Live At The Regal

I think I just am unable to appreciate most Jazz, as I wanted to like this and BB King is clearly talented but I was ultimately glad that the album was so short. I did enjoy the song "How Blue Can You Get" which has the line "I've been downhearted baby, ever since the day we met" that was sampled on Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand. 2/5

Not a lot to say. BB King had a hell of a voice, it this music ain't for me.

Good blues rock

318. nice

I like the vibes and it’s kind of chill to have on in the background. Not usually a fan of live albums tbh.

well recorded live album, feels almost studio.

Not really my style, but album was a decent listen through all the songs.

Fantastic Live Blues Album. Not my absolute favourite blues artist though.

Solid blues album from the King, even if it is a live album. 3.5.

Ok

3/5

genial

It rules. I understand why BB King is THE blues guy. The audience in this live album is absolutely eating everything up. He also advocates to not hit women, so that's good too.

Seminal blues for sure, but I’m just not thaaat fussed. Too much jaunty swing/boogie feel in it to appeal to me that much. I feel like giving any less than a 4 is historically moronic, but I can’t in good conscience give any more to an album said to have so heavily influenced Eric Clapton and John Mayer.

B.B. King pretending to be James Brown. Doesn’t work for me.

my only complaint about this album is that it was over so soon. HELLL YEAAHHHH bb king can SING !!!!

Smooth and pleasant. Great voice.

Very good live album, singing music all on point, I wasn’t familiar with the songs, but enjoyed them.

banging

Me gusta mas el jazz instrumental pero bien

Decent. I prefer his other albums

i genuinely believe this is one of the must listen to albums of all time. what an incredible performance, i wish that i had been there to listen to it in person but i fear that it would be like a drug and you would never feel that type of joy again. everything about it is incredible. it is bluesy, jazzy, has some lovely electric sound in it, and b.b. kings voice is magnetic! honourable mentions to every day i have the blues, and it's my own fault.

10/13/26 My first live album. Picked from the 1001 Albums Generator in an attempt to start veering off into paths I wouldn't normally take. It has incredibly soulful vocals and guitar strings/instruments, but it's just not my genre. Notable Tracks: - Every Day I Have The Blues - You Upset Me Baby

Tole je pa prav prijetno poslušat. Lepo je tud, da album dejansko poteka kot sam live nastop (enkrat sm kle gor dobila od, hm, Thin Lizzy? live album in so bli komadi randomly nametani, vmes hard cuts, nič audience interaction - podn). Kle se komadi prelivajo en v drugega, slišiš občinstvo, v bistvu je, kot da si tam. (Lol, ok, pri "You Upset Me Baby" je introduced, čeprav smo na sred albuma - je pa to side 2 vidim, se prav, would make sense, če bi poslušala preko plošče).

A bit of good old fashion blues. Excellent atmosphere and what a player.

3.5/5

The best of his genre.

#256 - I had not really delved into BB before. I moved to Memphis and I sitll haven't been to his blues club yet. One day I'll go. BB shines on this album, enough said. He works the crowd and works his guitar flawlessly. It's clean and dirty at the same time. It begs repeat listens, which is what I will do with this today, especially since I already "know" my next album pretty well. Biggest Hit - Sweet Little Angel Biggest Miss (if I had to choose ) - You Upset Me Baby Hidden Gem - Worry, Worry

Atmosphere in this album is incredible, this is what a live album should sound like. Crowd goes nuts and that really adds to the experience. Less electric guitar focused than I had expected but still phenomenal

Sometimes I'll hear a live album and think "wow this sucks" ((van bore-ison)) and other times I'll listen and think "fuck I wish I was there!!!!" Luckily BB King falls under the second category. The energy is amazing and the crowd is going crazy understandably so. Without seeing him I can tell he has such a presence. I love the moments of him talking to the crowd. Listened to this album a few times and it made my morning a little better! Idk this was just very fun and full of pure skill and a passion for performance. How Blue Can You Get?, Woke Up This Mornin', Help The Poor

Funnnnnnn. I’m a sucker for a live album. It’s adds so much introspection and intimacy to performances, especially when there’s little talking before and after. This was such a vibe and made me feel delirious, as I’m sick (in a good way) (delirious in a good way not sick). I noticed a few samples SPECIFICALLY on “How Blue can you get?” Being sampled in the BANGER “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand" by the Primitive Radio Gods (u know this song Delia).

