| B.B. King Brings Together Eric Clapton, Elton John And Others For New Duets Album Of Blues Standards To Celebrate The Blues Great's 80th Birthday. 80 is yet another landmark in the career of one of the most influential guitarists of the 20th Century and the blues' greatest ambassador. With long-time admirer and recent collaborator Clapton, B.B. reinvigorates his 1970 Grammy-winning classic "The Thrill Is Gone." He also gives new spins to other B.B. flashbacks from the '70s, "Never Make Your Move Too Soon" with The Who's Roger Daltrey and the Leon Russell-penned "Hummingbird" with John Mayer. In what may be the album's most unusual and intriguing pairing, Gloria Estefan duets on the Grammy-winning Doc Pomus-Dr. John song from the '80s "There Must Be A Better World Somewhere." In another teaming with a female singer, Sheryl Crow is heard on Little Willie John's "Need Your Love So Bad."
"The revelation on 80 is that King fits so many of the unlikely collaborators into the blues." Orlando Sentinel
|
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: B.B. King (vocals, guitar); Glenn Frey, John Mayer , Billy Gibbons (vocals, guitar); Van Morrison (vocals, harmonica); Elton John (vocals, piano); Daryl Hall, Gloria Estefan, Roger Daltrey, Sheryl Crow, Bobby Bland (vocals); Davey Johnstone, Dean Parks, Eric Clapton, Larry Campbell, Mark Knopfler, Clem Clemson (guitar); Brandon Fields (saxophone); Gary Grant, Jerry Hey (trumpet); William Frank Reichenbach (trombone); Luke Smith (Hammond b-3 organ); Chris Stainton, Guy Babylon, Robbie Buchanan, Brian Mitchell (keyboards); Leland Sklar, Bob Birch (electric bass); T Bone Wolk, Yolanda Charles (bass guitar); Ian Thomas, Nigel Olsson, Russ Kunkel, Billy Ward (drums); John Mahon (percussion). | | Recording information: Olympic Studios, London, England; Right Track Studios, New York, New York; O'Henry Studios, Burbank, California; Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (2005). | | Although star-studded duet albums are often a mixed bag, when executed with appropriate collaborators and material the results can be impressive. Such is the case with many tracks on B.B. King's 80, which celebrates the blues legend's birthday with panache and, of course, a slew of high-profile guests. The 2005 album begins with "Early in the Morning," a pitch-perfect mid-tempo number performed with Van Morrison, and continues in finest form when it features other performers fluent in the blues, including Eric Clapton (a Hammond-tinged take on "The Thrill Is Gone"), Mark Knopfler (the simmering "All Over Again"), and King's longtime friend and peer Bobby "Blue" Bland (the intimate, conversational "Funny How Times Slip Away"). On every tune, King commands his guitar (the beloved "Lucille") better than performers a fraction of his age, and his weathered voice only adds to the record's charm. |
|
CD
