Live At The Regal

From the 1970s, blues has become a dirty word. A dull genre that rewards dry technical efficiency and growling to signify passion. I automatically think I don't like blues as a result. This album shows what it can be. The energy, looseness from brilliant musicians (they could be tighter, they choose not to be) and the sheer energy of it is infectious and wonderful. You could draw a line from this album through James Brown, Hendrix, George Clinton, Prince, Outkast to Kendrick Lamar and it all makes sense. Are there occasionally overlong noodly guitar breaks? Of course there are, it's a live blues album. Do the nature of the restrictions of the genre sometimes make the songs sound a bit samey? Of course they do, it's a blues album! But there is a lot to say for a simple thing done well - sometimes a Victoria sponge is the treat you wanted. A great album - when the horns are allowed to fly free and the energy is high it's perfect, even if it does get a little samey at points. The high energy opener, Every Day I Have the Blues, and the Slinky, building closer, Help the Poor are highlights.

If this is the blues, then why is the album cover red, huh??

One where I think crowd noise really helps. Not that this album isn't fantastic, but the crowd is hyped up to see BB and it really makes the record that much more fun. BB was a phenomenal showman, and this album showcases it very well. Favorite tracks: "How Blue Can You Get?", "You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now"

I wonder if the people screaming in the crowd knew they were witnessing something special. I hope they had a sense of occasion and weren't so drunk they remember little. This is legendary, BB King cannot be faulted because he set the standard himself. His voice gives me chills. Nothing here is perfect and that in itself is just perfect. It's gritty, raw, honest, covered in smoke and whiskey, and just wonderful.

I'll give this 3 stars just because it's B.B. King, but I don't have the willpower to go through a full live blues album. Not at this stage of my life.

best live album of all time

B.B. King is THE king for a reason. He's just a phenomenal performer. This live album is a great demonstration of his power, skill, and sheer magnetism. There are so many great, utterly classic blues tracks here that it's hard to find much to fault. The biggest issue is that there isn't MORE B.B. King on this list.

Nobody since and to this day (besides Jimi Hendrix) has ever made their guitar cry in the way that the king of blues did all those years ago. A stellar live album, jam packed with hits and no misses, classic

I liked it but there wasnt a lot I would come back for.

There’s joy in this, which I don’t hear often, especially not in what’s called the blues. The songs are mostly rhythmic containers for King’s Heaven’s trumpet of a voice, the melodies he makes with it, and his guitar chatter, which is the exact opposite of the solemn, respectful, dusty stuff that his fans made after. A couple of times his guitars makes a big “PARP”, or clears its throat, moves onto the next bit of chat. I had fun with this today.

The best blues I’ve heard yet!

Great album love the crowd interaction. Sent me on a blues rabbit hole.

Great voice, great backing band. Every song sounded exactly the same. I had to check to make sure it wasn’t accidentally playing the same song on repeat. Also would have rather just listened to a studio version without the crowd interrupting between every line and clapping over the songs. Kind of just annoyed me for the entirety. 4/10

The actual blues. You can keep your blues rock, Mr White.

the immersion!! wow, you feel like you’re really there. love the fluidity, and the storytelling, my goodness. and of course the instrumentation is fabulous. that guitar sings!!

I don't like the blues. But I like this. B.B. Kings blues are so good they transcend to the joys.

What's there to say? A true Blues legend, performing at the top of his game.

Powerful. You watch tv and there always seems to be that character that says "Listen to that guitar! listen to that pain and emotion!" and in the middle of a sitcom you kinda ignore that comment...but now that I've listened to this album I think I get it a bit more

nice jazz

Yeah

I admit blues isn’t really my thing, but it was enjoyable regardless.

Brilliant album and a fantastic atmosphere created by the audience too

Loved this. Blues is great but it’s made even better when it’s live. I could smell the cigarette smoke. BB’s banter was amazing.

Familiarity: 1/10 Notes: I was not familiar with BB King live prior to this recording. The energy and drive he had as a showman as well as a musicians combined, with a fantastic backing band, led to an enjoyable and fun 35min jazz journey. Would definitely like to find myself listening to more Favorite Tracks: - Sweet Little Angel - Worry, Worry - Woke Up This Morning True Rating: 7/10

I'm sure this album is really good. Perhaps Mark will tell us more about why?

