By Don Berryman
A previously unreleased recording of blues legend B.B. King and his touring band, B.B. King In France: Live at the 1977 Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival was recorded on October 7th, 1977, with a solid performance by the blues icon and his band at his peak. It will be released on producer Zev Feldman’s Deep Digs label in partnership with Elemental Music with a limited-edition 180-gram 2-LP set for Record Store Day (11/29/2024) and a 2-CD set on December 6th. Each comes with liner notes by the acclaimed French author Jean Buzelin.
About B.B. King
My introduction to B.B. King was Live at Cook County Jail in 1971 and I was thrilled with his sound – the clarity of tone, the vibrato, the way he bent notes. His playing had the precision of a surgeon. As a teen I had been enamored with the blistering speed of guitarists Johnny Winter and Alvin Lee, then B.B. King’s elegant economy of notes blew my mind. There was nothing there that wasn’t needed and nothing needed that wasn’t there. King has been quoted saying “Notes are expensive, spend them wisely.”. After that I started recognizing his influence on rock music while listening to guitarists like Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Carlos Santana.
Blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa said in an interview in Guitar World : “I learned everything that I needed to know by watching B.B. King play. He was so incredible and had such a smooth presence on stage with a guitar in his hands. There was nobody that played the way he did before he came along. He was unique to himself, and for me, as far as blues players, everybody that came after is second to B.B. King.”
“He was an entertainer, a singer, and a guitarist; he was the full package. He was a singer of the highest caliber; just listen to his radio hits and the famous stuff. B.B. King was the Frank Sinatra of the blues, in my opinion.”
In France
B.B. King In France: Live at the 1977 Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival follows the pedigree of B.B. King’s most loved recordings Live at the Regal (recorded in 1964) and Live at Cook County Jail, (recorded in 1970) and is another great album capturing the blues great with his touring band performing for a live audience. This record presents a previously undocumented period with his touring band that included Walter King on tenor sax, Cato Walker on alto sax, Eddie Rowe on trumpet, Milton Hopkins on guitar, James Toney on organ, Joe Turner on bass, and Calep Emphrey, Jr on drums. This band had been touring with King for years and were all given solos at this gig.
As with many of the releases of historical concerts in recent years by producer Zev Felman, B.B. King In France: Live at the 1977 Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival exists because of the recording and tape archives by radio broadcasters. It was recorded by the Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF), France’s national radio agency. Sound restoration and mastering was performed by Matthen Lutthans and the sound is crystal clear. The horns are more forward in the recording than on Live at the Regal or Live at Cook County Jail.
The concert opens with the band playing a slow and bluesy version of Thelnoious Monk’s “Blue Monk” as an intro vamp. B.B. King is introduced and comes on stage playing Lucille (a.Gibson ES-335 guitar played through a Fender Super Reverb). They segue into “Caledonia” and I notice his voice is a little raspy, but I read in the liner notes that before going on stage he toasted with the emcee with a glass of cognac, I assume that irritated his throat, but he did regain his full round vocal tone as time when on. The festival crowd was attentive and appreciative – but this was a European crowd and the reaction is not as rowdy as the Chicago crowd at the Regal or in the Jail.
The consummate performer B.B. King next teases the crowd in his opening guitar solo on “Sweet Little Angel” from a faint plaintive cry building to a riveting crescendo. Every solo tells a story as do his vocals telling tales of betrayal, love and loss, and everything that makes up the blues. The entire concert is presented on this double album.
Tracklist:
SIDE A:
- BLUE MONK/CALDONIA (4:51) (Thelonious Monk/Fleecie Moore)
- SWEET LITTLE ANGEL (7:17) (B.B. King-Jules Taub)
- I LIKE TO LIVE THE LOVE (5:31) (Dave Crawford-Charles Mann)
SIDE B:
- IT’S JUST A MATTER OF TIME (9:37) (Belford Hendricks-Brook Benton-Clyde Otis)
- WHY I SING THE BLUES (8:37) (B.B. King-Dave Clark)
SIDE C:
- I GOT SOME OUTSIDE HELP (I DON’T REALLY NEED) (7:04) (B.B. King-Dave Clark)
- THE THRILL IS GONE (6:45) (Roy Hawkins-Rick Darnell)
- I NEED MY BABY (6:40) (B.B. King)
SIDE D:
- SWEET SIXTEEN (5:39) (B.B. King-Joe Josea)
- BLUES INSTRUMENTAL (1:41) (B.B. King)
- TO KNOW YOU IS TO LOVE YOU (3:53) (Stevie Wonder-Syreeta Wright)
- WHEN I’M WRONG (6:03) (B.B. King)
- HAVE FAITH (6:15) (Shirrell Sutton)
- OUTRO BLUES INSTRUMENTAL (1:13) (B.B. King)
Link to original Jazz Police article: http://www.jazzpolice.com/?p=16698