Crowd is crazy

Day 2: Oct 8, 2026 Artist: B.B.King Album: Live At The Regal Score: 84/100 Best song: How Blue Can You Get Worst Song: You Upset Me Baby

Enjoyment: 10/10 Replayability: 7/10 Cohesion: 9/10 Flow/Pacing: 8/10 Artistic Merit: 9/10 Weighted Average: 8.75/10 Review: Now this is an exceptional blues album! The live audience interaction adds so much character and energy that you feel like you could be in the room with them while BB's guitar carries you away. Liked Song(s): Sweet Little Angel, How Blue Can You Get?, Worry, Worry, You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now Disliked Song(s): (None) Recommend? Yes Heard Before? No

3/5.

A whole lot of fun.

A very enjoyable blues performance. A virtuoso entertainer at the helm, a strong backing band, an engaged audience. Feels deeply satisfying even if you're not especially into the blues.

This is classic old-school blues by a master of the form. He mixes it up with some more Latin grooves near the end, but you aren't going to get any surprises from a B.B. King performance. He is a passionate singer with a talented band behind him and an excited audience in front of him. If you don't like the blues, you won't like this album; if you do, you probably already own it.

You can't fail to be impressed with B B King's voice and he's absolutely on the money in this live album. The way he belts out the notes across the octaves is incredible. The standard of the music is high - bit of rock'n'roll, bit of jazz, bit of soul, lots of blues. You can hear that this is a group that knows how to put on a show. Favourite tracks are Sweet Little Angel and Worry Worry, but I'd happily listen to every song on the album again. Definitely an album to save for a lazy Sunday afternoon. A low 4 stars.

Guter Blues zum nebenbei hören und zum tanzen

C'est sympa, ca change. you upset me baby - ma preferee.

"Ladys and Gentlemen, How about a nice warm round of applause to welcome the world greatest blues singer, the king of the blues .. BB KING" puis intro de fou, faut-il seulement rajouter quelque chose ? 4/5 au bout de 35 secondes d'écoute. Ca me régale les lives avec les gens qui crient on s'y croirait, alors qu'une fois de plus, je suis devant mon ordi et pas dans l'Illinois. Le type a envoyé 200 concerts par ans pendant 40 ans. En bonus, il a 15 enfants (aucun n'est issu de ses mariages), le boss a essaimé dans le monde entier. Malheureusement c'est 4.5 pas 5.

It's alright. Nothing really grabbed me but I didn't hate it. I'm not a big blues fan

Real good blues album. Favourite tracks: Sweet Little Angel, It's My Own Fault, How Blue Can You Get?

Well this hit the spot, and by the spot I mean procrastinating from having to listen to an hour-plus of TV On The Radio's first album which I keep starting and keep turning off 45 seconds in. Whenever I think about BB King I think about seeing him in Rattle and Hum when I was a young kid just learning to play guitar and him telling The Edge that he's no good with chords so he can't play the chords on When Love Came to Town, which I soon learned only has two chords. Which you can't really have a song with less than two chords. All to say, we each bring our own strengths to the table. I will get to TV On The Radio which presumably has many more chords.

I'm generally not a fan of this kind of electrified, big band blues. But if I have to listen to it, I'm going to listen to this album. This is actually the only BB album I've ever owned, and while I don't come back to it these days, I'm very glad to have had it in my collection. BB was a legend and this album absolutely overflows with his energy. I can't think of a valid reason to take any stars away from this album. Must have been hella fun to be at this show.

