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Saturday, 16 May 2015

B.B. King - Live On Stage (United 7736)






Originally released on Kent 5015 in 1965. Chitlin' circuit atmosphere, rough as heck, possibly the best ever "live" (!?!) blues set on LP. Released before B.B. broke into the blues-rock market. I don't think this one has ever made it to CD. Bought in the much missed 23rd Precinct record shop in Glasgow in the early 70s.

They played 2 hours solid B.B. tracks tonight in the Scotia Bar in Glasgow. I doubt if anyone else could have inspired such a tribute.

This is one long mp3 ripped earlier tonight. No separate tracks but here's the set list:

Please Love Me - Every Day I Have The Blues - Sweet Sixteen - 3 O'Clock Blues - Rock Me Baby - Sweet Little Angel - Baby Look at Me - Woke Up this Morning - You Upset Me Baby - I've Got A Right To Love My Baby - Let Me Love You.

I assume (!?!) it is a "bona fide" live recording. (Edit - it isn't! See comments below) With these budget Modern / RPM and subsidiary label LPs you just never know! No matter, this is one smokin' set. Download, play and raise a glass of beer to the memory of the great man.

Download link:


13 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this. I've been looking to hear this for a long time. I'm pretty sure that at least some of these are studio tracks with audience noise added. Nevertheless, it's great to finally hear the album.

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  2. These are the early recordings in Memphis & Houston (since '51. Since '53 in L.A.) for the RPM label, issued on LPs by Crown, Kent, Custom, and United.
    It's all studio recordings (!), often overdubbed with "audience effects"
    ...says "Blues Records 1943-1970, A-K" by Leadbitter & Slaven

    The first "live" recording on LP is on ABC and it's from 1964.

    -kdm, Berlin.

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  3. Thanks Steve626 and -kdm. I've always suspected that it was studio recordings with overdubbed crowd noise. The fact that there's no interaction between B.B. and the "audience" pretty much gives it away.

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  4. I had a look at the Bruyninckx discography. They give the LP title as " Live! B.B. King On Stage", with 5 issues - 3 on Kent as KST515, KLP5015, KST565, plus 2 on United as US-7736 and US-7772.

    Bruyninckx states that the LP consists of studio material with noise and applause dubbed in.

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  5. It might be all studio recordings with dubbed audience (especially discernible in "Three o'clock blues"), but it does have one of the all-time great concert introductions: "Great Kasavoo, have we got somethin' for you!..........." etc.
    Always loved this record, used to have the original US black Kent release, ripped it in two wav-files from vinyl. But this is a great addition. Thanks!

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  6. Back then (the early 60s) it seemed absolutely every so called "live" album was fake.. a shameless cash-in by seedy label management..almost always after the artist had jumped ship for a more supportive label. Duane Eddy's "in person" and "Surfin" were both studio with audience dubbed in, as was Freddy King's "Surfin" as well. The Crown/United/Kent issue came out as a cash-in by Modern records, around the time that BB released the legit live classic "Live at the Regal".
    WHat floored me, though, is that only a few years ago (1995) some years after his death, they released a total fake of Albert King's, and the liner notes blatantly purport (from his engineer/ occasional producer , no less) that it was a legit live album.. "Live on memory lane".. but all it is, is "The Big Blues" with audience dubbed in. That they still get away with this is astonishing...

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  7. Thanks for the comments folks. So we've got an example of a sub-genre within exploitation - fake "live" LPs. File on the shelf near fake "twist", fake "surf", Hen Gates, etc.

    It is an album I've always liked, though!

    Another LP I've always wondered about is Chess Folk Festival Of The Blues (Recorded Live). The Sonny Boy Williamson track "Bring It On Home" on that LP has the same "wobble" in volume as the original studio track ...

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  8. Thanks for this. I can't believe the producer thought that the girl screaming on some of the tracks was a "good thing"

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  9. Yeah Robert, she's a bit much. What on Earth were they doing to her in the Studio to make her produce such a noise? Or perhaps it's just one short scream on a loop.

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  10. The only bogus track on Folk Festival Of The Blues is the Sonny Boy Williamson number. The rest are the real deal - live in the early '60's. Rough but you've got to love them..

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  11. Any chance of a reup? Thanks in advance

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