Easy Listening Blues

This collector’s release includes B.B. King’s all-instrumental 1962 LP Easy Listening Blues, which marks King’s tenth budget-priced album. The album title is a bit misleading, considering that King, who might be smooth and urbane in some respects, rarely recorded music that could be categorized as “easy listening.” Although this material is lesser known than the bulk of King’s popular repertoire, it is in no way inferior. The blues giant imbues each number with a spectrum of moods, ranging from a subdued quality (“Blues for Me” and “Walkin’”) to highly charged intensity (“Rambler” and “Shoutin’ the Blues”). King also plays here with his usual authority, making occasional nods toward the rock & roll twist craze on cuts like “Night Long” and “Hully Gully.”