In some ways it feels like a waste to live in a city that birthed a whole genre, yet feel almost nothing toward said genre. But such is the case with Chicago blues and me. That said, I do appreciate the titans of the style, and this is a fun snapshot of B.B. King seemingly at the height of his powers. I love the crowd noise (presuming it wasn't sweetened), and I'm always eager to learn about the legendary venues of yesteryear. I probably won't come back to this, but four stars.

vibey and you can tell where modern rnb came from listening to this but goddamn did these lyrics age like milk

He's king of the blues for a reason, great listen.

Excellent stuff!

Wasn't swept away, surprisingly.

I'm the first to say how repetitive the Blues genre is, and how you really only need to hear 3 or 4 songs and you've heard everything. But you can't dispute how good the playing is. BB was one of the best, and he's on fire here. On the guitar, vocally, interacting with the audience. The band is whatever and the songs are standard Blues fare. The Blues crawled so Rock could soar.

Blues get 2s

Foundational!

Fine, but not really my thing

A snapshot in time of a performer who knew how to work a crowd better than anyone alive. You know it's real and live because of how the songs smash together; it's not compiled all that well but it's definitely raw. B.B. is at top form and there's no real wrong notes. It's just lacking a sense of flow and ends abruptly as it began. Poorly constructed edit of a really vital performance.

Very different from what I am used to listening to. Enjoyed the change in vibe. His voice and the band are amazing. None of the songs stood out to me as it played in the background though.

Fun listen

This was stellar! I loved every second of it. Couldn’t believe how fast the time past on it.

Surprised at the start to this, lively with plenty of drive & brass instruments. That guitar stands out immediately though. He makes the guitar sing. Or weep. It reminds me of when Prince plays, when the guitar comes out there is hushed awe. Wasnt mad on the voice at first but now realize he was warming up, building up. Was this filmed ? Would love to see this. Reminds me of a Prince jam, without Prince not sure i would get this but good that Prince moved on from the same old Blues lyrics. Im not a fan of live LPs but this one works. Maybe cos i dont know any of these songs ? Great soulful passionate voice by the end but wow that guitar. Amazing to listen to this concert 60 years later & what this project to me is all about.

Phenomenal voice, amazing band and ahead of his time with the quality of this live performance. However for me the live audience gave me a sense of negativity toward the album, but that could easily just be a me problem. It wasn’t perfect but it didn’t need to be- it was raw and honest and those people in the crowd were witnessing something special that’s for sure, even if at times I also felt it sounded a bit Déjà vu. Best track- ‘how blue can you get’ Worst track- ‘worry worry’ 9/10

B.B. King - Live at The Regal Like listening to a master of his craft and someone who can work an audience until they are eating out of the palm of his hand. Great songs, both the trad tracks and King's own, and real refreshing to hear blues songs wrapped up and done in just a couple of minutes. The production that wove together the tracks into one continuous 'experience' felt way ahead of its time. The mix was a bit off though, but I guess that's more down to the live sound than the record. Would have been nice to have the horns higher up in the mix. But any guy who can express themselves so soulfully with just a handful of notes at a time is an absolute great player. Best Track - How Blue Can You Get Worst Track - Help the Poor (didn't like this one at all) 9/10

Fantastic listens to while door dashing in the late night it was fantasic

While I listened to this album, I could not help but wonder whether B.B. King had ever captured the pure magnetism of his music on a "real" studio recording. There are plenty of acts that never could. I think we gain so much from this being a live album: it feels almost like a living room session, as the MC invites us to listen along to another number and B.B. plucks out a few of his magic notes. The songs, which the form of the album generally keeps at some remove, each flow into one another effortlessly, in the kind of organic movement that can only arise from a live performance. But at the same time, this makes us all to cognizant of what we're not getting. There is a sense of absence, an emptiness of not being in the same room at the same time as this music. The lack of presence usually is smoothed out by studio conditions, but here what we have is raw music, for better and for worse. If you spent a couple years of your life wondering why B.B. King is so high on everybody's Best Guitarists lists, though, this is all it should take to convince you. I struggle to find a better word to describe it other than "magnetic," his playing is absolutely timeless.

Bodacious Barnabus himself. That's what the "B.B." stands for, right? He's a man named Barnabus (Barney for short) that was shaking it all over the states before he was fired for being too alluring. From the shameful shambling of that famous rear, was born a blues so deep, that he uhh opened a bunch of bars that white people like for some reason. Is that true? Who even cares anymore? I'm on the internet. I can say B.B. King was a male stripper named "Bodacious Barnabus" (Did HUGE numbers in the bible belt) and as long as I stick to my guns, I'm allowed to hold that belief as fact. I hate everything. Look, B.B. isn't the top of the blues heap for me. He's decent, and this music is pretty good, but he lacks a little bit of that edge you get with other mainstream bluesmen Lightnin' Hopkins or Muddy Waters. The songs are kind of same-y, and the last thing blues should be is going through the motions. He does screech into some very soulful passages, and this is overall a good release, but I just want more somehow. Also, live albums are for dopes. Stop with this nonsense. 3-3.5 HIGHLIGHTS: The night the lights went out at the Poughkeepsie Pickle

I don't know how many times I have to say this on this site, but I'm generally not a fan of live albums But this was alright

Lots of people reviewed this album and said that it all sounded the same. I'm imagining that means they're not familiar with blues where the same three chords are repeated over and over with various embellishments and additions. Someone who actually gives it a fair listen, however we discover that well yes, the songs may have the same court progressions, they're really nothing at all alike. King's witty banter with the crowd and command of the songs made this a very fun live album. If it still sounds exciting and fun to me in 2026, I can only imagine what it felt like with a live audience gathered the evening of its recording.

5: I will happily play this album anytime 4: I may occasionally play this album of my own free will 3: I will happily listen to this if someone plays it in the background 2: I will tolerate this if it is playing in the background 1: I will leave the room if someone plays this in the background

It’s BB King! Can’t rate below 4 stars. Jokes aside, very good album! No more words to describe it. Easily replayable.

I first heard this album when going through the book just after I bought it (in 2007). I liked this album then, but I love it now. Now I am closer to the subject matter; older wiser. I had forgotten how much chatter there is between the songs, but I do think it adds to the feel of the album. I wonder if the audience is real or canned? The band is on point, drums, piano, horn section and the bass is a constant groove. An excellent album!

listening to this for the first time in the car on a rainy morning. moment of a lifetime

Regardless of how heartfelt Mr. King might sound about his cavalcade of misfortune, this is a repetitive and frankly boring record with simplistic lyrics and all-too-familiar chord progressions. (King's guitar tone is decent on this otherwise cruddy-sounding album but that alone is not enough to earn it an extra star.)

*Great live recording *Lots of great moments of guitar

there are like 40 blues albums on here that sound the exact fucking same :()

Nothing better than a live album where the audience just doesn't shut up. I couldn't even finish it, the songs just plodded along whilst those women were screeching over every word that came out of his mouth. Truly torturous.

Delightful blues playing from the best interspersed with some enjoyable audience interactions.

Long live the king

Respect to the King BB, and yet my favorite detail of this (my 1000th!) album is the panning of the guitar slightly to the right and the typographic illustration of the word STEREO on the cover, sound waves coming in and going out through it. His voice-over banter makes for some good crowd work on Live at the Regal except for how often it occurs, and occasionally, what gets said. Still, both he and the guitar can sing. No complaints there. Most likely it's that I'm not a big fan of the blues that I'll rate this so low, though it is a mercifully short record (the 1960s and the constraints of vinyl had that right). It feels a little sedate despite the crowd's reaction, and songs like "Worry, Worry" resist that description even as the dialogue break lets too much tension out. Earlier on one track he confesses it's his fault, but honestly, it's mine.

