"B.B. King - Live In Cook County Jail", has he ever sounded better?

I know B.B. has a huge recorded catalog and I've heard only a small bit of it, but "B.B. King - Live In Cook County Jail" is a near perfect record with such wonderful performances and great humor that I have to wonder if he ever sounded better.

I find a lot of his studio recordings to be over blown compared to the superbly tasteful renditions in Cook. I feel this record deserves a very high ranking in any compendium of great recorded music.

Can you recommend anything as good or better?

 

I know there are purists who prefer BB's earlier output but I enjoy this smooth blues era the most. The way he paces each tune is amazing. Live at the Regal is a strong second in my book.

 

I love the King of the Blues boxset. Nothing beats it because it compiles a decidedly B plus artist into an A plus form. But albums as albums Regal and Cook County are stellar live shows. I give the nod to the Regal set though

 

The Essential B. B. King

The Essential B. B. King thread....

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=272351&highlight=

 

I LOVE BB King live, especially the Cook album.

 

The Cook album is good, no doubt about it but I was a bit surprised when Rolling Stone named it one of the 500 best albums ever as I prefer Live at the Regal.

Wait, now that I think of it, Regal made their list too.

 

Cook is good, RPM and Kent era material best, followed by earlier ABC material. He was more bluesy then.

 

This is my favorite King album. "Worry Worry Worry" still gets lots of play in my house.

The Regal, yes.

But let's add "Live & Well" to this list. "Don't Answer The Door" kills me everytime!

 

For live material, Live In Japan may come as a pleasant surprise to some of you who don't have it.

 

I just love the introduction on this recording of the man, Mr. B. B. King himself.

 

And let's not forget BB King & Bobby Bland-Together for the First Time.

I'm Sorry-------Awesome!!

 

I have Cook and Regal, both great, but a decided part of my preference for Cook lies in the audience's participation in the performance. Regal just comes off as too "nightclub-y" to match the depth of pleasure that emanates from the more captive audience at Cook.

They truly are captivated by the great show and B.B.'s wise and gentle treatment of them is a study in the man's humanity. Plus the intro is too rich for words.

 

Is this the complete concert? Anyone have any ideas? I just read an article about the concert, 40 years later.
http://www.suntimes.com/5869831-417/the-king-of-cook-county-jail.html

 

What a great link, thanks for posting it!

If you haven't heard the show, it's on YouTube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxtlxq7yqX

 

No, I think Cook is tops.

Until we get a complete Live in Cook County jail

 

Cook is weaker than Regal, Regal being the best live blues LP by most people's view. But Cook is still excellent and classic.

 

I also like his work with the Crusaders on Midnight Believer and Take It Home plus on MCA There Must Be A Better World Somewhere (songs by Doc Pomus, Bernard Purdie drums etc) from 1981.

 

As I write this, it is $6 new on Amazon.

 

Has anybody ever compared the old MCA CD version to the newly remastered version?

I am usually quite sceptical when it comes to remasters, but I compared the original version of "Live at the Apollo" to the remastered version, and to my surprise I prefered the remastered version in this case.

 

I recently got the "Blues is King" live cd recorded in 1966, also in Chicago, and think it's a perfect compliment to "Cook County". It has a bit of a 'harder' edge whereas Cook sounds smoother. I love 'em both !!

Try some samples here,

http://www.allmusic.com/album/blues-is-king-mca-mw0000207640

 

Live & Well
Though only half is live,this is the one that hooked me in the late 60's

 

Anyone?

 

Live B.B. is the best B.B......a landmark recording. The remaster is excellent.

 

Another vote for Blues Is King. IMO it's more powerful and grittier than Live At The Regal, which is a strong number 2. Plus his tone is vicious (in a good way) with lots of sustain and bite. Listen to Gambler's Blues and be thrilled. You should look for the version with Sweet Sixteen Parts 1 & 2, another star performance.

 

Poor BB!!!!!

I would LOVE getting some analog of his 50s and 60s stuff