5 comments about Live "Now Appearing" at Ole Miss.

1. I thank the above reviewers for identifying the source of the extraneous cartoon sounds, which caused me to return the CD pressing way back when because I thought there was an engineering problem.
   Yes, these unwanted visitors come close to wrecking some classic renditions.
   The set is loaded with Soul, however, the kind that connects with the audience and jumps back to inspire the star and his band. Live at The Regal is probably the favorite King live set, but it has some curious tracking. This Ole Miss experience is apparently *the* complete show, and King displays his mastery of making music and making the people happy. The screams from the crowd are somewhat surprising, as they are the kind of sound you might expect to hear in a Teddy Pendergrass or Luther Vandross excursion.
   B. B. actually sounds a bit surprised, himself.
   As usual the material is first-rate, and done with care, although King's vocals sound a little tired and his playing a mite heavy at times - he makes Lucille work hard for the University attendees.
   Good versions throughout, the medley and "Guess Who?" being highlights, although personal favorite, the originally unreleased single side, "You Know I Love Me", has a very tough time getting off the ground. And it's not the wind chimes and boomerang noises to get in the way, this time.



2. If you like BB King, this album won't leave you wanting. It's got a lot of songs, and he is in his prime. Get it if you can find it. I had a hard time finding it. Since losing my original copy, it's been hard finding it in stock.



3. This was an album my dad happened to have in his large record collection--curious, I pulled it out & began listening to it. This was more than a few years ago. Of course I'd heard of B.B. King at the time, but it was with this album that I seriously gave his music--and the blues in general, for the matter--a listen for the first time. It wasn't long before I understood why this guy is considered the King of the Blues. This 2 CD live album, originally released as a double LP in 1980, conclusively demonstrates B.B.'s winning enthusiasm & charisma in a live setting.
   
   He weaves in highly entertaining spoken monologues into the "Blues Medley" on disc 1. They're filled with self-depreciating wit and humor, and they brilliantly complement the songs themselves. B.B. sounds completely natural and unforced and puts his winning humbleness on full display.
   
   B.B.'s got a wonderful, full & rich guitar tone going throughout the album, & his playing, though a tad stiff at times, is mostly terrific anyway. The instrumental "When I'm Wrong" is a perfect demonstration of the kind of soulfulness he captures with his guitar playing.
   
   He's also in incredible peak form vocally on here, singing with great power but without the overslick highness you occasionally encounter on earlier recordings, or the overly weatherbeaten vocals that begin to creep in another decade down the line.
   
   On "I Got Some Outside Help", a song about being cheated on, B.B. starts by delivering a terrific guitar performance, and then proceeds to unleash a riveting, perfectly phrased vocal, and the result is cathartic. "Never Make A Move Too Soon" is given a great, crisp, driving uptempo treatment that contrasts with the slyly laidback studio version from his 1978 "Midnight Believer" album. The feel-good "Rock Me Baby" and the swinging, uptempo, upbeat "Caldonia" are irresistible. The tender "Darlin' You Know I Love You" with its strong vocal and soulful song-ending guitar solo, is undeniably charming, as is the brief version of "Guess Who" which B.B. uses as a tribute to his fans. The 10+ minute, mostly instrumental version of "The Thrill Is Gone" is great as well--his guitar work is so supremely enjoyable, & the backing musicians are so solid & sympathetic to the material that it's arresting even as it runs on for over 10 minutes.
   
   Despite all the great performances, there is some bad news with this album that mars it considerably. The album credits include the 'Sweetenings Percussion & Rhythm' of Nana Vasconcelos on percussions & Jon Jones on rhythm guitar, and presumably, between the two of them, they're responsible for subsequently overdubbing all kinds of ridiculous noises onto the album, including the 'boing'-y sound on "Darlin' You Know I Love You", the "woo"s that run throughout "Rock Me Baby", and the aimless, rambling, shockingly tasteless guitar on the verses of a drastically flawed version of "Hold On" (it appears on his 1978 "Midnight Believer" album in a strong studio version). In addition to this, on the opening & closing tracks, you get a hilariously obnoxious announcer who does a forced-sounding B.B. imitation near the beginning of the album. There is also some distracting noise that crops up on the "Blues Medley" and "Three O'Clock In The Morning" as if they were having some technical difficulties during the performance.
   
   The ridiculously inappropriate noises that plague "'Now Appearing' at Ole Miss" are indeed a crime. If you took out the 4 or 5 weakest tracks here, subtracted the ridiculous overdubbed annoyances, polished up the recording quality just a hair, and slapped it all onto 1 CD, it'd make this one of the best CDs of all time. As it is, I still treasure the album dearly and have an undeniable soft spot for it--B.B. King is frequently spotlighted at his absolute best here, which is saying a LOT. Try to snap this up at a reasonable price.



