CD - B. B. King - Heart And Soul

Tracks
Lonely And Blue, Sneakin' Around, You Can't Fool My Heart, Story From My Heart And Soul, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, You Know I Love You, I'm King, A Lonely Lover's Plea, My Heart Belongs To Only You, Don't Cry Anymore, Please Accept My Love, Peace Of Mind, I Was Blind, On My Word Of Honor, I'll Survive, If I Lost You, My Reward, I Am, I Love You So, Key To My Kingdom.
So Much Has Been Written About His Blues Guitar Style And Such An Emphasis Placed On The Blues Content Of His Repertoire (His Bb Initials Stand For "Blues Boy" After All) That Itís Easy To Overlook What A Versatile All-Round Black Music Performer Bb King Really Is. He May Be The "King Of The Blues" But Over The Years Bb Has Tried His Hand At All Kinds Of Related Music And Not Just In The Rock And Funk Years Following His Big Cross-Over Hit The Thrill Is Gone. Like Many Of His Contemporaries, Bb Was Influenced Very Early On By Not Only The Sounds Of The Rural Blues But Also The Shouting Arrangements, Artful Vocals And Popular Repertoire Approach Of The Swing Era. The Electric Guitarist Charlie Christian, Whose Classic Solos Rest In The Late '30s Benny Goodman Band Recordings, Is Always Cited As A Major Influence On Bb's Instrumental Direction. Perhaps As Importantly, However, He Was Also Influenced By The Vocalists Of That Era - Singers Like Al Hibbler, Jimmy Rushing And The Performer Who Naturally Bridged Both The Early And Modern Periods - T-Bone Walker. As These Recordings, Made Over The Decade Spanning 1951-61, Show, Bb Treated The Ballad As Just One More Foil In The Black Music Entertainer's Book, Much Like Another Swing Era Influence - Louis Jordan. The Ballad Genre Was Not Where He Made His Name, Unlike Say Bobby Bland Whose Forte Was Definitely Slow And Smoochy. That These Recordings Were In-Demand Songs, Though, And Not Just Fillers Between Bb's Meatier Blues Classics, Is Supported By The Fact That Several Of Them Were Quite Substantial R & B Hits At The Time Of Their Release. A Few Have Dated, As Does The Sentiment, Setting And Style Of Any Decade Re-Examined Thirty Years Hence, But What Comes Through, Appropriately Enough, Is Bb King's Heart And Soul. Among The Material Collected Here Are The R & B Hits Including You Know I Love You (No I In 1952), Sneakin' Around (Which Charted At No 14 In 1955), On My Word Of Honour (No 3 In 1955), Please Accept My Love (No 9 In 1958). Partin' Time (No 8 In 1960) And Peace Of Mind (No 7 In 1961), Various Alternate Takes Or Unissued Sides Including Story Of My Heart & Soul Featuring Ike Turner On Piano), And Lonely And Blue Plus A Fine Swinging Version Of Duke Ellington's Don't Get Around Much Anymore (With Members Of The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Including Jazzers Conte Candoli, Juan Tizol. Ben Webster, Jimmy Rowles And Red Callender). Like Other Great Jazz Singers, Bb King Has That Uncanny Ability To Turn In A Convincing Performance With The Resources To Hand. Occasionally Here, When The Lyrics Become Syrupy Or Just Plain Daft (On I Am He Sings The Lines "I Am Only One Man /I Am In The Eyes Of The World/ Just A Dot/ Not A Lot"(!)), He Simply Ignores The Content And Concentrates On The Form. It's That Understanding Of The Source Of His Soulfulness That Makes Bb King A Very Fine Blues Balladeer Indeed.