A Dutch friend of mine is getting ready to emigrate to sunny Spain, and he's giving away some of his stuff, so I inherited his modest record collection, mostly 80's pop and R&B. Not necessarily my kind of music, but still nice to have.
I'm slowly going through them, starting with this one because hey it's the King of the Blues, it should be among the best of the bunch. Unfortunately, it's plagued by the worst possible case of 80's production: drowned in plastic-sounding synths and drum machines, one wonders how can an album featuring the talents of B.B. King, Mick Fleetwood (drums) and Steve Cropper (rhythm guitar) sound so bad. It's as if, despite having a blues giant in their hands, the producers tried to mimic the faceless pop of the contemporary charts. The first couple of songs are shocking: "...habit to me" and "drowning in the sea of love" are full of disco/new wave beats, cheesy backing vocals, drum machines, and not a whiff of King's trademark guitar sound. There is some rock guitar buried low in the mix, but it doesn't sound like B.B. At least he's in good form vocally - so much is made of his guitar playing that we often forget what a distinctive and soulful voice he had. "Can't Get Enough" is bluesier, the first listenable song here despite being dominated by Marty Grebbs' saxophone. Stevie Nicks provides some nice backing vocals. On "Standing on the Edge" the over-glossed arrangement does not manage to ruin a good vocal performance for a typical electric blues tune. "Go On" has a 50's R&B beat which might sound good if played by a real band instead of synths and drum machines. At least Lucille (B.B.'s guitar, for the uninitiated) is given here some room to play. On Side 2 the guitar is a bit more present, though still buried under artificial synths and fake drums. "Undercover Man" reminds me of the worst musical crimes committed by The Stones during the 80's (i.e. their Dirty Work LP). It's followed by some respite in the form of "Lay Another Log on the Fire", basically the umpteenth copy of "The Thrill is Gone". "Business With My Baby Tonight" is another passable copy, this time of "Paying The Cost To Be The Boss" - which leads us to the conclusion that B.B. King producing second rate copies of himself is still better than B.B. King copying "modern" pop hits. My vinyl LP stops there, but the CD version adds another song ("Take Off Your Shoes") which, according to allmusic.com, is one of the highlights of this relatively poor collection.
*** for Can't Get Enough, Standing on the Edge, Lay Another Log on the Fire
** for (You've Become a) Habit to Me, Drowning in the Sea of Love, Go On, Let's Straighten It Out, Change in Your Lovin', Undercover Man, Business With My Baby Tonight
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