Audio CD review:
B.B. King - The Ultimate Collection

B.B. King - The Ultimate Collection

Band: B.B. King Title: The Ultimate Collection Rating: Release Date: 15 March, 2005 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Three O' Clock Blues 2: Please Love Me 3: You Upset Me, Baby 4: Sweet Sixteen Parts One & Two 5: Rock Me Baby 6: How Blue Can You Get? 7: Everyday I Have The Blues 8: Sweet Little Angel 9: Don't Answer The Door 10: Paying The Cost To Be The Boss 11: The Thrill Is Gone 12: Nobody Loves Me But My Mother 13: Chains And Things 14: Ain't Nobody Home 15: I Like To Live The Love 16: Never Make A Move Too Soon 17: Better Not Look Down 18: There Must Be A Better World Somewhere 19: When Love Comes To Town 20: Ten Long Years 21: I'll Survive

Editoral Review B. B. King's music has been anthologized and put in box sets many times, but this is the first single-disc collection that truly spans the American icon's career. It starts with his breakthrough 1951 No. 1 R&B hit "Three O'Clock Blues" and ends, chronologically, with 2000's "Ten Long Years" from his platinum-selling, pop-chart-topping smash collaboration with Eric Clapton, Riding with the King. In between there are 19 numbers that trace King's creative peaks (1969's "The Thrill is Gone," 1960's "Rock Me Baby") and valleys (1973's disco-inspired "I Like to Live the Love"). And they all tell the story of his growth as a performer. As the years and tunes tumble by, King's guitar solos become more expansive and adventurous, and his cross-genre experiments, like 1987's "When Love Come to Town" with U2, grow bolder. "I'll Survive," also featured here, has become King's late-career theme song, but as he heads toward his 80th birthday on September 16, 2005--still playing 150 concerts a year with his vastly influential guitar skills sharp and his voice just a bit weathered--King's version of survival contains genuine majesty. --Ted Drozdowski .. You can see a complete list of all B.B. King discography, or go back to the B.B. King tabs