Easy Listening Blues (Incl. 8 Bonus Tracks) (1962)

"The title is a bit of an oxymoron, especially in the hands of B.B. King, who might be smooth and urbane in some respects, but who's rarely recorded music that could be categorized as easy listening. That's the title that Crown Records used, however, for this all-instrumental 1962 collection. Just prior to leaving Modern for ABC, King did a lot of recording that Modern milked for sides to put out after he'd left the company, and the CD liner notes speculate that these tracks were laid down in late 1961 as part of this process. Since a big part of the pleasure of listening to B.B. King is hearing his voice, an all-instrumental album -- no matter how competently done -- is almost bound to sound like something's missing. King plays with his usual authority, making occasional nods toward the rock & roll twist craze in cuts like "Night Long" and "Hully Gully Twist". This 2004 Ace CD reissue adds historical liner notes and, more importantly, eight bonus tracks." (Richie Unterberger, Allmusic)

Aanwezigheid