|  By
Cornbread
 B.B.
King & Friends – 80
{9/13/05 | Geffen Records}
To help celebrate the
King of Blues 80th birthday a celebrated group
of accomplished musicians joined B.B. for a
new recording. This twelve pack features songs
with; Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton,
Roger Daltrey, Darryl Hall, Billy F. Gibbons,
Sheryl Crow, Glenn Frey, Gloria Estefan, John
Mayer, Bobby Bland & Elton John.
The
songs are:
1.
Early In The Morning - with Van Morrison
(vocals & harmonica) – Van, B.B. and
Lucille sound mighty, mighty fine y’all.
This slow blues is music to my ears.
2. Tired Of Your Jive –
with Billy Gibbons (guitar – left side
& vocals) – as you’d expect
there is a lot of blues guitar, far mellower
than any of ZZ’s stuff. Piano and horn
accompaniment.
3. The Thrill Is Gone –
with Eric Clapton (guitar – left side)
– blues at its best, you can’t hear
anything less than zest in B.B.’s vocals
absolutely no signs of slowin’ down. Man
I love that guitar. These two bluesmen trade
licks throughout.
4. Need Your Love So Bad –
with Sheryl Crow (vocals) – B.B. is rich
and soulful, Sheryl is a bit slow almost country.
5. Ain’t Nobody Home
– with Darryl Hall (vocals) – very
much R&B with big band backing accompaniment,
this was a uniquely odd combination that worked.
6. Hummingbird – with
John Mayer (guitar – left side & vocals)
by Leon Russel, about a “true love”,
it’s primarily a piano with guitar solos.
Mayer sounds really good.
7. All Over Again – with
Mark Knopfler (guitar – left side) –
outstanding, it’s great from the start.
Love the guitar, boogie-woogie piano and B.B.’s
bluesy signature vocals.
8. Drivin’ Wheel –
with Glenn Frey (guitar – left side &
vocals) by Roosevelt Sykes, hell yea I can feel
the blues. Perfect guitar Lucille.
9. There Must Be A Better World Somewhere
– with Gloria Estefan (vocals) –
the better of the two female duets, you get
a lot of B.B. Gloria’s part is a sexy-jazzy
vocal. This is another prominent after hours
piano blues song.
10. Never Make Your Move Too Soon
– with Roger Daltrey (vocals) –
a happy combination of Memphis bluesman and
English rocker, kind of like the Who meets the
King of Blues – oh wait that’s what
it is.
11. Funny How Time Slips Away
– with Bobby Bland (vocals) by Willie
Nelson – the bass made up most of the
music on this slow, old school bluegrass-country-blues
ditty.
12. Rock This House –
with Elton John (piano & vocals) –
fifties-esque shuffle, rockabilly blues.
B.B.
has the birthday, and gives us fans this awesome
gift. Thanks B.B., happy birthday. While never
really being a fan of duet releases, this is
among the best. For B.B. and blues aficionados
this is a must have. I liked most all of the
songs; my favorites were tracks 1, 3, 7 &
12.
Ciao'
for now, peace.
Peter 'Cornbread'
Cohen, CBP
~
Cornbread@STLBlues.net ~
|