I don’t love listening to a whole album of essentially the same song. But it sounds like it was a lot of fun to be there.

Nr. 129/1001 Everyday I Have The Blues 4/5 Sweet Little Angel 3/5 It's My Own Fault 3/5 How Blue Can You Get? 4/5 Please Love Me 3/5 You Upset Me Baby 4/5 Worry, Worry 3/5 Woke Up This Mornin' 3/5 You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now 3/5 Help The Poor 4/5 Average: 3,4 Was a really enjoyable listen, but lacked some highlights to really bump it up.

it's a cloudy afternoon, mid-july. about this time you listen to your daily album of culture. (it is a prerequisite of death.) what's today's album? "live at the regal" by b.b. king. it's got a rating of 3.7 and it's a blues album. if anything can show you the full potential of the blues, surely this will be it... you start the album. they introduce the King of the blues himself. a song plays. it sounds like a typical blues song, but a bit upbeat. pleasant enough. it passes, and your majesty announces the next song, a "real oldie." it starts playing. it sounds familiar... it's like the last song but slow... a real oldie indeed. all the way from a couple minutes ago. another song plays. the Blue King proclaims, "it's my own fault, baby!" and the crowd absolutely ROARS at this. you listen. wait a second. something's strange... this sounds familiar... that's it! it's the same song you just listened to, but with different words! you can't fool me mr king. time for the next song. "while we're reminiscing here" mr King (of the blues) says. yes, reminiscing over the last three songs a.k.a. the last one song. "i'd like you to pay attention to the lyrics, not so much my singin or the band" im sure you would mr King (of the blues). but you cant pull the wool over my eyes. and so the song plays... again another (the same) song plays, an upbeat variation this time. it passes and the next song is introduced. "what do you say we bring him on, ladies and gentlemen? the great b.b. king!" little did they know they'd already brought him on. infact, he's already played five songs(one song)! the sixth variation passes. time for the next song introduction. "we wanna go way back. WAY back." they can't trick me, that's just like how track 2 was introduced! it plays. one could describe this variation of The Blues Song as "dynamic." it is the longest version of The Blues Song on the album. it ends. off-topic, but if there's anything you can say about mr King (of the blues) it isnt that he's impolite. he always says thank you to his screaming adoring fans. thank you too, mr King. the (next) song plays. it's pretty upbeat and the brass is excited. it is a fun variation, it makes itself stand out a bit. the High King of Bluesia thanks his subjects and the next variation begins. it sounds like the others. mr. The King tells his subjects to applaud his band and help the poor because he is a noble and just monarch. time for the next track. alright, the last track stands out from everything else. the last track is a gift. the last track is the King's luxurious gift to the commonfolk who support his kingdom. they thought it was impossible. they thought it couldnt be done. a second song on the album. while i was listening i decided to look up "best albums of 1965" and see what was going on those days, let's see... - The Who were born, good on them! that'll be a future roll from the generator - the Beatles release Rubber Soul, the 17th-highest rated album on the site as-of-reviewing. is it fair to compare? - dylan's gone electric, that rascal! how does it fee-eeellll.. - the Byrds release the album Turn! Turn! Turn! containing the song Turn! Turn! Turn! i like that one - The Temptations Sing Smokey! neato, the version of My Girl that most people know, among other things - the Beatles also release Help! man they were busy... - a Charlie Brown Christmas! nice, got an iconic piece of christmas history on that. not what i expected to see well looks like 1965 was an alright year! the details of my experience of this album come nearer to their close, and judgment approaches. "but the blues were foundational to all of rock music!" aint getting founded in 1965, that's for sure all in all i can't be a critic. i simply don't understand. i don't understand The Blues. it's like an episode of the Twilight Zone condensed into a music genre. this is Groundhog Music. help me. 1966 is just around the corner and it's coming in with a bang. you need to be more prepared than this. 2/5

Jazz isn’t really my vibe and I don’t like “live” albums where you can hear people screaming I’d rather just listen to the music.

Listened to this twice in a row

My God, blues musicians are just terrible at relationships.

I had a B. B. King tee shirt growing up but never actually listened to him (fake fan). Biggest mistake of my life. At first I thought that Led Zeppelin might have stolen It's My Own Fault and used it to make Since I Been Lovin' You, but I think all blues rock probably just sounds like that

Yas BB King. Loved how blue can you get.

