mail: daniel_fjall@hotmail.com
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live at the regal
Live At The Regal People claiming that blues isn’t fun or energetic and is only about whining and groaning should hear a B.B. King album. And why not Live At The Regal? It’s recorded in the mid-60’s, just before the British showed the world that the blues wasn’t just for old folks, and B.B.’s in great shape. His unique guitar playing has often been celebrated by music fans over the years, but here I’m mostly impressed by his powerful vocals. He screams and shouts with a confidence that is enough to not only wake up an overcrowded Chicago-bar, but rattle the entire Mississippi delta. Sometimes, he goes for something more gentle, and the falsetto vocals in “Worry, Worry” is impressive. Now, although the lyrics of these blues tunes mostly deals with heartache and general misery, it doesn’t prevent them from containing loads of humor and sarcasm. The band moves nicely, and is tight as a teena... well, something that would make Geocities shut down my site if I showed a picture of it here. Anyway, great horn section, fantastic drummer and a bass player that surely knows how to make a band swing. Add some nifty piano fills here and there and you get the idea. Also, the audience needs a big, warm hand as various shouts and laughs certainly adds to the good atmosphere that this album generates. Live At The Regal is a blues classic. An album for both novices and hardcore fans to enjoy. The king puts on a great show, filled with what would become blues standards. Songs that breathes of excitement, laughs, sexuality, bitterness and loneliness. Simply put: it sums up all sides of life, both good and bad, and makes even the most depressing aspects of our everyday life a pure joy to listen to.
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