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Rating: The third millennium. Everything that is supposed to happen seems destined to be new, innovative, and revolutionary. But some things don't change. Certain passions, certain sounds remain unchanged. Because they are eternal. Because they never age, instead, they regenerate around themselves and renew themselves with freshness while keeping their peculiarities intact. It is the music of the king of blues we are talking about. Suspended in time, it accompanies us just as it accompanied generations before us.
In 2000 B.B. King was 75 years old (today 82), but on the record, he sounds 40. He's always energetic, but above all, he shows no decline from any point of view. The voice is the same as always, his guitar still has more to say despite everything it has already told us. You can't get tired of B.B. King and the release of a new album pleases everyone. "Making love is good for you" starts with the nice riff of "I got to leave this woman" that also features a very fluid guitar solo. Poor B.B. King. A victim of a malafemmena who exploited him until she could and then treated him like a rag. But now he has nowhere to go and is forced to stay with her. Love problems also in the second track. A slow blues with a beautiful Hammond in the background. "I know" has a simple vocal melody, but sung by Him it is quite different from how anyone else could interpret it. Listening to the introduction of "Peace of mind" feels like witnessing a particularly sexy woman's striptease. "Monday woman" is very sunny instead. In my opinion, B.B. King's greatness lies right here. He can do whatever he wants with blues. He can be melancholic, sad, afflicted in some cases, and then cheerful and happy in others. Besides, he doesn't need to do it with words. All it takes is for Lucille's strings to resonate to let the world know what he is feeling.
"Ain't nobody but my baby" is a bit anonymous, but it quickly gives way to the next title track. It’s a winning move to make such a chorus the title of a record because, at least for me, just mentioning it immediately brings this delightful tune back to mind. Even "Don't go no further" is catchy, but not equally effective. It's true, B.B. King's songs all kind of sound alike, but pieces like "Actions speak louder than words" are so beautiful that you can never get enough of them. The horn embellishments are beautiful. Three more tracks follow that are not particularly noteworthy except for the fact that "Too good to you baby" is very well played. Then comes "I'm in the wrong business" and there's a real turning point. The guitar accompaniment has an offbeat funk style and the vocal line is very particular and full of timbre and dynamic modulations. Really a beautiful piece. "She's my baby" is very reminiscent of "Ten long years" (even in the lyrics), while the closure belongs to "It's still called the blues", sung with a calm voice but still a driving piece enriched by a keyboard solo under which you can hear finishing guitar notes which then take the place of the keyboard for a brief improvisation.
Beautiful ending.
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