Another masterpiece
What can you say,its BB King! Lots of great instrumentals and the songs just keep coming. Not a bad track in the bunch, no disappointment here.

BB at his laid back best
I just checked out this release from the library yesterday and was totally surprised at how good it is and will order a copy of my own through Amazon.I like the "live in the studio" feel.Its also a great practicing tool for any pickers out there to work on your "in the style of BB King" licks.Heck,I was plugged halfway through the first song,the beautiful minor key "Blues Boys Tune".Inspiring stuff and a solid cd.Thanks,Blues Boy!

Not enough O's in SMOOOOOOOOTH....
I've always liked B.B. King's music ever since I was a kid when I'd catch him on TV periodically. He just seemed genuine in his playing and the style and sound was something that appealed to me personally. So I started to collect some of his music in the late 70's after I got out of college.

Then I had the privilege of seeing him perform "live" twice in the mid 90's while I lived in Spokane, WA. His love of the music and his joy in bringing it to you was palpable. The thrill was definitely not gone for Riley B. King.

So I started to revisit his catalog and I came across Blues On The Bayou. The reviews were sterling across the board, but what attracted me to this particular disc out of all 15 or so that I have was that he used his ROAD BAND in the studio. For many artists, this is not standard practice. They use producer chosen studio folks for their recording sessions. This is one reason that mainstream music coming out of Nashville has that "sameness" to it - it's all the same guys playing in different configurations behind a variety of artists. The music might as well come off the end of a conveyor belt coming out of a factory for all the originality it displays.

Well, not in this case. First thing they did here was use a little recording studio somewhat off the beaten track. This is good strategy because it eliminates the distractions over the course of the days given over to recording. There's just pretty much you and the music and so you can get deeper into it as you attempt to find the best sounds in recording it. In the case of this disc, it paid off in spades.

The choice of songs fits the title and the musicianship is top notch across the board. If you like lively, smooth sounding blues, you can't go wrong here. Sample the various tunes and I dare you to tell me I'm wrong....

RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "BB, BASIC BLUES, ON THE BAYOU!"
To quote BB himself: "All live, all real. No overdubs, no high-tech tricks. JUST THE BASIC BLUES!" Shaq, "The King Of The World Blues Reviewer" says: "This is what I call mellow blues." This is the kind of music you want on, when you want to relax. A rainy day in winter, open the curtains, put this CD on, sit back, and let BB gently, serenade you. There's no better way to end this review, than to quote the other "King" (BB) himself: "In case you're interested, my favorite is "I'll Survive," a song I wrote back in the fifties. I sang it then, but I'm not sure I understood it .Now I know the meaning of survival."

BB is great as always.....but please drop the organ!
I bought this CD as part of a music club because it was one of the free ones I received after I bought a certain number, thinking this would not be the best of BB King's career surely ended long ago. I could not have been more wrong with that assumption.

I have many BB King albums, and several on this CD I would rank as being up there with my all time favorite hits from the King, most notably, "Blues Man". If one song could sum up the life of BB King, it is this song. My one complaint with a few of the songs on this album is the organ....in my opinion it is completely out of place for several of the tracks (we are talking about the blues here, right?), but overall it does not take away that much from a really good late-career album.

At a time when many artists are putting out rehashes of old songs or teaming up with other singers for a half-hearted attempt at a new album, BB takes a chance with an entirely new album late in his career and does a really good job of it. It is obvious BB loves what he is doing, and his band, as always, is fantastic. This may not be his best album, but if you are a fan of BB King you will find it surprisingly enjoyable.

4 stars....one deduction for the organ.