B.B. King made his debut as producer with
Blues on the Bayou, released in October 1998. He employs the most basic of ideas for this project: record an album of
B.B. King tunes, with
B.B. King's regular road band, under
B.B. King's supervision. Keeping it loose, relaxed, and focused,
King cut this album in four days down at a secluded studio in Louisiana and came up with one of his strongest, modern-day albums in many years. No duets, no special guests, just
King and his road warrior band, playing his songs with him producing the results -- no overdubs, just simple, no-nonsense blues done like he would do them on-stage. The result is a no-frills, straight-ahead session that shows that
King might be have been 73 at the time of this date, but he still had plenty of gas left in the tank. Tracks like "I'll Survive," and the jumping "Shake It Up and Go," "Darlin' What Happened," the minor keyed "Blues Boy Tune," the instrumental "Blues We Like," and the closing "If That's It I Quit" show him stretching out in a way he has seldom done in a studio environment, and the result is one of his best albums in recent memory. ~ Cub Koda