HOT blues CD of the week (1/19/2013) (B.B. King and Eric Clapton – Riding with the King)

B.B. King is absolutely the “King” of ‘da blues, & he & Clapton prove it on this full album:

Here are the notes from WIKIPEDIA on the album:

Riding with the King was the first collaborative album by Eric Clapton and B.B. King.^[1][2] They performed together for the first time at Cafe Au Go Go in New York City in 1967 when Clapton was 22 and a member of Cream, but did not record together until 1997 when King collaborated with Clapton on the song “Rock Me Baby” for his duets album, Deuces Wild.^[3][4] Clapton looked up to King and had always wanted to make an album with him.^[3] King said they had discussed the project often, and added: “I admire the man. I think he’s No. 1 in rock ‘n’ roll as a guitarist and No. 1 as a great person.”^[3] At the time of recording Riding with the King, Clapton was 55 and King 74.

Clapton initiated the recording sessions for Riding with the King and included some of his regular session musicians on the album. He also chose the songs and co-produced the album with Simon Climie, who had previously worked on several of Clapton’s albums.^[1] While this would appear to be a Clapton album recorded with King, Clapton gave King center-stage, who took the lead on many of the songs with his singing and his solos.^[5]