Posted on 09/15/2005 11:28:32 PM PDT by scott says
Turning 80 today, B.B. King continues to prove he hasn't lost a guitar lick or a vocal chop. A professional musician since his early 20s, when he abandoned sharecropping in Indianola, Miss., and headed north for Memphis, Tenn. to play the blues, Mr. King has recorded more than 70 albums. On his latest, "80," the bluesman has recorded 12 duets — with Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Roger Daltrey, Gloria Estefan, Sheryl Crow, Darryl Hall, Mark Knopfler, Glen Frey, Billy Gibbons and John Mayer. Each track is distinctive and features Mr. King's signature guitar work and amazingly well-preserved vocals fused seamlessly with the considerable talents of his partners. "80," Mr. King's first duet album since 1997's "Deuces Wild," attempts to plug into the formula behind the late Ray Charles' triple-platinum posthumous success in recording 2004's "Genius Loves Company" (Concord). Mr. King can only be compared to the greats of his genre in impact, influence and longevity: Mr. Charles, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy come to mind. On "80," from the record's opening salvo with Mr. Morrison, the rollicking "Early in the Morning," Mr. King proves he's after something much more than mere novelty. A blistering number, "Early in the Morning" underscores that Mr. King (and Mr. Morrison) still are capable of conjuring hot-blooded blues that is danceable and hypnotic. Mr. King rerecords his hit "The Thrill Is Gone" with Mr. Clapton featured on guitar. Thirty-five years ago, Mr. King scored his greatest crossover success with "Thrill" (No. 15 on the pop charts in 1970), and on this remake, Mr. Clapton, who was heavily influenced by Mr. King, pays homage to his mentor and breathes new life into the stately classic.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
80 years young- 
great pic- I love BB- so real and authentic, what a gentleman and fantastic musician.
Heres a great link to BB site-
http://www.worldblues.com/bbking/prairie/index.html
Another great site/link provided by lunarbicep--
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/printmember/kin2int-1
Glad I've had the opportunity to see him a few times.
Happy B-Day, B.B.
Just bought the new "80" cd.
He & Van are good together.
Clapton is very good on "Thrill is Gone", but the song gets kinda ruined by violins.
Knopfler is good.
'Hummingbird' belongs to Leon Russell - nuff said
Sheryl Crow's good
Roger Daltrey is ....well, I kinda laughed.
Elton does boogie. fun song.
Saw him in NYC in the early nineties he ppened for Ray Charles.He knocked the socks or Ray.
I like some of BB Kings stuff alot. But some of his duets I can easily live without!
My favorite BB album (showing my age) "Indianola Mississippi Seeds".
Thanks for the ping Scott! Pissant, I have to ditto that and also add that almost all of the "Duets" CD's that have been released lately are boring and simply represent the artists desire to record with someone they admire, while also (maybe) making some money.
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