B.B. King & Eric Clapton
Riding With The King

In 1998, a charming old man named Melvin Gasperone closed his car garage. This allowed him to travel around the United States playing the Blues. His true passion. We will find him in a group called The Louisiana Gator Boys, with which he will participate in a somewhat peculiar music contest. Among that group was (but not only him...) Eric Clapton, a man who has seen a lot, truly a lot.

Mr. Gasperone: "Eric, ready to record an album with me?"

Eric: "Why not?".

This request stems from the paraphrase of another similar proposal made by Mr. Gasperone to Slowhand, at the conclusion of that particular battle. When talking about Mr. Gasperone, a charming character from Blues Brothers 2000, there is no doubt that we are referring to the last, great legendary figure of the Blues. He who, at 84 years, still embodies its spirit deeply. We are talking about the Boy from the Blues who has now become King, the only man of Lucille. B.B. King. Trying to talk about and focus on the lives and careers of B.B. King and Eric Clapton would mean embarking on an exciting journey. Two giants in the truest sense of the word, with similar but at the same time very, very different paths, who decide to give their personal welcome to the new millennium with this interesting album, certainly not a child of the two-thousands. An album with a strong taste of JD drowned in a frothy blonde. American, very American. After all, Clapton broke away very early on from the typical Blues accent of his native England, in favor of the American one. Clapton's musical life has been deeply marked by American Blues in its rural expression, and he has always talked about it in a scientific way, I dare say, about the Blues. This perception has always given me the idea that with Clapton, we are in the presence of the most American English guitarist; obviously within the confines of the old Blues. Clapton, before knowing how to play it, is a great enthusiast of the Blues, but paradoxically he has often and willingly abandoned it during his career, favoring his other paths and extending them when needed with the devil's music. Eric Clapton was, in some ways, the Pino Daniele across the Channel.

Ok, a luxurious and shimmering black convertible picks up Clapton, his Strato, King, and Lucille. The four are splendidly dressed and visibly satisfied. Slowhand turns the key, the dashboard lights up, the engine starts, and they head toward an America that no longer exists. Or if it's still there, it's for very few. Each stop will see a handful of friends alongside the two, companions of Jam in the American nights. Two of these friends, Jimmie Vaughan and Doyle Bramhall II, come directly from the old circle of Stevie Ray Vaughan, a guitarist much loved and respected by both Blues Boy and Clapton. It was King and Clapton who encouraged Vaughan to change his life. The first with sincere lectures, the second with the recommendation of a specialized clinic where he himself was restored.

The atmosphere with old and elegant scents reigns in the album, from the driving opening riff of "Riding With The King" by John Hiatt, a spectacular and sincere expression of that America of Songwriters, animated by Rock, Soul, Blues, and all the good things that the music of African Americans offers. Elements mixed by two sorcerers like Clapton and King guarantee a certain result. Laughing and joking, the young Doyle Bramhall II is the author of two tracks, very interesting, with strong funky and Blues accents with an urban and nocturnal flavor as in "Marry You", and Classic Rock as in "I Wanna Be", where another young fellow of Texan music, Charlie Sexton, appears as co-author. An album so rich and varied presents different expressions of American music, but with common roots. Evolutions that allowed King and Clapton to speak on behalf of a heartfelt and sincere discourse. Slow Blues with a profound soul like "Worried Life Blues", like "Three O'Clock" by B.B. King, like old Folk Blues in the style of "Key to the Highway" by Big Broonzy manage to naturally converge with pieces from a more modern mood, like those of Bramhall mentioned earlier.

As if to say: "Welcome to the new millennium. We do not know how many and what kind of uncertainties this new millennium and this new century will present to us; but we are here and we have no intention of giving up. We offer you this album with no pretenses, and if you seek security from your favorite music, we, B.B. King and Eric Clapton, two names a guarantee, offer it to you."

4.5