B.B. King – Live at the Regal (1965)
Regal logo by Sarca @ caughtmegaming
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[Album 572/1001]
“I’ve been downhearted baby, ever since the day we met”
– B.B. King, How Blue Can You Get
To quote Dennis Hopper in Speed, Pop Quiz Hot Shot.
What 90s song is being re-enacted by my daughters in the photo below?
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(past participle of “break” is written on the sheet of paper)
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Ever since I encountered B.B. King’s Live at the Regal, I haven’t been remotely downhearted.
It’s a performance that I’ve now enjoyed several times.
Though I’m not familiar with his studio work, it’s neat that the 1001 list editors chose a live album to acknowledge B.B. King’s contributions to the music world, as I gather he used to play a couple hundred shows each year.
And of course I love an apt album title; here we have the King holding court, I’m now happy to be among his faithful subjects/courtiers.
It was a particularly fun experience hearing King’s How Blue Can You Get for the first time.
If you grew up in the 90s, and weren’t terribly well versed in the blues, chances are, like me, you’d associate the phrase, “I’ve been downhearted baby”, with the Primitive Radio Gods.
Turns out, they sampled B.B.
As far as source material goes, that’s far from a bad place to look for samples.
And now whenever I hear Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand, I’ll think of my daughters re-enacting the song title, and B.B. King’s How Blue Can You Get.
Neither of those thoughts make me remotely blue.
…..
Verbalize the Positive
Cheers to daughters!
1001albumsin10years 
My all time favorite live album. Recorded with just one mic hanging from the ceiling. Good times.
That’s the way to do it!
A fine choice for an all time fave – and that one mic did a fine job too!
Aw B.B. I love him…
I too had no idea who this sample was I was hearing when Primitive Radio Gods were playing on the radio. The Blues was so foreign to me. Then our local station would play the Blues every Sunday, and they played How Blue Can You Get. Then a connection was made.
It’s funny hearing the Primitive Radio Gods song now (knowing that it’s B.B.) – it seems obvious that it’s B.B.
But I guess it’s like those twist endings in movies/books, when I rewatch, I wonder how I missed it the first time!
You’re not going to believe it…today out in the wild I found this:
Can’t wait to take this for a spin! How’s that for a coincidence!
Nice work (and nice timing!) Sarca – the question is, will it be returned to the wild at the end of October? I only know the one tune, but they were 1 for 1 so far!
We’ll have to see!
I don’t know this one, but Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand was a big favourite of mine. A trusted opener on old mix tapes. Anyhoo, that pic made me smile… and cheers for reminding me that I need to check this one out!
It’s funny hearing the original source material for the tunes we grew up with in the 90s – though this one might not have been as head-turning as hearing under pressure or super freak for the first time!
Cheers J, hope Faith Joy’s having a nice weekend so far!
Yeah, I believe the weekend has gotten off to a good start! And thanks for reminding me it’s the weekend! Ha!
I’ll usually start a lesson in school by saying “Happy _________(day of the week)” to the class – I’m finding over the last couple weeks, I’m pausing, trying to remember the current day myself!
BB King. Saw him in Melbourne. Fabulous.
You are fortunate to have seen him Bruce!
He feels like a performer that wouldn’t ‘phone it in’ (no reading from cue cards to pander/to try to remember local city’s name), the crowd at the Regal was definitely treated to a nice performance here
He was real all right. Every time his nephew took a guitar solo, BB would do something… adjust a string, light his pipe, wander over to the bass player… No doubt as to who the royalty was on stage!!
Brilliant – I would have loved to have seen that!
It was pretty funny. 😅
I agree with you about the editors choosing a live record. BB’s music was always meant to be heard in a live setting (a little like James Brown’s and Johnny Cash’s), and this record is a worthy inclusion to the book .
Nice call on James Brown & Johnny Cash, I really liked Sam Cooke’s live record on the list too – I hadn’t heard any of his studio stuff, but the live experience was terrific!
Ha..
Cheers indeed to the kids…. but the phone booth prop is awesome!
In one of mu great musical blunders(There have been a few) BB played Tbay about 20-25 years ago and I never went?? Why I have no idea….My brother Todd went and said it ws awesome and this was in the height of his Grunge Rock Phase…..
Bizarro I never did go as I did go see Willie Nelson(1989) and Dwight Yaokam (1990) here at the Gardens and I didn’t even listen to them…
BB though….man….I dropped the ball
My thanks Deke!
I’ve made such should’ve seen them when I had the chance blunders too – neat to read you saw Willie Nelson, I’d still like to see him if I get the chance!
I could write for ages. But instead, I will simply say B.B. King? Heck yes please! Fantastic record.
I’d forgotten about the PRG sample. Clearly not memorable in the face of all the B.B. goodness!
Aaron, I had a feeling you’d have positive things to say about BB!
He’s one of my faves. Saw him four times in concert, even got his autograph. I can always put his records on and just feel great. Yeah, I’m a wee bit of a fan… 😉
“If you grew up in the 90s, and weren’t terribly well versed in the blues, chances are, like me, you’d associate the phrase, “I’ve been downhearted baby”, with the Primitive Radio Gods.
Turns out, they sampled B.B.
As far as source material goes, that’s far from a bad place to look for samples.”
I never got sampling. If the original isn’t recognizable, why do it? If it is, it’s plagiarism. OK, technically not if permission is asked, but still riding on someone else’s coattails. Apparently Puff Daddy’s (or someone else’s) “Every Breath You Take” was done without permission, so all royalties go to Sting, about $2000 per day.
My goodness, that’s a fantastic daily source of income!