In London [Bonus Track] (CD - 1971)

Personnel includes: B.B. King (vocals, guitar); Peter Green, Alexis Korner, Paul Butler, David Spinozza (guitar); Duster Bennett, Steve Marriot (harmonica); Bobby Keys (tenor saxophone); Bill Perkins (baritone saxophone, clarinet); Jim Price (trumpet, trombone, electric piano); Ollie Mitchell (trumpet); Chuck Findley (trombone); Pete Wingfield (piano); Gary Wright (piano, organ); The Mystery Shadow (organ); Klaus Voorman, Greg Ridley, John Best (bass), Ringo Starr, Jim Gordon, Jim Keltner, Barry Ford (drums), Joshie Armstead, Tasha Thomas, Carl Hall (background vocals).

Recorded at Olympic Studios and Command Studios, London, England on June 9-16, 1971.

The plodding rhythms laid down by a coterie of British rock stars for this set make one long for B.B. King's road-tested regular band. But it was the fashion in 1971 to dispatch American blues legends to London to record mediocre LPs with alleged rock royalty (the lineup here includes Ringo Starr, Peter Green, Alexis Korner, and Klaus Voorman). ~ Bill Dahl

As was the case with many early rock and blues legends (Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters) in the early '70s, B.B. King went to London to cut an album with an assortment of rock royalty of the day. 1971's B.B. KING IN LONDON found the King Of The Blues using members of Fleetwood Mac, Spooky Tooth and Humble Pie as sidemen on an assortment of blues classics and numbers written especially for this project. On Fleecie Moore's jump blues classic "Caledonia," King rubs shoulders with Peter Green and plays some nimble-fingered guitar on the Gary Wright-penned instrumental "Wet Hayshark," powered by the dual drumming of Jim Gordon and Ringo Starr (who plays on three songs in total). British blues godfather Alexis Korner contributed the instrumental "Alexis' Boogie" in which King duets with Korner on acoustic guitar while Steve Marriott wails away on harmonica. Other highlights include Louis Jordan's "We Can't Agree," here turned into a mid-tempo stroll and Dr. John trading in his piano for a guitar on "Ghetto Woman," a rare song with string arrangements that doesn't come off sounding mawkish. King's brightest playing comes on the joyous "Power Of The Blues" and the Stax-soaked fullness of "Ain't Nobody Home."

The plodding rhythms laid down by a coterie of British rock stars for In London make one long for B.B. King's road-tested regular band. But it was the fashion in 1971 to dispatch American blues legends to London to record mediocre LPs with alleged rock royalty (the lineup here includes Ringo Starr, Peter Green, Alexis Korner, and Klaus Voorman). [This version of the album includes bonus material.] ~ Bill Dahl minimize