Eric Clapton & B.B. King - Riding with the King (2000)

B.B. King & Eric Clapton - Riding with the King (2000)



Reprise @192 kbps



This CD should satisfy fans of King, Clapton and blues purists alike. Unlike the sometimes strained vocals on Clapton's 1994 blues album From The Cradle, there is nothing forced about this collaboration.



Some of these songs are reworkings of some of King's earliest sides like 1951's "Three O'Clock Blues," where King's single-note leads are balanced against Clapton's more fluid runs. And Joe Sample's piano playing is stellar throughout. Or the slow blues of 1954's "Heart Beats Like a Hammer" and 1955's shuffling "Ten Long Years".



Whether they're playing the slow blues of 1954's "Heart Beats Like a Hammer" and 1955's shuffling "Ten Long Years", the acoustic blues of Big Bill Broonzy's "Key To The Highway," a funky version of the Sam and Dave classic "Hold On I'm Coming" or the electrifying "Days Of Old," these two artists play the blues with conviction. And the supporting cast is superb, including guitarists Andy Fairweather Low and Texas blues sensation Doyle Bramhall II. (In fact, two of Bramhalls's songs from last year's Jellycream--"Marry You" and "I Wanna Be"--are included here.)Track listing



1. "Riding with the King" (John Hiatt) – 4:23

2. "Ten Long Years" (B.B. King/Jules Taub) – 4:40

3. "Key to the Highway" (Big Bill Broonzy/Charles Segar) – 3:39

4. "Marry You" (Doyle Bramhall II/Susannah Melvoin/Craig Ross/Charles Segar) – 4:59

5. "Three O'Clock Blues" (King/Taub) – 8:36

6. "Help the Poor" (Charles Singleton) – 5:06

7. "I Wanna Be" (Bramhall, Charlie Sexton) – 4:45

8. "Worried Life Blues" (Big Maceo Merriweather) – 4:25

9. "Days of Old" (Jules Bihari, King) – 3:00

10. "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer" (King/Taub) – 7:09

11. "Hold On, I'm Comin'" (Isaac Hayes/David Porter) – 6:20

12. "Come Rain or Come Shine" (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer) – 4:11 Personnel



* B.B. King - vocals, guitar

* Eric Clapton - vocals, guitar

* Doyle Bramhall II - guitar, background vocals

* Andy Fairweather-Low, Jimmie Vaughan - guitar

* Joe Sample - piano, Wurlitzer piano

* Tim Carmon - organ

* Nathan East - bass

* Steve Gadd - drums

* Paul Waller - programming, string arrangement

* Susannah Melvoin - background vocals

* Wendy Melvoin - background vocals