B.B. KING - Live in Africa '74

Is it easy, as a long time blues aficionado, to become blase about the ubiquitous Beale Street Blues Boy King? Well, I guess it is. He's been around a long time - born in Itta Bena Mississippi 1925, brought up in Indianola amidst the grueling share cropping culture; probably best known and hardest working of the few cross over, genuine blues artists.

If this fate has befallen you, by accident or osmosis, this newly released DVD, 'B.B. King - Live In Africa '74', could serve to set you back on track.

B.B. King is a living blues legend, simply because he is fantastic.

This DVD catches B.B. in his prime, 49 years old, in front of an 80,000 strong audience. The venue, Kinshasa in the Congo, formerly Zaire. The music event, which included performances by James Brown and Bill Withers, was part of the build up to the 'Rumble In The Jungle', in which Mohammed Ali regained his world heavyweight boxing crown from George Foreman. In fact, Ali is captured on camera in act of supplication to King's majestic voice. B.B. is also pictured with Don King, the maverick, millionaire promoter.

There are eight tracks, all of which you will probably know. Big hits including 'Why I Sing The Blues'; 'Ain't Nobody Home';  'Sweet Sixteen' and the biggest of them all from 1970, 'The Thrill Is Gone'.

The songs are familiar, the performances by King passionate and sublime. He is supported by 70s band staff pianist and tenor saxophonist, Ron Levy and Bobby Forte. There is some excellent, knowing interaction with his then long time drummer, the formidable Sonny Freeman. His musical collaborator, teacher, arranger and producer of many years, Hampton Reese, conducts a scratch band of studio musicians, reading Reese's charts, who B.B. doesn't seem to know. They are very good though. I think I noticed a young Larry Carlton on rhythm guitar, and the trombone player holding a lit cigarette in his slide hand is pure 1970s chic (never get away with that now!).

King is the star throughout. Soaring blues vocals, full of heartache, nuance and anger - exquisite use of the microphone to emphasize and moderate his booming howls and screams. The guitar playing fits like a favourite leather jacket. We know the tone, and tone emanates from the instrument and its amplification like a warm syrup, slightly charred at the edges, masterfully controlled. We know the notes too, but the mystery is - how does the man get such a plethora of emotion from a couple of minor scale triads? In the end it doesn't matter, because he does. To be fair, B.B.'s got a couple of nice turn arounds and tags too.

A lot of the enjoyment from this film comes from the direction of Leon Gast, and the intimate photography of Kevin Keating's team (not to mention the less glamorous editing suite, where I'm sure a lot of the hard work was done). This is the best and clearest footage I've seen of B.B.'s style. For you guitarists out there, you can see the famous vibrato up close, you can see the patented box of notes, you can even see the control settings on the Gibson!

Being a DVD there are extras. Included is an edited interview with the King from 1981, which just about excuses the dodgy perm, in which B.B. trots out a few of the chestnut stories, like the naming of Lucille after a juke joint fire. There is real humility and pathos too, giving a sense of the Blues Legend never feeling completely accepted as the consummate musician he surely is.

If you think that you've moved on, take this refresher, and keep on riding with the King!