Deuces Wild

by

B.B. King

Edit

I got this cd as a gift from my fiancée and I loved it. B.B. King, however aged , seems in shape and at ease in this album of duets. It is , however , strange to hear the opening track of the album, "If You Love Me", not being sung by B.B.King. The song was written by Van Morrison and he sings it, while the old bluesman merely plays guitar, adding no vocals. But it is a beautiful song anyway. The best track are "Rock Me Baby", in which Eric Clapton shares vocals and B.B. share vocals and guitar, "Baby I Love You", in which Bonnie Raitt's slide guitar does a great counterpart with Lucille, "Payin The Cost To Be The Boss", which reminds us that The Rollings Stones DID start off as a blues band, and "Hummingbird", where Dionne Warwick sounds perfectly at home belting out a blues tune. There are other good tracks too, but there were ones that I did not like, such as "The Thrill is Gone", with Tracy Chapman. It is not Tracy's fault. The song is just tired from being included in virtually all of BB King's anthologies and live albums. Another weak track was "Keep It Coming", in which Heavy D and King attempt a bluesy rap but it never catches fire. A track that is not great but not weak either is his duet with Joe Cocker in "Dangerous Mood". Joe is one of the best rock performers alive today, and his participation is worth notice. Well, to sum it up, it is a great album with a few weak tracks. If I were you, I'd purchase the import version which has a few more tracks, including "Let The Good Times Roll", with Zucchero.

Unlike 'Lucille and Friends', 'Deuces Wild' is a collection of more recently-recorded B.B King duets and collaborations. Once again, there is a mixture of standard blues and roots covers and original songs. If anything, the range of artists and styles present here is even greater than on 'Lucille and Friends', making it a more interesting but perhaps less consistent album.

The best tracks here include takes on 'The Thrill Is Gone' (Tracy Chapman) and 'Rock Me Baby' (Eric Clapton), two songs which were hits for King himself in the distant past. 'Baby I Love You' (Bonnie Raitt), 'Confessing the Blues' (Marty Stuart) and 'Dangerous Mood' (Joe Cocker) are other strong songs. A great rendition of 'Paying The Cost To Be The Boss' with Mick Jagger on vocals is a highlight, 'Night Life' with Willie Nelson provides a surprisingly poignant closer, and 'Keep It Coming' with rapper Heavy D is not quite as embarassing as it might have been. Interestingly, a couple of songs from 'Lucille and Friends' are present in new arrangements, but unfortunately neither 'Hummingbird' (Dionne Warwick) nor 'Let The Good Times Roll' (Zucchero) match the standard of the original versions.

A solid collection that is not quite as strong as 'Lucille And Friends'. The diversity of the collaborators means they don't always gel with B.B., although once again King proves his ability to adapt his singing and playing to many different styles. It's maybe a bit too calculated and over-thought, and lacks some of the spontaneity of the older tracks on 'Lucille...'. It's still a good enough effort, though, and will be of interest to B.B fans old and new.