Eric Clapton B. B. King - Riding With the King
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Artist: Eric Clapton B. B. KingBrand: CLAPTON,E/KING,B.B
Performer: Eric Clapton
Performer: B. B. King
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2000-06-13
Music Label: Reprise / Wea
Product features:
- B.b. King & Eric Clapton - Riding With The King
- Riding With The King
- Ten Long Years
- Key To The Highway
- Marry You
- Three O'Clock Blues
- Help The Poor
- I Wanna Be
- Worried Life Blues
- Days Of Old
- When My Heart Beats Like A Hammer
- Hold On I'm Coming
- Come Rain Or Come Shine
Music reviews of Riding With the King
Music Review: Joy Ride in Blue.
Rating: 5 Stars
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)
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