BB KIIIIIIIG

love love love

King's of course a legend for his playing, but his raw singing makes these often straightforward blues songs timeless.

All hail the king of the blues. So much soul and pride put into his performances he really was about the musicians life. Great crowd as well.

Really fun one track with the seven kids and given them right back was hype I loved hearing crowd excitement

Really enjoyed this, 5/5. The live show adds to the atmosphere, and the playing is very clean and bluesy.

Holy moly, almost missed this one and what a heartbreak that would've been. The blues are great. B.B. King is The King. The live ambience is joy. What an all-around great time.

Superb

very cool, the energy of the audience was amazing

The only thing better than a BB King album is a live BB King album. I just wish it was twice as long.

👍👍

I'd never really clicked with BB King before, because i found his style was a well-trodden path that made it not that stimulating, but this album is amazing. Blistering playing, great chat between the songs. I feel like you can hear a lot of this influence in the guitar playing and lyrics on one of my favourite albums of all time: Fleetwood Mac by Peter Green's fleetwood mac. Outstanding. Will definitely listen a lot more.

61/1001 - All the songs have very similar structures but feel different and nicely varied because of the different tempos and textural choices of the musicians. Energy is great throughout.

Classic blues

Pretty great

Wow

Not only one of the greatest live blues albums of all time, but also one of the greatest blues albums and greatest live albums of all time. Absolutely essential.

Great live album

What a fantastic blues album, makes me wish concerts were still this fun today, fucking incredible music

Used to think i just didn’t like the blues since most of the time it felt repetitive and uninspiring, but i genuinely LOVED this. It was jazzier and the live elements and the audience responses made the album feel more cohesive and interesting. This is what i signed up for x

Best live album I’ve heard so far. Good music, great vocals, and nice and short.

Excellent jam. Really enjoyed

King fr fr

Yup.

Short and sweet with lots of brass.

I really enjoyed this.

I am by no mean any kind of a blues fan. My old CD collection included the following blues pillars: Eric Clapton -From the cradle, Jonny Lang-Long time coming and something from Doyle Bramhall so yeah, my blues depth is not....very deep. This album though? Love it!! When they say a great vocalist and a great drummer make a great band, this is something that comes to my mind.

This was damn good.

4.6 - I've not listened to BB King in a long time and he was a massive gateway into blues. I was a bit worried coming back to it, but my goodness he really is so good. His voice is amazing and he makes the guitar it's entire own voice

Absolutely brilliant album. I loved everyb track and recognised a surprisingly high number of them (considering it was from 1965!).

Man B.B. really did it for me as an anxious and depressed overweight teenager. His music holds through, 20 years later for me. So emphatic, energetic, proficient, classy, elegant and a lil misogynistic. But hey its the 60s what are we gonna doooooo? BB is the king, prim proper and polished 5th Avenue Blues. Straight from the plantation and right into your ears.

Honestly, an amazing album. The energy is unmatched and every song hits like crack. Such an amazing voice, and the live album really adds to everything in this album.

Loved it. Way more than I expected to. It was funny to hear a 40 year old BB King sound so youthful and spry compared to what I was used to, yet still referred to as the "Legendary BB King." The recording quality was exquisite. It sounded better than studio albums of that era somehow.

Absolute banger

Maybe not the best but a very good and classic album by one of the greatest blues musicians ever.

Love love love…

If I was a young girl in the 60s and I saw this man perform live, I'd scream like that too.

Great sound quality for a live performance. Really interesting tunes , though the lyrics are a bit strange at times

Had a blast

Just a gem

What a joy to listen too.

Hier kann man sich nur erfreuen an der Musik eines Meisters. Blues in jeder erhabenen Form. Blues voller Dankbarkeit. Die Tränen fließen vor Ergriffenheit und Glück.

Absolutely love BB King. Hearing this live album just makes me love him even more. Amazing energy.

Fun fun fun

That they could sound this good and tight without in ear monitors or auto tune is a testament to how good these musicians were. What I wouldn't give to sit in on this show. This album gave me stank face the whole listen through.

