B.B. King

Universal's 2009 set Live at the BBC contains 15 highlights from live B.B. King performances the BBC aired between the years of 1978 and 1991 -- a span that at first seems pretty impressive for a single-disc set, but a close inspection reveals that this 15-track collection covers just three specific dates, with one of those (a session for Andy Kershaw's Radio 1 program) yielding just two tracks tacked onto the end. The rest is split between a five-track set from the Hammersmith Odeon in 1978 and seven cuts from a 1991 show at Croydon's Fairfield Hall, and while there are a few notable differences between the sets -- B.B.'s guitar growls in 1978 and he sings U2's "When Love Comes to Town" in 1991 during a performance that is a bit more laid-back -- the two aren't all that different in form or feel: they still capture B.B. backed by a soul-spiked big band playing songs they play every night, so they know how to deliver them with precision and not a small degree of panache. This means the performances are certainly enjoyable, but they are familiar and not too easy to distinguish from the many latter-day live B.B. King recordings that are on the market -- which means there may not be much reason to get Live at the BBC if you have one of the other live B.B. sets, but there's nothing unpleasant about this at all. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide