Best of B.B. King: 20th Century Masters/The Christmas Collection

Performer: B.B. King
Engineer: Josiah Gluck; Tony Daigle
Producer: Michael Abene; B.B. King
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Leon Warren (guitar); Melvin Jackson (saxophone); Stanley Abernathy, James Bolden (trumpet); James Sells Tony (keyboards); Calep Emphrey (drums); Tony Coleman (tambourine). Audio Mixers: John Hobrock; John Holbrook; Josiah Gluck. Liner Note Author: B.B. King. Recording information: Dockside Studios, Maurice, LA; Sound on Sound; Unique Studios, NY. Photographer: Kevin Westenberg. Unknown Contributor Role: Nashville String Machine. Arranger: B.B. King. This edition in Universal's discount-priced compilation series 20th Century Masters/The Christmas Collection is actually a re-titled reissue of the 2001 collection A Christmas Celebration of Hope. It took B.B. King a long time to get around to his first Christmas album, which didn't appear until about half a century into his recording career. It's an adequate, good-humored reprisal of various holiday chestnuts, among them some material with blues/R&B origins, like "Merry Christmas Baby." King wrote just one new song for the album, the instrumental "Christmas Love," though he did originally record another of the tracks, "Christmas Celebration," back in 1960. Wisely he plays "Auld Lang Syne" as a funky instrumental instead of vocalizing the singalong lyrics. In addition to periodic bursts of King's trademark guitar, there is plenty of brass and organ in the peppy arrangements. The Nashville String Machine adds its strings to just three tracks, which cuts down on over-produced excess (which is only a problem on "Please Come Home for Christmas"). It's hardly the first King you'll pull off your shelf, and not the first R&B Christmas album you'll turn to, either, but you could do worse in the holiday season. ~ Richie Unterberger

The great Memphis guitarist and singer B.B. King has been the most high-profile figure in blues since the 1960s, ever since his LIVE AT THE REGAL album established him as a superstar. King has collaborated successfully with everyone from Bobby Bland to U2, but he made his name as a soulful, enthusiastic bandleader. His beloved Gibson ES-345 guitar, "Lucille," is the source of King's trademark sound--percussive attack, dramatic string-bending, and spare lead lines with a vocal-like quality.

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