Album review: B.B King Live

It's truly remarkable that B.B. King is now in his seventh decade as a recording artist, having started in Memphis for the small-time Bullet label in 1949. Goodness only knows how many albums he's recorded since, some of them templates for a host of budding guitarists who went on to become rock stars, including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Robert Plant and Jeff Beck.

I first saw B.B. live at the Wellington Town Hall in the mid-70s, complete with full-on band and blistering horn section. It was a spellbinding night, one of the concerts you never forget. Then there's his five-star album Live at the Regal, recorded in Chicago in 1964.

Live at the Royal Albert Hall finds B.B. in a sentimental mood, which I guess we can forgive him considering he's closer to 90 than 80. The band is hot, he's got a who's who guest line-up including Slash, guitarist Derek Trucks and his wife Susan Tedeschi, Ronnie Woods and Mick Hucknall.

The repertoire is pretty cool too, including Blind Lemon Jefferson's See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (also known as One Kind Favour), Big Bill Broonzy's Key to the Highway, and B.B.'s own hit, The Thrill is Gone.

This is not B.B.'s best album but an average King album is still worth a listen.

Thrill of guitar legend lives on B.B. King

Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2011

Rating: 2 / 5 Stars