiti proclaimed in the '60s, then how do you rate the blues divinity of B.B. King? And how heavenly would they be when considered together?

The answer lies -- at least in part -- in "Riding With the King," a musical collaboration between King, one of the giants of the blues, and Eric Clapton, one of the giant students of the blues (not an insignificant distinction).

It's a very good album, with flashes of great music, but somehow less than one would expect from the sum of these two parts. My expectations included hearing a set of old and new blues, born again in the heat generated by two icons of the genre.

There's a lot of that, to be sure, in tough standards like King's "Ten Long Years," "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer" and "Three O'Clock Blues"; Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway"; and Big Maceo Merriweather's "Worried Life Blues." King and Clapton swap stinging solos, trade vocal licks and generally play off each other's huge talents -- as in the delicious dueling notes that close out "Three O'Clock Blues."

Then there are the funky anomalies that in another setting might make for an interesting album mix. But here, tunes like "Marry You" and "I Wanna Be" seem slightly askew. "Help the Poor," an old King favorite, also seems not to fit comfortably in the mix, despite flashy guitar and vocal chops.

Blending much better are John Hiatt's "Riding With the King," kicking off the album with its appropriate sentiment, and the surprisingly passionate reading King and Clapton give to "Come Rain or Come Shine" -- almost enough to make you forget Judy Garland.

It's also interesting to listen to the two blues makers side by side. King is still in full-throated glory at a fittingly regal 74, fingers oozing his trademark fat, rich, blue notes. Slowhand at 55 (has it been that long?) is no slouch on the strings either -- some graffiti does have the ring of truth, after all.

However, while King's deep, gritty, seemingly effortless vocals capture the essential nuance of the blues, Clapton's thinner voice suffers in comparison.

Despite these modest reservations, it's a thoroughly enjoyable album. It's great fun to hear these two talented musicians play the blues together.

B.B. and Eric. Lucille and ... no, not Blacky, who was retired in 1985, but at least Blacky's little brother(s). Two guitar gods (albeit one a rather reluctant one), with a combined 80 years of recording experience. Immesurable amounts of talent, from the two "big guys" down to every single one of the other participants in this project. And - dare one say it, given that this is supposed to be a blues album? - loads of fun, on top of all that!

Let's get things straight, musically this is a long way from Cook County Jail and from either man's Cradle, not to mention Layla and other assorted painful love affairs. There is no sense here of "rather [wanting to be] dead than to be here so alone and blue" (B.B. King, "Worry Worry"), of the loneliness at the chiming of the midnight hour (B.B. King, "Blues at Midnight"), or of crawling on the floor like the worst loser in the world begging her to take you back (Eric Clapton, "Bell Bottom Blues"). Sure, the album includes B.B. King's "Ten Long Years," "Three O'Clock Blues" and "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer" and Maceo Merriweather's "Worried Life Blues" - and yes, these songs do strike a number of blue notes, in their lyrics as well as in King's growling vocals and their mournful, reflective guitar solos. But overall, a relaxed and at times even upbeat feeling dominates this release; and you can hear how much fun every musician involved in the project had in recording it. And further proof is provided by the photos of a broadly smiling Eric Clapton and B.B. King featured on the CD's front cover and in its slim booklet, which interestingly, by placing Clapton behind their ride's wheel, also open themselves up to the dual interpretation of seeing him in the driver's seat while simultaneously acting as chauffeur to B.B. King, who in turn is relaxing in the back seat with Lucille, looking every bit as regal as his name and his stature in the industry imply.

The album opens with John Hiatt's "Riding With the King," the CD's title track and obvious motto, whose lyrics ("I stepped out of Mississippi when I was ten years old, with a suit cut sharp as a razor and a heart made of gold; I had a guitar hanging just about waist high, and I'm gonna play this thing until the day I die") could have been written specifically with Mississippi-born B.B. King in mind. And while both singers harmonize and alternate in most of the song's other verses, those last lines are spoken by King alone, with a big twinkle in his voice and, audibly, also in his eyes. ("You're in good hands, you're ridin' with me," he ad-libs, and "I would have said B.B. King, but you know the king ...") The song's upbeat mood is resumed most strongly in William Broonzy and Charles Seger's "Key to the Highway" which, beginning with Eric Clapton/Derek and the Domino's "Layla" album all the way to this one, seems to turn into a different kind of jam session with whomever Clapton chooses to record it; as well as in Hayes/Porter's "Hold On I'm Coming" and the closing track, Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen's classic "Come Rain and Come Shine." In the latter, Eric Clapton and B.B. King thus give a classy blues twist to a song which by now has probably been recorded by virtually every artist of note and nevertheless sounds different every single time; from Mercer's soulful original to Liza Minelli's show-stopping interpretation, Billy Holiday, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Don Henley's very own and all very distinct jazzy versions and Frank "Old Blue Eyes" Sinatra's rendition, in many ways closest to Mercer's original.

The blending of classics like the aforementioned ones with more recent songs like Doyle Bramhall II's "Marry You" and "I Wanna Be" (both vastly improved in the treatment they receive here) further adds to the album's variety; and the gang really gets going with King's "Days of Old," which has rarely ever sounded like so much fun. If you have seen Clapton live during either his 1998 or 2001 tour, you know how much he enjoys working with the musicians who participated in the recording of both this album and "Reptile," the release Clapton "tagged on" almost immediately after having finished recording "Riding With the King" (and, individually, on recordings going as far back as his ill-famed mid-1980s releases and 1989's vastly more successful "Journeyman"): most notably Nathan West (Bass), Steve Gadd (drums) and, of course, Andy Fairweather Low (guitars). Thus, it is not all that surprising that the collected talent and good understanding of all those present made for a total recording time of little more than a month; virtually unheard of in most other projects, although pretty standard in the world of B.B. King, who reportedly likes to be in and out of the studio rather quickly, without, obviously, sacrificing the quality of the recording. As befits any good blue album and particularly one by artists as distinguished as these, the vast majority of what you hear is recorded live, with little to no overdub at all. Joe Sample's fluid piano notes accentuate and frame Clapton and King's vocals and guitar solos in just the right manner on more than one track, and while the CD does also feature some drum programming (by Paul Waller), this is much less obvious than on the decidedly less bluesy "Reptile."

In the album's liner notes, Eric Clapton and B.B. King credit each other as "a true genius" (King about Clapton) and "my hero" (Clapton about King), and express that recording an album together has been a long-standing dream of both of them. The product of that cooperation is one infectuous CD; and after their long and distinguished careers, it is great to see (and hear) how much fun they can still have doing what they do best.

Also recommended:

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert

Crossroads

Unplugged

One More Car: One More Rider (CD & DVD Set)

This exciting, exhillerating CD offers what everyone could ever ask for from EC and BB. I have always loved the vocals of both, which both shine in this CD. My [money] was definitely well spent on this piece of work. Again, this CD is a dream come true; for me, and all other BB and Clapton fans out there!

"Riding With The King" is a cool trip down the exhilarating highway of style and mood and atmosphere. Here we have a fantastic collaboration between two great artists. The songs are full of style, richness and sometimes maybe even a little touch of dark comedy. The first track, "Riding With The King," is a pure delight, all style and cool energy and lots of fun too. Other songs like "Ten Long Years" and "Three O'Clock Blues" are nice atmospheric pieces and you're surprised at how well B.B. King's and Eric Clapton's vocals sound together in a song. And then there's the richness in the detail of the music. You never get tired of hearing how King bends the strings in that unique fashion as well as Clapton. This is an album full of talent and style, one of the year's best releases.