Singing The Blues - The Blues

B.B. King | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 23, 2011)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: POINTBLANK
• ASIN: B000000WIQ
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,647 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #23 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > Memphis Blues
  • #62 in Music > Blues > Vocal Blues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where It All Began, January 1, 2001

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Singing The Blues - The Blues (Audio CD)

B.B. King's first tracks were cut for Bullet Records in 1949, but he cut his first two albums for the RPM/Kent label. These two albums contain classic songs like "Three O'Clock Blues," "You Know I Love You," "Woke Up This Morning," "Please Love Me" and "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer." The box set King of the Blues contains only three of these songs. If you're looking for a more complete introduction to the formative years of one of the greatest living bluesmen, this is the album to get. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 stars. Some of King's early best, July 1, 2003

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Singing The Blues - The Blues (Audio CD)

I'm a bit wary of people who consider the Beale Street Blues Boy "the king of blues". I have this idea that the king of blues wouldn't record so many pop songs, or make unintentionally funny recordings like "Love Me Tender".

But when Riley B. "Blues Boy" King does play the genuine blues, he plays them very, very well. These two albums, which are brought together on one CD, were originally released in 1956 and 1960 respectively, and they still stand proudly as B.B. King's best and bluesiest. The arrangements are smooth and elegant, frequently displaying a hint of jazz, and King is backed by a well-arranged horn section in true Memphis blues fashion.

Most of King's early top 10 hits came from these two albums, and this is the fluid guitar work that has influenced so many players (the man can't play a chord to save his life, but he plays his single-string licks like he was born with an electric guitar in his hands).
Here is the original "Sweet Little Angel" (well, King's version of it, anyway - it is a Robert Nighthawk composition, even though King takes credit for it on this album). A sizzling "Why Do Things Happen To Me". And a slew of King's best compositions, including "3 O'Clock Blues", "You Upset Me Baby", "Woke up This Morning (My Baby's Gone)", and "When My Heart Beats like a Hammer". And all of are them shamelessly and unsympathetically co-credited or even solely credited to Modern Records' head honchos the Bihari brothers under various pseudonyms, by the way. The Biharis would add their own names to the credits, often without the consent of the real composer, in order to get half the royalties. Or all of them.

The "Singin' The Blues" album is also the original source of King's version of Memphis Slim's immortal and oft-covered "Nobody Loves Me" (which everybody else, including King, calls "Everyday I Have The Blues"), and King's reading of another Robert Nighthawk tune, "Crying Won't Help You". And "The Blues" from 1958 features several rarely-heard songs which actually rank among King's best early sides, like the punchy R&B-swagger of "Ruby Lee" and "Early Every Morning, and the slow blues "Trouble, Trouble, Trouble".

The only thing wrong with this album - apart from the slightly shoddy packaging - actually has nothing to do with the album itself. But these old Crown albums are currently being reissued on CDs stuffed with bonus tracks, and at such a reasonable price, too, that there is really no good reason to shell out for this disc anymore. It's still great, though.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The King of the Blues, March 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Singing The Blues - The Blues (Audio CD)

BB's two earliest recorded albums are remastered and put together on this CD. BB's guitar playing and singing have that early fifties fun and wild sound. But don't be mistaken, there are some slower songs and this is the blues, and one listen to "Three O'clock in the Morning" will prove it. The more upbeat opening track, "You Upset Me", has got some real loopy guitar riffs. BB's style is not quite as developed as his later works, but those semi-uncertain riffs and his robust young hollars make this a glowing blue relic for your blues collection (even the jewel-case is blue- get the picture?).