4. I've seen BB in concert four times (twice near the time of this recording), and he is always a lot better in concert than on his studio recordings. This is a recording of a concert, however later they "sweetened" it in the studio, adding a bunch of junk that seriously detracts from the performance. If you can listen past the "sweetener", it is great. If it weren't for the "sweetener" that was added, this would be at least a 4 star CD.



5. I've had the fortunate pleasure of getting to see Mr. King twice in concert. Once in Houston, Tx and the other at BB King's Blues Club on Beale Street in Memphis, TN. He is standard that all other modern blues musicians are judged by. "Live at Ole Miss" is one of my favorite BB King CD's. Listening to this CD makes you feel like you are at a live BB King concert. Buy this CD; You'l listen to it again and again.

No comments about The World Is Crazy: Live in Germany.

5 comments about Corner Pocket.

1. The sound suffers here because of the live environment. On the other hand, you can reproduce the "club" environment with surroundsound in your livingroom. If you don't care for Li'l Darling (as one reviewer below), then you just don't like the slow-easy-with-space approach of the Basie-Hefti alliance. Compare with Juggernaut: In a Hefti Bag.



2. This CD was given to us as a shower present, and has been our favorite from day one. It never fails to sooth both baby and mother. Now that my baby is a toddler, as soon as she hears it, she starts "singing" along. It's one of the only sets of classical music CD's that we have where volume intensity doesn't fluctuate making it necessary to adjust the volume every little bit.



3. Love this album. It amazes me though, that the crowd in the background is talking and drinking while this great band is performing (like they get to see Basie every night). The recording is not enhanced or particularly well done, but captures the "Live" sound exactly as it was. You can hear on these tracks what made Count Basie great.



4. We have had this Cd for 3 years and our daughters (4 & 6) still love it. They have to have music when they go to sleep and this is the most requested. I would highly recommend it.



5. I was somewhat disappointed by this album. This is my 2nd Basie album while the 1st one I purchsed is "AIN'T MISBEHAVIN" which is FAR better!

   First the good news: The musicianship of this band is second to none and live performances are tough and exhausting.

   Why was I disappointed? The songs, especially the ones by HEFTI, are mediocre. Neil Hefti was an important arranger for Basie but not a good songwriter.

   The sound on this CD is not good either. You can almost not hear Freddie Green and the horns could be balanced better and the recording just sounds dry - no reverb, no echo - nothing.

   I'm gonna check out the VERVE releases and maybe some later live recordings of Basie..hope they'll be better.

No comments about The Blue Flagships Live Featuring "T99" Nelson.

No comments about Looking Forward Looking Back.

5 comments about Charly Blues Legends Live, Vol. 2: Muddy Waters, Chicago 19.

1. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Muddy Waters has left behind several fine live albums, and this is one of the best. Clocking in at well over 70 minutes, it finds Muddy Waters in his mid-sixties, but sounding as confident as ever.
   
   The crowd is lively without being too prominent, and Muddy is backed by his sublime latter-day touring band which featured drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, harpist Jerry Portnoy, bassist Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, guitarists Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson and Bob Margolin, and the great Joe "Pinetop" Perkins on piano.
   The instrumentals and Muddy's little soliloquies have been kept in, which makes for a completely authentic concert experience, and the track list includes a couple of rare performances, including "They Call Me Muddy Waters", a great "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" (which is sung in part by Luther Johnson), and the slow, mournful "Lonesome In My Bedroom".
   
   Other highlights include...well, the rest of the album, really. The fidelity is very good, and the magnificent band really shows how the blues should be played, with everything blending perfectly into a lean, gritty, muscular sound, as they grind and swing their way through the set.
   As I said, there are many live Muddy-albums, and this is one of the three best ones, right alongside the Newport album and "Mojo: The Live Collection".
   Get it while you still can!



2. This is one of those rare records that i can listen to all the way through from the opening instrumental to the encore. i've listened to nothing but this record for weeks. It's that good. Great songs and great sound. This record faithfully reflects Muddy's sound in the mid- to late-1970s. If you buy one Muddy Waters record, buy this one, and turn it up!



3. I love it. A contender for the "only 5 cd's on a desert island" list. If you like Muddy Waters Live, don't miss this one. This was recorded in 1979. The entire show just "feels good". From the very start to the encore. I wish I could have been there.



4. This CD is an absolute must for any blues fan. You almost feel like you are in the audience when you are listening to it. The beginning of Mannish Boy will send chills down your spine! Muddy's voice just belows from the depths below!



5. As is often the case with later Muddy live recordings there is a fair amount of 'padding' where Muddy isn't actually singing. Also there are a number of staples of his live set here of which there are better versions available. That said, the sound is good, the band are absolutely cookin' (as always) and the take of They Call Me Muddy Waters is worth the price of admission on its own. There's a wonderful laid back version of Kansas City too with Pinetop Perkins sharing the vocals. Recommended.

