King Woman

Prior to the 1992 release of the five-disc box set The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50's Masters, RCA's approach to reissuing Elvis Presley on CD - or on LP, for that matter - was rather scatter-shot, seeming to follow the dictates of the market more than the demands of history. There were some excellent releases of archival material and in 1987, on the tenth anniversary of the King's death, there was a stellar series of compilations, but most of what was released was a constant stream of recycled hits, which this box most certainly is not. This set is sharply and expertly assembled, presenting Elvis' peak as a creative and cultural force in staggering detail…

Featuring highlights from three European concerts in 1973 and 1974, this extraordinary collection of performances by the legendary Freddie King includes never before released footage from such memorable appearances as the 1973 Montreaux Jazz Festival. In blues standards like "Sweet Home Chicago" and signature King songs such as "Have You Ever Loved a Woman," these performances showcase the powerhouse guitarist known as the Texas Cannoball at the height of his creative power. Songs: Have You Ever Loved a Woman (Version One), Look Over Yonders Wall, Ain't No Sunshine, Big Legged Woman, Have You Ever Loved a Woman (Version Two), Blues Band Shuffle (Version One), Woman across the River, Ghetto Woman, Blues Band Shuffle (Version Two), Sweet Home Chicago

B.B. King - King Of The Blues (1992) [4CD Box Set]
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 1,73 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 649 Mb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 6 Mb (web)
© 1992 MCA Records | MCAD4-10677
Blues / Soul Blues / Modern Electric Blues

No way can a mere four discs cover every facet of the blues king's amazing recording career, but MCA makes a valiant stab at it. The first two discs, as expected, are immaculate: opening with his Bullet Records debut ("Miss Martha King"), the box continues with a handful of pivotal RPM/Kent masters before digging into his 1960s ABC-Paramount material ("I'm Gonna Sit in 'til You Give In" and "My Baby's Comin' Home" are little-recalled gems). The hits – "The Thrill Is Gone," "Why I Sing the Blues," "To Know You Is to Love You" – are all here, and if much of the fourth disc is pretty disposable, it only mirrors King's own winding down in the studio.

Recorded live in Hamburg and Bremen, Germany, 1975.
Hardcore filthy electric Texas Blues affair with Freddie firing on all cilinders; just a whopper of a show, with probably the funkiest rendition of "Big Legged Woman" he ever gave. The whole band is on fire here.
Sizzling work-outs of Blues standards mixed in with some of his more soul-inclined material ("Woman Across the River") make for a fantastic slab of live electric Blues by one of the genre's (also literal) giants.
Also: where there are a host of live King CDs that feature horrendous sound and dubbing, this jam right here is crystal clear and sharp.

Deborah is one of Handel's earliest oratorios, and it contains a lot of music recycled from other pieces–not that it really matters with Handel, who recycled whole works by other composers into some of his other oratorios. The real reason the piece has never caught on is the plot, in which the heroine lures her enemy into her tent, seduces him (we presume), then nails him to the floor with a tent peg through the brain. OK, so it isn't The Omen, but it's as close as Handel ever got. Fine performance, fun music, disgusting story. That's life. –David Hurwitz

Freddie King, hard-driving and perhaps driven, was only 42 when he died on December 28, 1976. The intensity of the performances in this video suggest an artist who burned at full throttle every time he played. Guitarists as diverse as Eric Clapton and Jerry Garcia have cited King as a formative influence. Most of the clips in this collection come from a unique time warp, a fleeting moment when Southern R&B collided with mid-60s "Mod" and rendered a show called The!!!!Beat. Freddie King was 31 at the time of The!!!!Beat, playing and singing in prime form.

The Doors found their mojo (and Mr. Mojo Risin’) in November 1970 as they recorded L.A. Woman over six days at the Workshop, the band’s rehearsal space on Santa Monica Boulevard. A success both critically and commercially, the album was certified double-platinum and contains some of the band’s most enduring music, including the Top 20 hit “Love Her Madly,” “Riders On The Storm,” and the title track.