Really solid, fun listen. Great performance and King has a lot of charisma. These live albums are really where genres like blues and jazz shine. They feel way more about the performer rather than the songs themselves.

7/10

BB, righteously declaiming the BLUES, with joy and great heart

He sounds incredible live and the screeching audience adds even more to this album. A fantastic experience.

This was pretty great. Need a more dedicated listen though!

Really enjoyed this one! 3-1/2 stars

Mr. King showing why he was the King in this blazing live set.

I have listened to bits of B.B. King over the years, I'm still taken by surprise by this very interesting album, starting right from track 1 (Every Day I Have The Blues). The blues here is so up-tempo, up-beat, full of complex band arrangements - strikes me as simultaneously close to (60s) jazz, funk (eg the busy horn lines) and soul. It's some way from what I'm used to thinking of as the dominant register for blues (thinking here of blues clubs where amateurs and semi-pros get together to show their stuff and jam some standards) - track 2 (Sweet Little Angel) is a lot closer to my expectations but presented as old-time, not typical of the album. I conclude that I have to question my blues consciousness - I need to be aware of the diversity of what has been legitimately called blues, and still could be. Apart from that, King's guitar playing is pretty attractive - impressive though not exactly knocking me out. (Hendrix's blues come to mind - I still have a soft spot for his approaches to standard blues.) I read Wikipedia about Live At The Regal, I note that this record is extremely highly regarded, I think I can get why. The lyrics and patter on the other hand are not doing anything good for me, but not exactly bad so I don't need to dwell on that. I'm not sure how much of this album I will replay, I'm somewhat impressed but it's not wowing me. I'm going to call it Very Good, 8/10.

life is good, life would have been better if I could have listeing to this king of jazz in real life

This was pretty good, I didn't expect to like this as much. The live version definitely had ton of girls excited to hear the music.

Powerful blues, I don't love it live because of audience screaming but the music was solid

MUY INFRA

Vaya directazo de puro blues más bueno me ha tocado para cerrar la semana. Va directo a mi lista de directos brutales. Canciones favoritas: Worry, Worry, Every Day I Have The Blues

This album sounds like everywhere in Mississippi.

Good jazz but not my everyday music

Great stuff.

Less is more with BB Kings playing. This was an electric performance. The crowd really gets into it. 4/5

first live album this is already so much more exciting than a lot of other blues music ive heard, this band is fire stank facing at that drop. now even harder at the guitar solo bb king you are a talented man you cant tell me to pay attention to the lyrics and then play a sick ass guitar solo immediately. bro this sax is doing everything for me. dude knew how to capture a crowd i just wanna get up and start dancing to this. to think i was gonna try and do schoolwork listening to this you could never upset me bb god i just feel this guitar in my soul. this dudes voice just hits like crack short and sweet bobbing my head and tapping my foot this whole time help the poor amen. i get the yearn bro i know i kinda shit on blues music a couple albums ago, but i also did note that its something best captured live which is why i think this works so much better for me. either that or bb king is just in a league of his own. just so much power in this guys voice, and so much emotion flowing through each element of the music, i love it. easy 8

Here is the king of the blues himself delivering what is probably one of best and most well-known live performances. Incredible vocal control and talent alongside a band that is pretty evenly skilled. Defining live record for blues music that easily summarizes the talent and passion of a musician like B.B. King.

Just outstanding. BB being himself and just bringing the music to life. Not the best guitarist, not the best singer, but putting his soul into what he does and it just makes magic. 4+

The king, such a legend. What a fantastic live show this must have been to see in person. His charm, charisma, character and professionalism. A true icon in music and this album resonates that. I'm not one for live albums typically, but this one rocks.

QUE GRAN VOZ Y GRAN GUITARRA MUESTRA BEIBI KIN el blues me gusta pero no es mi genero favorito