Search - B.B. King :: Midnight Believer

B.B. King with The Crusaders--a great idea & it really works

Dave | United States | 11/19/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"B.B. King's 1978 album "Midnight Believer" found him working with Joe Sample, Wilton Felder, & Stix Hooper of the Crusaders--in addition to playing on the album, Stewart Levine and they produced the album as well. All of the songwriting was handled by Will Jennings & Sample except for "Never Make A Moon To Soon" which was by Hooper & Jennings. Jennings was a regular songwriting collaborated with the Crusaders, & Levine had been the producer of previous Crusaders material. B.B. said is was really the record company's idea to have B.B. & the Crusaders work together--they were both on ABC Records. All that said, some fans might find this to be more of a Crusaders album than a B.B. King album, but the thing is, even if the pairing was the record company's idea, it was a damn good idea nonetheless. The album offers irresistibly catchy & funky mid-tempo songs like the title track, "A World Full of Strangers", & the sly, infectiously fun "Never Make A Moon Too Soon". "I Just Can't Your Love Alone" is a tad overproduced, & has an excessive, overlong fade, but it's still really catchy. There's also a strong, moody ballad with "Hold On (I Feel Our Love Is Changing)", & a nice (though somewhat slight) feel-good tune with "When It All Comes Down (I'll Still Be Around)". The slow "Let Me Make You Cry A Little Longer" is frustratingly sappy, lacking in catchiness, & runs over 5 & ½ minutes, making it an exhausting album closer, but it's the only dud on the album. "Midnight Believer" had been out of print seemingly everywhere in the world & was quite tough to obtain on CD, but thankfully, BGO Records in 2003 released a twofer in the UK which combines this album along with his subsequent album, 1979's "Take It Home", on 1 CD with excellent sound quality. "Take It Home" was basically another Crusaders collaboration, & it has some great stuff in its own right, making the twofer a great buy."