Personnel: B.B. King (vocals, guitar, piano).
The faintly confusing Let Me Love You mixes up material from B.B. King's earliest RPM sessions with newer cuts from his Kent Records era. Much of the early RPM material has been released on other compilations, such as Do the Boogie!, while the more recent Kent material was issued on several classic LPs from the early '60s. Nonetheless, the collection holds up rather well, since the songs all come from the same time period. It also helps that the set contains some real rarities, like the definitive blues of "Troubles Don't Last" and the rollicking, horn-driven "You're Gonna Miss Me," both of which are only available on rare early-'60s recordings. Mixed in with the hard-rocking "Whole Lotta Love" and the classic title cut, they make for a fairly seamless disc. Still, the haphazard sequencing and selection (coupled with the absence of much documentation) make this an odd album. Let Me Love You, while containing some rare and recommended B.B. King cuts, is more of a package for King collectors and blues enthusiasts, and newcomers would be advised to start with other, more definitive compilations and recordings. ~ Victor W. Valdivia minimize