1 comments about Hoochie Coochie Man In Montreal.

1. Subtitled "Live in Montreal", "Hoochie Coochie Man" was recorded in January 1977 at the Rising Sun Club in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
   
   Muddy Waters is backed by his classic mid-70s combo, the sound is very good, and the band is crackin'. There's not a whole lot here which you won't find on several other live album from this area, but most of these performances are very good, featuring an inspired Joe "Pinetop" Perkins at the piano.
   A couple more up-tempo songs would have been nice...the album opens with the mid-tempo "Baby Please Don't Go" followed by two v-e-r-y slow numbers, and the clichéd "Highway 41", "I Want You To Love Me", and the seven-minute "Howlin' Wolf" in particular aren't really all that inspired. You'd be better off listening to "Howlin' Wolf" on the "Live Recordings 1965-73" album.
   
   But there are still several highlights, like the swinging "Can't Get No Grindin'", a tough "Hoochie Coochie Man", a great rendition of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Nine Below Zero", and the then-new "The Blues Had A Baby". Also the opener, "Baby Please Don't Go", sounds better than many of Muddy's numerous versions of that song. Even the 11-minute closer, "Kansas City", is highly enjoyable, mostly because of a great performance by the band. Muddy shares lead vocals on that one with a couple of his bandmates...the sparse liner notes have nothing to say on the subject, but Pinetop Perkins sings the second verse, and I'm pretty sure that at least one of the remaining musicians also take a lead vocal. That would probably be Luther Johnson, but it could also be drummer Willie Smith, who is also an accomplished singer.
   
   All in all, this is an enjoyable live album, but it's not an essential one. Muddy's vocals are certainly strong enough, but his performance lacks a bit of enthusiasm here and there. It's not sloppy or weak, it just doesn't sound like he cares all that much.
   Muddy Waters was a fine singer even when he wasn't quite firing on all cylinders, but you'll be better off with CDs like "Muddy Waters at Newport" and "Mojo: The Live Collection". This is a good one, but it's not quite great.

2 comments about In Concert.

1. The true beauty of this album is the pure rawness and lousy recording. The distortion and feedbacks only add to its luster.
   If you play this album and close your eyes, you will be transported to an outdoor blues festival somewhere, (Probably Chicago). You can just smell the Bar-B-Ques smoke and and scent of beer while Muddy Waters and his band crank out this list of blues standards. The speakers just crackle with energy and make it imposible not groove on this. There are no overdubs or engineering on this album to polish it up. It is recorded as it happened and gives it a true definition of "Live".
   This album is highly recommended for any blues fan or anyone who enjoys live music.



2. It's definitely Muddy, but from when and where is anyone's guess. 11 cuts ranging from "Corrina, Corrina" to "Mojo", this is a pretty well recorded set, but without credits, it's hard to tell from what period of Waters' career this is taken from- I would guess the '70's, but who knows. Still, ain't nothing wrong with live Muddy Waters, no matter how you find it.

3 comments about Mojo Ramble: Snooky Pryor Live in Concert.

1. Little Walter may have overshadowed Snooky Pryor as a harmonica player, but Snooky's music swings. Mojo Ramble is 100 percent entertaining blues. If you haven't heard Pryor, you will be wondering way you waited so long after hearing him. This CD is an electrified pleasure.



2. Live in concert at Blues On The Eastside, L'l Big Horn Saloon in Cambridge, Ontario (Canada), Snooky Pryor gives his audience a taste of the fire that has developed his career along with the Chicago Blues sound. The harmonica master and his band are some 500 miles away from Chicago for this night out. They've brought the right attitude from home, though, as Pryor sings about the kinds of blues that take hold from time to time. He was 80 when this performance was recorded in late 2001. Few can ignite a room the way Pryor does, and it all comes from his experiences as a veteran bluesman. Since 1940, he's turned on Chicago audiences with his special kind of blues magic.
   
   Guitarist Mel Brown and Pryor's trio, the Homewreckers, surround his sparkling vocals and exotic harp with a welcome flame. Organist John Lee gives the session a soulful drenching. Pryor sings "It Hurts Me Too," "Shake My Hand," and several original songs. His mojo convinces. Brown, too, offers conversant guitar interplay that lets his audience share in the fun.
   
   The live album takes you in for a closer look at the artist. The recording includes vocal asides and warm-ups that provide insight. When Pryor sings about the wind blowin' all his blues away, you know it's a tried and true formula that works for everyone all the time.



3. Well worth the price great guitar lick's & solos Snooky's voice and harp are in top form. For his age at the time you could not ask for better, i have always loved his blues. He has a very strong voice and his song writing skills are still excellent. It is great to hear him live.

No comments about Concert at Newport.