BB King captured at the height of his considerable powers live in concert at the Regal Theater in Chicago in 1964 and released the following year, the year I was born, so this is as old as me, and just as great. It is a remarkable live recording. The tight rhythm section never stop, literally - until it's time to flip the record; the music segues seamlessly from one classic blues song to the next, BB introducing each with a little story "Ladies and Gentlemen" about having a girl, or losing a girl. The horn section is clear and sharp, the sound overall is stunning. And on top of the fantastic band, BB's guitar and voice are supreme. His lead playing is sounds so simple and is so perfect, and many greats have failed to duplicate the magic. His voice slips and slides from deep throaty growls to falsetto highs. This record marked the start of BB King's move from chitlin circuit to rock audiences. Innumerable guitarists, many of them white, many of them British, many of them great players took influence from this. A few came close...

Як як вже казав на стімі - у блюзі та джазі я розбираюсь не дуже. Тож цей альбом є гарною нагодою щоб ознайомитись з блюзом ближче. Першим, що стало для мене цікавим: "Чому live альбом?" Навіщо редактори обрали саме live альбом, а не студійний? І якщо подивитись на інші джазові і блюзові альбоми у цій книзі - то там чимало "живих" записів. Коли ж починаєш слухати цей альбом з цією думкою, то все стає зрозумілим. Блюз та джаз це доволі складні для виконання жанри, і для того щоб все вийшло гарно, музиканти повинні, як ніколи, "відчувати" один одного. Тільки тоді можна буде досягти "ідеальної музичної панорами". І Live At The Regal є, чи не найкращим, прикладом подібного виконання. Адже при уважному прослуховуванні, буквально помічаєш, як музиканти "підхватують" один одного. Іншим визначним моментом є те, що на цьому альбомі, ми можемо почути чудові партії на електрогітарі, яку Кінг, дбайливо, називав Lucille. Вони дуже гарно вписуються в загальний антураж, та, ні в якому разі, не конфліктують з іншими "не-електричними" інструментами. І, якщо зараз, вас це може, взагалі, не дивувати, то раніше Блюз який виконували із використанням електрогітари та підсилювачів для інших інструментів, виділяли в окремий під-жанр, що називався - Electric Blues. Завдяки "підсиленню", невеликі Electric Blues колективи, нарешті, могли грати на більших майданчиках для більшої аудиторії. І одним із таких майданчиків, як раз став Regal Theater, де і був записаний цей феноменальний виступ. Який стане "стандартом якості" для живих виступів, і на який, пізніше, будуть посилатись інші відомі виконавці, накшталт Eric Clapton, але це вже зовсім інша історія...

Gets introduced as "The King of the Blues" and for 35 incredible minutes, he's holding court

Live is unfair, but this is a classic unparalleled blues performance. The king.

B.B King lives up to his moniker! An incredible half and hour of some of the best blues. He skillfullt navigates between letting his voice and his guitar do the talking, all the while staying connected with the audience. 4.5/5, which I round up!

Love it! A classic. 5/5

The standard for live blues. VERY enjoyable listen. 10/10 highlights on this album are Sweet Little Angel, Worry Worry, and Help the poor.

The best live blues album of all time. B.B. King’s voice and guitar is THE blues.

Great Album, had fun listening

Es BB King en concierto. Se sabe que va a ser glorioso.

Excellent. I imagine this was an amazing Live set to be a part of! Great instrumentals and good vocal work. 'Worry, Worry' was my fave. Loved those guitar riffs!

This was such a great listen! So good. That crowd is absolutely insufferable, though. Why do people insist on screaming like that?

Blues still not my thing but who am I to judge?

Didn’t think I was going to be into this genre but I was so wrong! Very immersive. Really enjoyed his stage presence.

Truly the King. What a fantastic album. Love just hearing the joy and enthusiasm of the crowd throughout the songs. Great musicianship and truly outstanding vocals.

A quintessential blues album. His vocals just cut right through you. The tight backing instrumentation lets it shine.

Yeah, this is a hell of a great album. 5/5

High quality

No frills, no pretension, no overwrought production, no “clever” lyrical quips, no tryhard striving to create something “profound” - B.B. King didn’t need any of that. Grade A badassery, one of the pinnacles of a music genre that’s in the genome of essentially every style of modern music in the United States and beyond. Guy showed more genuine emotion in 34 minutes than some artists do in their entire career. And the fact that this was recorded in Chicago, a city whose Blues cred is second only to the Mississippi delta, only makes me love it more.

Awesome

wow

wow i love this