“Not all the water in the rough rude sea can wash the balm off from an anointed king” King Richard the 2nd act 3 scene 2 by William Shakespeare . On May 14, 2015 at 9:40 PM Blues Legend and world renown guitarist B.B King passed away in his sleep. In honor of the legend’s passing I’m reviewing his debut LP “Singin’ The Blues”.

According to a May 16 post on Time.com by way of the Associated Press, King’s “cause of death was multi-infarct dementia—also known as vascular dementia—a condition caused by a series of small strokes.” According to the New York Times obituary he was in Hospice care, (Hospice is a medical provider that is used quality of life for someone whose illness, disease, or condition is unlikely to be cured or considered end of life care.) Before going into Hospice care he had been on tour up until October of 2014, citing dehydration and exhaustion caused by his diabetes.
King left behind 15 children total and 15 Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award, he recorded 138 singles, 59 albums; 16 live and 43 studio records. His first effort came in 1957 and the last studio record was 2008’s “One Kind Favor”.

Another Blues legend, Howlin Wolf said that the blues is about evil, thinking about the things you don’t have or can’t afford and being in another man’s or woman’s house cheating. The album “Singin’ The Blues” is a example of Wolf’s definition.

The genius of the art form that sprouted from cotton fields of the south is that the songs are in a conversational dynamic, communicating pain.The hook introduces the topic as if being asked what’s wrong and then he gives examples without saying “So this one time.” A great example of this is found in “Bad Luck”:

“Well my bad luck has fallen/ Fallen down like rain/ my bad luck has fallen/ fallen down like rain/ no matter what I do seems my luck will never change./ I felt kind of lucky/ My luck was runnin’ slow/ The last hand I caught 4 aces and the police broke down the door.”

Some of the songs that are sad are dance tunes that oddly enough, sound happy in the instrumental section. Of these songs I would say the best one is “Woke Up this Morning (My Baby She Was Gone)”, because it has some of the more standout composition on the record, the track starts off with light guitar and is taken over by light piano, subtle drums and a dominant horn section with a great saxophone solo and King puts the frosting on the cake with his smooth vocals.

In the happy records I would choose “Sweet Little Angel”, it has a good guitar solo with an upbeat arrangement.

The songs with sad content and sound is a tie between “Three O’Clock Blues” and “You Know I Love You” which has the same tempo as the Howlin Wolf rendition of “Sittin On Top Of The World”. Three O’clock in the morning has the best guitar on the song, King uses the instrument to communicate a lonesome whisky drinking and shame filled environment.

You Know I Love You has less guitar and more piano and gives off another lonely tone, but the highlight is his singing quality, which is relaxed but carrys a sad tone that raps up the record perfectly.

I give “Singin’ The Blues” 10 crowns out of 10 empty thrones. There will never be another King.