B.B. King BEST OF/20TH CENTURY

King.
Producers include: Bill Szymczyk, Esmond Edwards, Joe Zagarino, Dave Crawford, Lou Zito.
Compilation producer: Andy McKaie.
Recorded between 1966 and 1985. Includes liner notes by Joseph Laredo.
Digitally remastered by Erick Labson (MCA Studios, North Hollywood, California).
This is part of MCA's 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection series.
A true best-of B.B. King album should be at least two or three discs. King is one of the giants of American music, up there with Gershwin, Ellington, Hank Williams, Louis Armstrong, and Elvis Presley. King played the blues, but he played them different--he combined a stinging, soulful guitar tone that was so polished one could practically "see the notes" shinning in the stage lights. (Oh yes, he was an influence on Eric Clapton and nearly every notable rock and blues guitarist in the '60s.) King had a deep, forceful yet restrained voice that was equally soulful and impassioned, yet unbowed. When King sang, you KNEW he had the blues, but he kept his cool AND his dignity.
This collection scoops together his best-known tunes from the '60s and '70s, plus the funk-flavored theme to the movie of the same name, "Into the Night." The classic "The Thrill Is Gone," which can alter the mood wherever it's played is here, as is "Guess Who," a love ballad for the ages. If you want to hear the blues delivered with guts, passion, grace, and style, this is the place.

• Format: CD
• Genre: Pop