B.B. King in London is a studio album, the nineteenth, by B.B. King, recorded in London in 1971. He is accompanied by US session musicians and various British rock- and R&B musicians, including Ringo Starr, Alexis Korner and Gary Wright, as well as members of Spooky Tooth and Humble Pie, Greg Ridley, Steve Marriott, and Jerry Shirley.
| B.B. King in London | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 11 October 1971 (US) 19 November 1971 (UK) | |||
| Recorded | June 9–16, 1971 | |||
| Studio | Olympic, Command Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Blues | |||
| Length | 34:24 | |||
| Label | ABC (US) Probe (UK) | |||
| Producer | Ed Michell, Joe Zagarino | |||
| B.B. King chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B[2] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [3] |
| The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [5] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [4] |
The album was released in the United Kingdom on November 19, 1971, in order to coincide with the first date of King's tour of the country.[6]
John Lennon had announced that he would perform on some of the tracks, but ended up having no involvement with the album.[7]
Track listing
edit- "Caldonia" (Fleecie Moore) -- 4:01
- "Blue Shadows" (Lloyd Glenn) -- 5:11
- "Alexis' Boogie" (Alexis Korner) -- 3:30
- "We Can't Agree" (Wilhelmina Gray, Louis Jordan) -- 4:48
- "Ghetto Woman" (Dave Clark, B.B. King) -- 5:15
- "Wet Hayshark" [instrumental] (Gary Wright) -- 2:29
- "Part-Time Love" (Clay Hammond) -- 3:17
- "Power of the Blues" (Pete Wingfield) -- 2:23
- "Ain't Nobody Home" (Jerry Ragovoy) -- 3:09
Personnel
edit- B.B. King – guitar, vocals
- Peter Green – guitar on "Caldonia"
- Alexis Korner – guitar on "Alexis' Boogie"
- David Spinozza – guitar (track 9)
- John Uribe – guitar (tracks 2, 4, 9)
- Paul Butler – guitar
- Klaus Voormann – bass guitar
- John Best – bass guitar
- Greg Ridley – bass guitar on "Alexis' Boogie"
- Steve Winwood – Hammond organ
- Gary Wright – piano, Hammond organ
- Dr Ragovoy – piano
- Pete Wingfield – piano
- Dr. John – keyboards (and guitar on track 5)
- Rick Wright – keyboards
- Joshie Armstead – background vocals
- Tasha Thomas – background vocals
- Carl Hall – background vocals
- Steve Marriott – harmonica on "Alexis' Boogie"
- Duster Bennett – harmonica
- Ollie Mitchell – trumpet
- Chuck Findley – trombone
- Jim Price – trumpet, trombone, piano, Fender Rhodes
- Bobby Keys – tenor saxophone
- Bill Perkins – baritone saxophone, clarinet
- Ringo Starr – drums (tracks 5, 6, 7)[8]
- Jerry Shirley – drums on "Alexis' Boogie"
- Jim Gordon – drums
- Jim Keltner – drums
- Barry Ford – drums
- Jimmie Haskell – string arrangement, conductor on "Ghetto Woman"
- Technical
- Andy Hendriksen, Baker Bigsby, Chris Kimsey, Eddie James, Joe Venneri, John Stronach, Lee Kiefer, Pete Booth, Phillip Holland, Rufus Cartwright, Tom Brown – engineer
- Keith Morris – photography
References
edit- ^ Dahl, Bill. B.B. King in London at AllMusic
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: K". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 28, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (2 ed.). Schirmer Trade Books. p. 631. ISBN 978-0-8256-7256-9.
B.B. King in London is the usual pointless hook-the-blues-guy-up-with-well-meaning-rockers-who-love-him-but-can't-play-his-stuff-half-as-well-as-his-own-band exercise
- ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 451. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin. p. 356. ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.
- ^ "European Tour for B.B. King". Sounds. Spotlight Publications. 28 August 1971. p. 2.
- ^ Miles, Barry; Badman, Keith, eds. (2001). The Beatles Diary After the Break-Up: 1970-2001 (reprint ed.). London: Music Sales Group. ISBN 9780711983076.
- ^ Castleman, Harry; Podrazik, Walter J. (1977). All Together Now – The First Complete Beatles Discography 1961–1975 (Second ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. p. 105. ISBN 0-345-25680-8.