2008 Woodie Awards
B.B. King- "One Kind Favor"
Charlotte Downes
Issue date: 9/3/08 Section: The Edge
At the 2008 Chicago Blues Festival, BB King remarked to the audience, "You know, some of you young people say I sold out. What does that even mean?"
King's latest album, "One Kind Favor," provides an even better comeback to fans discouraged by the overproduced and slicked up albums that King has released in recent years. Producer T Bone Burnett used a similar tactic as he did with John Mellencamp's latest release. By backing off on production razzle-dazzle and instead placing the spotlight on King's voice, the album becomes both a kick back and a proclamation of King's age and maturity.
The fact that King is 82 - a fact easy to forget when he is bantering with the audience during live performances - becomes undeniable to fans. It's more than a little sad to grapple with, but kids: BB King is getting old. However, his age and experience is what makes the album work.
While the album is reminiscent of "Singing the Blues" and "Lucille," two classic, infamous BB King records that just about every blues fan owns, there is something different about this album. You certainly couldn't say that it's better. But somehow, his searing guitar licks seem to sting a little more. The stark lyrics twist your stomach a little harder. Now the blues aren't just about heartbreak. They're about heartbreak and running out of time. King's voice is no longer a wailing, slippery thing - it's a husky, well-aged vibrato that is still as arresting as ever. The fact that it sounds a little damaged adds nothing but credibility.
And without that credibility, an album full of covers would hardly be able to get off the ground. While it relies more on classics than King's own songs, something some fans may find disappointing, King still incorporates his own unique style. The album starts with a cover of Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave is Kept Clean" and a stunning version of "Blues Before Sunrise" that would even please John Lee Hooker, the legendary man who first introduced the song to blues fans.
King's latest album, "One Kind Favor," provides an even better comeback to fans discouraged by the overproduced and slicked up albums that King has released in recent years. Producer T Bone Burnett used a similar tactic as he did with John Mellencamp's latest release. By backing off on production razzle-dazzle and instead placing the spotlight on King's voice, the album becomes both a kick back and a proclamation of King's age and maturity.
The fact that King is 82 - a fact easy to forget when he is bantering with the audience during live performances - becomes undeniable to fans. It's more than a little sad to grapple with, but kids: BB King is getting old. However, his age and experience is what makes the album work.
While the album is reminiscent of "Singing the Blues" and "Lucille," two classic, infamous BB King records that just about every blues fan owns, there is something different about this album. You certainly couldn't say that it's better. But somehow, his searing guitar licks seem to sting a little more. The stark lyrics twist your stomach a little harder. Now the blues aren't just about heartbreak. They're about heartbreak and running out of time. King's voice is no longer a wailing, slippery thing - it's a husky, well-aged vibrato that is still as arresting as ever. The fact that it sounds a little damaged adds nothing but credibility.
And without that credibility, an album full of covers would hardly be able to get off the ground. While it relies more on classics than King's own songs, something some fans may find disappointing, King still incorporates his own unique style. The album starts with a cover of Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave is Kept Clean" and a stunning version of "Blues Before Sunrise" that would even please John Lee Hooker, the legendary man who first introduced the song to blues fans.
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Lamar Cole
posted 9/03/08 @ 3:45 PM CST
It Ain't Snowing In Memphis
Looking out the window.
Feeling cold inside.
It ain't snowing in Memphis.
Chilling to the bone.
Baby by my side.
It ain't snowing In Memphis. (Continued…)
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