B.B. King & Eric Clapton Riding With The King 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition (2 LP)

TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Informal
20th Anniversary Expanded Edition!
180g Vinyl Double LP!
Contains 2 Previously Unreleased Tracks Recorded During The Original Sessions!
Cut From Original Master Recordings by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Studios!
Two guitar legends - Eric Clapton and B.B. King - first performed together in NYC in 1967. Over 30 years later, in 1999, the two longtime friends joined forces to create a collection of all new studio recordings of blues classics and contemporary songs. The resulting album Riding with the King would be released in June 2000 and go on to sell over 2 million copies and win the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.
When it comes to the greatest rockin' bluesmen in history, at the top of the electrified traditional list is B. B. King: at the top of the contemporary list is Eric Clapton. Riding With the King brings the two living legends together for an entire album. When it comes to rockin' blues, Riding With the King is as great as it will ever get.
It sounds like the beginning of a story: "So, Slowhand and the King of the Blues were riding in a car ..." If this is a musical journey, it's the kind that rolls down long, empty stretches of country highway at 80 miles an hour, with the top down and the stereo blasting.
Clapton and King may be more city than country, but this collection has the relaxed, laid-back feel that only comes from a pair of veterans doing what they do best. What they do here is cover 12 classic blues songs, many of them staples of King's repertoire, so the title of this album makes sense. Whether it's the rollicking rock & roll of the title track, or the acoustic shuffle of "Key to the Highway," or the sweet notes of "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer," a real sense of pleasure comes through on this album, the kind of pleasure one gets from jamming late at night with a good friend.
The album features five B.B. King originals, plus a selection of covers from writers as diverse as Isaac Hayes ("Hold On I'm Coming"), Johnny Mercer ("Come Rain Or Come Shine") and "Big" Bill Broonzy ("Key To The Highway"). John Hiatt wrote the album's title track. The album features an all-star line-up of musicians: Andy Fairweather Low, Steve Gadd, Nathan East, Joe Sample, Doyle Bramhall II, Susannah and Wendy Melvoin, and Jim Keltner. The celebrated producer and arranger Arif Martin contributed string arrangements and orchestration to two tracks.
"Even 20 years later, the original tapes remastered by Bob Ludwig still sound beautifully clean and transparent." - Audio, August 2020
"A blues delight, still." - Stereoplay, August 2020
"For the 20th birthday, the album was extended by two tracks, the blues standard ›Rollin' And Tumblin'‹ and Willie Dixon's ›Let Me Love You Baby‹, both recorded during the original sessions and now brought up to date in terms of sound technology.« (Good Times, August/September 2020)
"Even 20 years later, the original tapes remastered by Bob Ludwig still sound beautifully clean and transparent." - Audio, August 2020
"A blues delight, still." - Stereoplay, August 2020

Features:

• 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition
• Double LP
• 180g Vinyl
• Cut from Original Master Recordings
• Cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Studios
• Pressed at Record Industry

Musicians:

• Eric Clapton, guitar, vocals
• B. B. King, guitar, vocals
• Andy Fairweather Low, guitar
• Jimmie Vaughan, guitar
• Doyle Bramhall, guitar, backing vocals
• Nathan East, bass
• Steve Gadd, drums
• Joe Sample, keyboards
• Timi Carmon, organ
• Susannah Melvoin, backing vocals
• Wendy Melvoin, backing vocals

Selections:

Side A
1. Riding With The King
2. Ten Long Years
3. Key To The Highway
4. Marry You
Side B
1. Three O'Clock Blues
2. Help The Poor
3. I Wanna Be
Side C
1. Worried Life Blues
2. Days Of Old
3. When My Heart Beats Like A Hammer
4. Hold On I'm Coming
Side D
1. Come Rain Or Come Shine
2. Rollin' And Tumblin' (Previously Unreleased)
3. Let Me Love You Baby (Previously Unreleased)