Search - B.B. King :: Golden Legends: B.B. King

Several highlights, but plenty of flaws, too

Johnny Boy | Hockessin, DE | 08/05/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First, I'll start with the highlights:



-It's a pre-MCA B.B. King in the 1950s, back when he was a young artist signed to EMI. The sides here are legendary EMI sides of the early '50s, and some of the recordings here date all the way back to 1951.



-It's got tons of great tunes! 'Three O'Clock Blues,' 'Sweet Little Angel' and 'The Other Night Blues,' all of which became concert standards for B.B. during his 1950s EMI career.



-It's one of the few places to find 'Please Love Me,' one of my personal favorite B.B. EMI tunes. This is the only compilation I can think of at the moment that offers it.



And now, I will focus on the flaws:



-NONE of the disc was recorded live. If you are looking for a B.B. King live recording, go pick up 'Live At The Regal' or 'Live At Cooks County Jail.' Those are great live recordings. But every song here is a studio recording from the early 1950s.



-The sound quality is very mixed. On some, like 'Three O'Clock Blues,' the sound is superb. But on others, like 'B.B. Boogie,' it's awfully. 'B.B. Boogie' has a very bad sound quality, very tinny. There is tons of static.



-The cover art is misleading. The picture here on the cover was taken recently. These were recorded in the 1950s, so the least Madacy could do was use a picture of B.B. that was taken in the early '50s, during his EMI years.



This disc is one of the better discs Madacy has released in it's 'Golden Legends' series. Actually, it's one of Madacy's better releases period. This is sold at a bargain price, and if you want a solid, cheap look at his EMI years, before he was famous, then this is recommended.



It's a good EMI years outlook, but it can be skipped. If you want good sound quality throughout and you want an EMI-years best of, pick up 'Classic Masters,' which is also cheap. If you can't find that one, though, and you need a quick look at his EMI years, this isn't a bad option.



Recommended only if you want a quick, cheap look at his EMI years."