Ultimate Collection

B.B. King | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 15, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B0007QJ1PM
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,220 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #2 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > Memphis Blues
  • #5 in Music > Blues > Chicago Blues
  • #18 in Music > Blues > Electric Blues

Track Listings

1. Three O' Clock Blues

2. Please Love Me

3. You Upset Me, Baby

4. Sweet Sixteen Parts One & Two

5. Rock Me Baby

6. How Blue Can You Get?

7. Everyday I Have The Blues

8. Sweet Little Angel

9. Don't Answer The Door

10. Paying The Cost To Be The Boss

11. The Thrill Is Gone

12. Nobody Loves Me But My Mother

13. Chains And Things

14. Ain't Nobody Home

15. I Like To Live The Love

16. Never Make A Move Too Soon

17. Better Not Look Down

18. There Must Be A Better World Somewhere

19. When Love Comes To Town

20. Ten Long Years

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

B.B. King's music has been anthologized and put in box sets many times, but this is the first single-disc collection that truly spans the American icon's career. It starts with his breakthrough 1951 No. 1 R&B hit "Three O'Clock Blues" and ends, chronologically, with 2000's "Ten Long Years" from his platinum-selling, pop-chart-topping smash collaboration with Eric Clapton, Riding with the King. In between there are 19 numbers that trace King's creative peaks (1969's "The Thrill is Gone," 1960's "Rock Me Baby") and valleys (1973's disco-inspired "I Like to Live the Love"). And they all tell the story of his growth as a performer. As the years and tunes tumble by, King's guitar solos become more expansive and adventurous, and his cross-genre experiments, like 1987's "When Love Come to Town" with U2, grow bolder. "I'll Survive," also featured here, has become King's late-career theme song, but as he heads toward his 80th birthday on September 16, 2005--still playing 150 concerts a year with his vastly influential guitar skills sharp and his voice just a bit weathered--King's version of survival contains genuine majesty. --Ted Drozdowski

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Single Disc Collection Hits Most of the Highlights, March 18, 2005

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)

B.B. King is certainly the greatest living ambassador of the blues that we have and this latest anthology--released ahead of his eightieth birthday next September--is a well chosen collection of some of his best and best known songs. However, condensing a 50-plus-year recording career onto a single disc and calling it THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION borders on chutzpah.

However, give the compilers at Geffen Records their due. Through cross licensing they have been able to include some of his early RPM and Kent singles as well as his MCA material. [MCA has been B. B. King's home since the late sixties.] The set begins with his first No. 1 R&B single "Three O'Clock Blues" in 1951 and continues through with the most recent song "Ten Long Years" from 2000's collaboration with Eric Clapton, RIDING WITH THE KING.

Even at twenty-one tracks, there is much that had to be eliminated from this collection. Only the last four tracks represent King's post-seventies output. And over the past half dozen years alone, King has released some powerful albums, including 1999's tribute to the music of Louis Jordan LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL and 2003's collection of standards REFLECTIONS, neither of which is represented here.

What you do get though is classic B.B. King, including his 1964 crossover hit "Rock Me Baby," a couple tracks from 1965's LIVE AT THE REGAL "Every Day I Have the Blues and "Sweet Little Angel," his signature song "The Thrill Is Gone" (which at No. 15 was his highest charting pop hit in 1970), and the 7" edit and mix of "When Love Comes to Town" with U2.

Overall, this is a satisfying collection and makes for a nice introduction to the music of B.B. King. If you want a broader overview, consider 2000's 2-disc anthology or 1992's box set KING OF THE BLUES

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ****1/2 - the finest introduction yet, May 14, 2005

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)

Finally - a really good single-disc compilation which doesn't exclude King's earliest (and best) material.
Much better than "Greatest Hits" and more affordable than various multi-disc compilations, "The Ultimate Collection" is the place to start for newcomers and curious listeners who want to know what Riley "B.B." King is all about.
"Three O'Clock Blues", "You Upset Me Baby", "Sweet Little Angel"...this is not everything you could ever want from B.B., but it is a very fine place to start.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Thrill isn't gone after all...The King is back, March 16, 2005

By 

WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ultimate Collection (Audio CD)

B.B. plays what he feels in every single song. That's a rarity among all the young blues neophytes out there but the fact that he did from his very first recording says a lot about the man. From the very first chords of "Three O'Clock Blues" to the rock swagger of "When Come Comes To Town" (recorded and written by U2), B.B. energized every note, every word with meaning.

This isn't the best collection of B.B.'s music. For that you'd have to go to the boxed set "King of the Blues" which is now over a decade old. It's missing everything he's recorded since 1992 so isn't quite as complete as it could be either. As a single disc collection, though, you can't go wrong with this outstanding set. Yes, "The Thrill is Gone" also makes another appearence but because it'ssuch an important track (it broke B.B. to a wider audience and became his first crossover hit)it certainly deserves to be included. The extensive liner notes gives us a glimpse of B.B.'s life from the day he entered the world as Riley King the son of a sharecropper (something he himself did briefly as well). It's clear from even these early sides (the first four tracks)he didn't have blood flowing through his veins but the Mississippi Delta's rich water.

Focusing primarily on his singles (although there's a generous helping of album tracks as well), this collection could easily have been doubled or tripled in length (much as Bruce Springsteen's "Ultimate Collection" was). From the plainative fragment "Nobody Loves Me But My Mother" (with the sad but witty comment, ..and she could be jiving me") through to B.B.'s collaborations with U2 (the single is featured here with backing vocals that I don't seem to recall on the album version)and England's Mississippi Delta King Eric Clapton, this fine collection captures the King in fine form.

After this you'd do well to pick up the following classic albums; "Live at the Regal", "Lucille" (named after his beloved guitar), "Live in Cook County Jail" (one of his most powerful performances), "Indianola Mississippi Seeds". Dip your toes in the Mississippi Delta and you'll never regret it!