B.B. King: One Kind Favor Review

T-Bone Burnett has experienced quite a bit of success lately as a producer. He produced Mellencamp’s raw folk and old blues inspired Life, Death, Love and Freedom, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Raising Sand, and B.B. King’s latest effort One Kind Favor. Burnett has seemingly given each album an effortless, raw, and old fashioned sound. Burnett accomplishes all three with BB King, and once again produced another solid work.

Enough about Burnett, this is King’s moment to shine. BB King has become synonymous with the term blues. His name has become bigger than his music, and that may sound like a wonderful story to some, but to an artist, it should sound like a problem. King hasn’t seen much success as of late when it comes to recording. His albums have been predictable, and when someone has been performing for as long as King has, that spells a problem.

One Kind Favor is truly special, it heralds back the old time blues. It’s raw and emotional–King connects on every song and the power in both his guitar and vocals are clearly audible. It’s down to earth, never reaching for something too pretentious, yet never being dull. The lyrics have a bluesy attitude, focusing on life’s issues and heartbreak. King sticks with the roots of twelve bar blues and it pays massive dividends.

BB King is the king of blues for a reason, nobody slams on the vibrato quite like BB. One Kind Favor was long overdue, and maybe the wait was worth it. Forget about playing with the overrated Clapton, all King needs is his guitar and voice and that’s what we’re given here. T Bone Burnett has done it again, a soulful, rootsy, and effortless sound.

Grade: A-