Singin' the Blues
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
Singin' the Blues is the 1956 debut album by blues performer B.B. King on the Bihari brothers' Crown label.[3] Among its tracks, the album gathered together five charting singles. "You Upset Me, Baby" was the highest charting single, reaching #1 on Billboard's "Black Singles" chart.[4] Other charting singles include "Every Day I Have the Blues" (#8), "Ten Long Years" (#9), "Crying Won't Help You" (#15), "Bad Luck" (#3) and "Sweet Little Angel" (#6). The album was originally released on the Crown subsidiary of Modern Records and has been reissued several times, as part of a two-album combined CD alongside King's second release The Blues[5] and with bonus tracks by Japanese label P-Vine Records and U.K. label Ace Records (UK).[6][7] On "Please Love Me", King combines T-Bone Walker's hard-picking, distorted guitar style with his own mournful singing.[8]
Track listing
All songs by B.B. King and Jules Taub, unless otherwise noted.[9]
- Side one
- "Please Love Me" – 2:51
- "You Upset Me Baby" – 3:04
- "Every Day I Have the Blues" (Aaron Sparks, credited to Peter Chatman) – 2:49
- "Bad Luck" (Ivory Joe Hunter, credited to King, Taub) – 2:54
- "3 O'Clock Blues" (Lowell Fulson, credited to King, Taub) – 3:03
- "Blind Love" – 3:06
- Side two
- "Woke Up This Morning" – 2:59
- "You Know I Love You" – 3:06
- "Sweet Little Angel" (Traditional, credited to King, Taub) – 3:00
- "Ten Long Years" – 2:49
- "Did You Ever Love a Woman" (Dwight Moore, credited to King, Taub) – 2:34
- "Crying Won't Help You" (Hudson Whittaker, credited to King, Taub) – 3:00
CD re-release bonus tracks
Bonus tracks on both the re-releases by P-Vine and Ace. Except where otherwise noted, all songs by King and Taub.
- "Whole Lotta Meat" (King) – 2:32
- "I'm Cracking Up Over You" – 3:23
- "I Stay in the Mood" (Joe Josea, King) – 2:55
- "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer 'Million Years Blues'" (John Williamson) – 2:58
- "Jump with You Baby" – 2:14
- "Lonely and Blue" (John Costa Jr., John Erby) – 2:58
- "Dark Is the Night, Pt. 'the Blues Has Got Me'" (Maxwell Davis, King, Taub) – 2:41
- "Ruby Lee" – 3:01
Personnel
Performance
- Red Callender – bass[10]
- Maxwell Davis – tenor saxophone
- Jewell L. Grant – alto saxophone
- Billy Hadnot – bass
- Ralph Hamilton – bass
- Lorenzo Holden – tenor saxophone
- B. B. King – guitar, vocals
- Willard McDaniel – piano
- Jack McVea – tenor saxophone
- Bumps Myers – tenor saxophone
- Jake "Vernon" Porter – trumpet
- Jesse Price – drums
- Jesse Sailes – drums
- Maurice Simon – tenor saxophone
- Floyd Turnham – alto saxophone, baritone saxophone
- Charles Waller – tenor saxophone
Production
- Roger Armstrong – tape archivist
- Jon Broven – compilation, annotation
- Brian Burrows – package design
- Duncan Cowell – mastering, mixing, restoration
- Cy Schneider – liner notes
References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Danchin, Sebastian (1998). Blues Boy: The Life and Music of B.B. King. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 57. ISBN 1-57806-017-6.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Singin' the Blues (Crown) Billboard at AllMusic
- ^ Singin' the Blues/The Blues at AllMusic
- ^ Singin' the Blues (P-Vine) at AllMusic
- ^ Singin' the Blues (Ace) at AllMusic
- ^ Brackett, Nathan (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 452. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Track list order from album back cover; times and additional composer information from Singin' the Blues (Ace) at AllMusic
- ^ Personnel for the original and re-release are combined.
