The length of a musician’s career is measured like rings in a great tree. Those who stand tall for many years, bands with names like The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Santana are legends that have weathered several generations of criticism and hype. Still, compared to 82-year-old Riley B. King these acts are still saplings.
With the release of One Kind Favor last week, the man better known as B.B. King continues his seven-decade career as one of the biggest names in blues.
King’s latest album is a throw back to the early days of his career. Famed producer T-Bone Burnett approached King with the idea of making an album that sounded as though it were produced in the 1950s.
Each of the 12 tracks is a cover from an artist who influenced the young King. While many names on this list are no longer recognizable to contemporary audiences, the inclusion of John Lee Hooker and T-Bone Walker vouch for the rest. None of the songs could be defined as weak.
Song writing is not the only tool used in this time-traveling tribute album. In an attempt to recreate the kind of backing band King recorded in his youth, other longtime musicians were brought in, the best known of which being Dr. John on the piano.
All the contributors on the album sound fantastic and each have plenty of space and avoid being lost in the mix.
Favor was supposedly recorded under studio conditions that would have existed in the 1950s and producers left some rough edges around the tracks’ production. While this notion of reproduced antiquity might seem like pure hype, especially since the album is on a compact disc and not vinyl; it paid off in spades if it truly did influence the musicianship of the artists.
Favor is another success for Burnett and his unique approach to production, an approach that only last year yielded the successful collaboration album between bluegrass singer Alison Krauss and former Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant.
King’s powerful vocals and soulful guitar are still the high mark of the album. Nothing about this is surprising given that Rolling Stone ranked King the third greatest guitarist of all time, only falling behind the legendary and unchallenged guitarists Jimmy Hendrix and Duane Allman.
Though compared to a modern rock group King and company might be doing less playing on a by-the-note count, their masterful use of pacing makes each part more pronounced and meaningful.
Favor draws its title from the chorus of the opening song, “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean.” However, King is continuing to do himself this favor by adding another solid album to his impressive musical legacy.
