King of the Blues: 1989
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"The Slammer", CA
Waterfront, NJ
Media Sound, NY
Memphis Sound
Ardent
Muscle Shoals, AL
Baby O, CA
| King of the Blues: 1989 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1988 | |||
| Studio | The Village Recorder, CA "The Slammer", CA Waterfront, NJ Media Sound, NY Memphis Sound Ardent Muscle Shoals, AL Baby O, CA | |||
| Genre | Blues, pop | |||
| Length | 51:28 | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Producer | Jerry Lynn Williams (all except noted) Al Kooper (2 & 6) Trade Martin (7 & 10) Frederick Knight (9 & 11) | |||
| B. B. King chronology | ||||
| ||||
King of the Blues: 1989 is an album by the American musician B. B. King, released in 1988.[1][2] It was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary Blues Recording".[3]
King supported the album with a North American tour, which was a hit due to his appearance in U2's Rattle and Hum.[4][5] King was disappointed that the album and tour did not find much success with Black audiences.[5]
Al Kooper was among the album's four producers.[6] Many of the tracks used drum machines; King was an adopter of home computers and curious about modern studio technology.[7][8] Steve Cropper played rhythm guitar.[9] "Drowning in the Sea of Love" was written by Gamble and Huff.[10] "Can't Get Enough" was King's favorite track.[11]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [12] |
| The Grove Press Guide to the Blues on CD | [13] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [14] |
| The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [10] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [15] |
The Orlando Sentinel called the album a "bid for pop- crossover attention."[16] The Calgary Herald wrote that "the songs are so mediocre as to actually give you the blues, and producer Al Kooper has drowned King's occasional stellar guitar work in a sea of keyboards and soulless drum programming."[17] The Kingston Whig-Standard determined that the album "is very contemporary and could easily give Robert Cray a run for his money in the blues-pop-soul category."[18] The Toronto Star labeled it "a bold, big electric blues album from the unassailable master of the field."[9] The Vancouver Sun noted that King of the Blues: 1989 was "more structured and tight than previous albums."[19]
AllMusic concluded: "Over-glossed R&B tracks, heavy doses of keyboards and drum programming are an ideal way to make albums for the pop charts, but for B.B. King, they are tools of disaster."[12] King's biographer, Daniel de Vise, deemed the album perhaps "the low ebb of his recording career."[1]