Clapton and the King: "Riding With The King" gets 20th anniversary reissue

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by BeatleJWOL, May 22, 2020.

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  1. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member Thread Starter



    Eric Clapton, B.B. King's 'Riding with the King' to Be Reissued With Two Unreleased Tracks
    From Wikipedia:
    Riding with the King (B.B. King and Eric Clapton album) - Wikipedia
     
  2. Pablo.

    Pablo. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Buenos Aires
    I was relistening it a couple of days ago. A good album, some great moments, but Simon Climie wasn't the man to produce a blues summit. Too many guitar players in the mix (Andy Fairweather Low and Doyle Bramhall II - just one rhythm guitar was enough) drum programming on most of the tracks when you already have Steve Gadd (and we're not talking about Gaucho kind of music), a couple of Bramhall II tunes best suited to a solo Clapton album (I bet that "Rollin' and tumblin" and "Let me love you baby" were better choices)... I'm glad that this album exists, and the respect Eric showed to BB. But sometimes, less is more.
     
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  3. JulesRules

    JulesRules Weaponized, Deranged Warthog Thug

    Location:
    Germany
    Good summary.

    For what it's worth, Climie was also responsible for one of B.B.'s most disappointing records ever - "Reflections" - which is not a blues album but still, definitely the wrong producer for the man.

    The signs were already there when EC & BB made the duet version of "Rock Me Baby" with that awful drum programming underneath, and when EC thought the programming on his own song "Sick and Tired" made any sense.
     
    All Down The Line likes this.
  4. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member Thread Starter

    I, uh, I love that. Standout track from Pilgrim. His guitar and vocal saves it.

    The string section lets that track down, if anything, but it's also melodic as hell.
     
    Tim 2 likes this.
  5. JulesRules

    JulesRules Weaponized, Deranged Warthog Thug

    Location:
    Germany
    Don't get me wrong, the song has lots of potential, and as you say, EC's guitar and vocals are great but the "drumming" is a joke and turns it into a mess for me. I actually once attempted to replicate/overdub a better programmed drum part for my own enjoyment but couldn't be bothered to follow through...
     
  6. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Agreed. The album was a colossal disappointment, which was largely the fault of the sleek production. This collaboration (and album) could have been special had it been produced the same manner as From The Cradle, which was largely recorded live and presented a more organic and natural ambiance, the ideal sound for what should have been an authentic blues album.
     
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  7. Pablo.

    Pablo. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Buenos Aires
    PILGRIM tunes definitely worked better in a live setting.
     
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  8. JulesRules

    JulesRules Weaponized, Deranged Warthog Thug

    Location:
    Germany
    I really like the songs from it on the "One More Car..." live album. According to setlist.fm he played 10 of the 14 Pilgrim tracks live. Only found this one from the song I was talking about, and the recording isn't great, but yes, the drums do sound better (and I would've been surprised if they hadn't)...

    Returning to "Riding with the King", what can we expect from the mastering?
     
  9. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Lacquers cut by Chris Bellman. Good enough for me. May sell the DVD-A now.
     
  10. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

  11. JulesRules

    JulesRules Weaponized, Deranged Warthog Thug

    Location:
    Germany
    I was talking about the CD :)
     
  12. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

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  13. JulesRules

    JulesRules Weaponized, Deranged Warthog Thug

    Location:
    Germany
    Yeah, I know, but he's not been consistent for several years now, so it's hard to expect anything from him. The recent Midnight Oil live album was really well mastered IMO, but then there are others that have been talked to death on this forum.

    As long as nobody comments on the mastering, I'm not too crazy to get the reissue.
     
  14. I did get the vinyl release of this anniversary edition. On blue vinyl.

    It sounds quite nice, but I haven't compared it with the AF SACD yet. Nice to have the two extra tracks.
     
    RiRiIII and longdist01 like this.
  15. My first copy of the blue vinyl had some weird matte spots on the 2nd record. The replacement copy was fine. Otherwise, pressing quality is nice. I am happy with it.
     
  16. AFA

    AFA Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Please do let us know if you get a chance to compare it with the AF SACD. Thx
     
  17. I think I like the AF SACD still a bit better overall.
     
    mattright likes this.
  18. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    honesty can get you beat up around here sometimes.........this is not a very good album IMHO.
     
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  19. maui jim

    maui jim Forum Resident

    Location:
    West of LA
    Because....
     
  20. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    it is just very blah, nothing that jumps out of the speakers at me, no blazing dueling guitar parts, it's just there. typical of most eric clapton albums, well played, well sung, well produced, very slick, but meh :shrug:

    and yes i am catalog on clapton.
     
    maui jim, hi_watt, DTK and 1 other person like this.
  21. AFA

    AFA Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    FWIW I really like this album. The 2011 double lp is mentioned on The Absolute Sounds list of the best sounding lp’s. If CB also did the lacquers on this new one then I would expect it to sound awesome as well.
     
  22. shokhead

    shokhead Head shok and you still don't what it is. HA!

    Location:
    SoCal, Long Beach
    Riding with the King was a CD I really wanted to like and didn't.
     
    Bill likes this.
  23. Vinny123

    Vinny123 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    I listened to the DVDA a couple of nights ago. Not really a huge fan of the album, and I love BB and Clapton.
     
    shokhead likes this.
  24. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Yeah I agree. This album is a snoozefest, none of the fire and passion of the best blues music. Why couldn't they just have recorded BB and Eric together live in a room with bass and drums. Guess because of two factors - they were shooting for a commerical success, and, busy schedules (always had the suspicion this album was done via e-mail and that Eric and BB didn't actually play at the same time).
     
    PacificOceanBlue likes this.
  25. saturdayboy

    saturdayboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    I liked the album, and I’m glad they did it. Could it have been better, sure.
     
    RiRiIII, Tim 2 and AFA like this.
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