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

Have you ever wondered what might happen if two masters of blues one day decided to make an album together? I had never considered the question, but then, by sheer chance, a certain album falls into my hands… "Riding With The King", indeed. Just the first note of the track after which the album is named is enough to immediately understand the musical line the album intends to follow, that is, the most classic and pleasant sounds of blues.

The mark of a certain Clapton is immediately evident, in fact, the track is a classic "Claptonian" blues (allow me the term, if possible), which is to say a very lively, cheerful, and engaging blues where not only do the guitars lead, but also the piano and the backup singers are very present and contribute greatly to creating that joyful and carefree atmosphere that surely was felt in the studios during the various recording sessions of the album. In this track, therefore, the musical theme was surely dictated by Clapton, just as the great King leads instead on the second track, "Ten Long Years". Simply blues, typical and classic, without too many special outward frills, without superfluous turns, the blues in its origins surely sounded like in this episode of the album. Simplicity reigns supreme here, but it is that simplicity that leaves you breathless as soon as you hear it because you can't explain how such a genuine track can be at the same time so engaging and pleasant. A light piano that accompanies the various notes coming from guitars played with such mastery that it makes everything seem extremely easy and trivial. It will be like this throughout the album, meaning the tracks where Clapton leads the dances are always interspersed with those where B. B. King will instead decide on which theme they should "improvise". I used the term improvise for a reason, in fact, many of these tracks have that flavor of an improvised piece in some blues club, like many scattered around the world. As a result, the lyrics end up not being fundamental, they take a backseat, almost a pretext to allow these great bluesmen to express everything they had inside at that moment.

In short, by listening to this album and letting yourself be carried away by the music, you almost get the feeling of seeing the two masters pleasantly sitting across from each other, on a stage in a small club, delighting the few chosen ones who are there at that precise moment, with their high-quality sessions.