The wake of Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, John Mellencamp and all that's come before, T Bone Burnett is on such a producing roll that his presence threatens to eclipse the artist(s) he's working with.
But that's hardly the case on B.B. King's first new studio album in three years. Burnett's concept for the 12-track set--to have the 82-year-old King revisit songs he played at the very beginning of his career--plays out in an inspired outing that finds King replacing the fire of his youth with a confident authority in playing and singing.
This isn't just B.B. King's best album in years, it's one of the strongest studio sets of his career, standing alongside classics such as Singin' the Blues and Lucille. Where those early titles highlighted his youthful, wailing vocals and stinging guitar, this one plays to King's current strengths: the tear-stained vibrato of his mature voice, punctuated by raunchy licks.
For too long, King has drowned in slick production, propped up by stiff duets with the likes of Eric Clapton. Here, King is front and center, with a killer backing band -- Jim Keltner (John Lennon, Mick Jagger) on drums, Nathan East (Clapton) on stand-up bass and Dr. John on piano -- that remains in the background.
King is heartbreakingly intimate on standards like Blind Lemon Jefferson's “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" and John Lee Hooker's “Blues Before Sunrise." How did the 82-year-old find his old passion? With T Bone Burnett, naturally -- the producer whose understated touch helped bring Robert Plant and John Mellencamp into their twilight years with dignity. Those projects were mere dress rehearsals for this one.
King laces lyrical solos and fills into every song, a list that ranges from T-Bone Walker's “I Get So Weary," Big Bill Broonzy's “Backwater Blues" and the Mississippi Sheiks' “Sitting on Top of the World." The tricks aren't new, but the old dog still has plenty of bite left.
B.B.King:One Kind Favor
Producer: T Bone Burnett
Release Date: Aug. 26
Producer(s): Geffen
Genre: BLUES
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