When I caught up with B.B. King's tour bus in Independence, Mo., in 2011, it had just turned into the parking lot of the Independence Events Center and nosed up to the backstage door. It was late on a bitter cold afternoon with a blizzard forecast for later the next day. Fortunately, my flight out of Kansas City to New York was a morning departure.
As the bus's brakes heaved a sigh and the engine was switched off, the door swung open and on I went. As I worked my way to the back, I could hear Sonny Boy Williamson's harmonica wailing on Sonny Boy's Jump. There, in a cozy, well-furnished space, was B.B. in front of the most cutting-edge stereo system I'd seen up until that point. Music had been downloaded or burned into it, and the blues legend could select what he wanted to hear by using a remote to scroll through on-screen images of album covers, stopping at the one he wanted to hear. [Photo above of B.B. King courtesy of Deep Digs]
After we shook hands, B.B. urged me to sit across from him on a white leather bench seat. He said, "When I hear music like that, I feel like crying. I feel emotional inside when I hear or sing the blues. It's a good feeling. It's like church for me." I was there for The Wall Street Journal, and for the next hour, we talked about his career and music.
The events of that day came rushing back as I listened to the Deep Digs label's new double-LP release, B.B. King in France: Live at the 1977 Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival. The 180-gram vinyl is due in stores on Record Store Day—November 29. The digital formats will be released on Dec. 6. The concert was recorded by the Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF), France’s national radio agency. [Photo above of B.B. King courtesy of Deep Digs]
The previously unreleased audio was unearthed by producer Zev Feldman with assistance by French journalist and author Jean Buzelin. Engineer Matthew Lutthans from The Mastering Lab handled the audio, which sounds big and clear.
B.B.'s septet featured his nephew, tenor saxophonist and musical director Walter King, alto saxophonist Cato Walker III, trumpeter Eddie Rowe, organist James Toney, guitarist Milton Hopkins, bassist Joe Turner and drummer Calep Emphrey, Jr. The brassy backdrop to B.B.'s blues gave the performance an energetic feel akin to soul revue bands.
Songs average five or six minutes each, with the longest, Sweet Little Angel, running over 7 minutes. There are plenty of solos. Interestingly, there's a wailing blues-rock feel to B.B.'s playing compared with his groove style featured years earlier on songs like Paying the Cost to Be the Boss or Lucille. The shift was likely due to the types of festivals he was playing, which were rock-influenced.
This new album is for those who love B.B. and the blues and want to hear his guitar solos unfold in a slightly different style and setting. Despite the shift, he still manages to pull you in and and hold your attention.
B.B. King died in 2015 at age 89.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find B.B. King in France: Live at the 1977 Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival (Deep Digs) here to buy—or at major streaming platforms.
To locate a record store near you for Record Store Day (this Friday), go here.
JazzWax clips: Here's Blue Monk and Caldonia...
And here's Sweet Little Angel...
