Amazon.co.jp
64年、シカゴの黒人街サウスサイドにあるリーガル劇場で収録された、ブルース・ライヴ・アルバムの最高傑作だ。
快調なMCの呼びだしから登場するB.B.キングのスリリングな<1>を聴いただけで、いかに彼が当時の黒人たちから支持を集めていたのかがわかる。その後、非黒人の世界でも人気を広げていくが、この熱きライヴ・アルバムにすべての原点と彼の魅力が凝縮しているといえるだろう。ピアニストのデューク・ジェスロ、ドラムのサニー・フリーマンの腕も聴きどころの1つだ。(永田 清)
Amazon.com essential recording
Heralded as one of the greatest live blues albums ever recorded, this set catches the singer-guitarist as his star was in ascent: in 1964 playing Chicago's answer to Harlem's Apollo Theater--the Regal. King's performance is visceral. He sings so hard that gravel flies even in his clearest high notes. And his trademark single-note guitar lines are sharp and steely, matching his voice with trembling vigor. He offers early hits like "How Blue Can You Get," "Worry, Worry," and "You Upset Me Baby" to what's essentially his adopted hometown crowd (by his own account, King had already played the theater hundreds of times). They give him a hero's welcome. In fact, the audience's screaming enthusiasm is distracting. But rarely has a love-fest of this magnitude between a performer and fans been documented. --
Ted Drozdowski