B.B. King: In France: Live At The 1977 Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival

By the time B.B. King arrived in France in the autumn of 1977 he could already reflect upon a good year. After a string of misfiring crossover albums, the Indianola blues musician had returned to studio form with the mostly straight-ahead blues of King Size (ABC, 1977). An invitation to Yale saw King become only the second African American after Duke Ellington to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the esteemed institution. And in June, King returned to Indianola for the first time in fifteen years where he played the Club Ebony—on the old chitlin' circuit—thus beginning a healing process with the segregated town he had grown up in.

The biannual Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival was one stop on a fifteen-date European tour for B.B. King and his seven-piece band. French national radio was on hand to record the entire concert. Forty-seven years later archival producer Zev Feldman and team have whipped the sound into more than decent quality.

King is serenaded onto the stage by slow-swinging horns on Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk." A sudden shift in gears launches Louis Jordan's jump blues, "Caledonia." King was a big fan of proto rock 'n' roller Jordan ( in 1999 King would record an entire album of his songs on Let The Good Times Roll: The Music of Louis Jordan) but his voice sounds strained here. Perhaps it was the pre-concert ritual brandy clawing at his throat, but thankfully the wobble passes, and his vocals are gradually restored to that trademark mixture of powerful, gospel-esque release and soulful intimacy. King's aching delivery on an otherwise low-key version of "The Thrill Is Gone" underlines just what a captivating singer he could be.

But as emotive as his vocals are, he is sometimes guilty of falling into full-blown pastiche; On "I Got Some Outside Help (I Don't Really Need)" King suspects his woman of cheating on him ... with the postman, the iceman and the insurance man. Also less than gripping is King's attempt at Philly soul on the labored "I Like to Live the Love," with a protracted singalong that overstays its welcome.

Still, it is King's guitar playing that really hits home, particularly on "Sweet Little Angel," "Sweet Sixteen" and a wonderful, mostly instrumental rendition of "Have Faith." King is in his element on these slow blues, wringing every ounce of emotion from his strings over James Toney's shimmering organ lines. It is easy to see why King inspired every blues guitarist—and plenty of rockers—who followed in his wake. By contrast there is plenty of bounce in the band's delivery on "Why I Sing the Blues" and "I Need My Baby," with tenor saxophonist Walter King, alto saxophonist Cato Williams III and trumpeter Eddie Rowe laying down potent unison lines and riffing back and forth with King, like a congregation and preacher, both giving it some at a gospel meeting.

King conducts his band and his audience with the assurance and swagger of one used to playing 200-plus gigs a year for the previous twenty-five years. He raises the temperature and then brings it down at will, injects a little humor here and there before making Lucille (his trusty Gibson) cry the blues as only B.B. King could. At The Regal (ABC, 1965), Blues Is King (Bluesway, 1967) and Live In Cook County Jail (MCA, 1971) are still the benchmarks for live B.B. King albums, but there are enough musical highlights here to warrant the effort that has gone into this lovingly packaged Deep Digs package.