Track Listing

1. Every Day I Have The Blues
2. Sweet Little Angel
3. It's My Own Fault
4. How Blue Can You Get?
5. Please Love Me
6. You Upset Me Baby
7. Worry, Worry
8. Woke Up This Mornin'
9. You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now
10. Help The Poor

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4669 in Music
• Released on: 1997-07-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live

Amazon.com essential recording
Heralded as one of the greatest live blues albums ever recorded, this set catches the singer-guitarist as his star was in ascent: in 1964 playing Chicago's answer to Harlem's Apollo Theater--the Regal. King's performance is visceral. He sings so hard that gravel flies even in his clearest high notes. And his trademark single-note guitar lines are sharp and steely, matching his voice with trembling vigor. He offers early hits like "How Blue Can You Get," "Worry, Worry," and "You Upset Me Baby" to what's essentially his adopted hometown crowd (by his own account, King had already played the theater hundreds of times). They give him a hero's welcome. In fact, the audience's screaming enthusiasm is distracting. But rarely has a love-fest of this magnitude between a performer and fans been documented. --Ted Drozdowski

From Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD
Midway through the show at Chicago's Regal Theatre on November 21, 1964, the foremost blues guitarist articulates a series of patented licks with all the conviction of a hellfire preacher espousing the word. Someone in the audience cries out, "That's B. B. all right I" Damn straight. That November evening belonged to the former Memphis disc jockey all the way, for his masterfully nuanced singing, for his warm, sparkling guitar tones, and for those galloping single-note runs; for his refashioning of old hits and standards; for his exhilarated sextet. Note: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's digital mastering technique provides better sound than what's encountered on -- © Frank John Hadley 1993

Customer Reviews

Live At The Regal
B.B. King-Live At The Regal *****

Recorded live at the Regal in Chicago in 1964 this went on to become what is now widely considered the all time greatest live blues album. This is rightly deserved as this is in fact the greatest live blues album of all time.

King's single note guitar lines are crisp as ever, and his vocals are beyond comparison. Aside from being obviously his best live recording, Live At The Regal is the best recording of King period. This is with out a doubt the best version of 'Sweet Little Angel' ever released. The essential version is more correct. 'Every Day I Have The Blues' and 'Its My Own Fault' are among some of the most inspired performances ever caught on tape. The albums closer 'Help The Poor' is just gut-wrenching. Pure bliss!

This performance is pure electric. With every passing listen to Live At The Regal I still get chills all down my spine, and if you ask me that is the mark of a fantastic album after all these years and listens.

The KIng at his best
As a Memphis native, I have heard B.B. on many occasions. Never have I seen or hear him play with the same passion he did here in 1964. The quality of the recording is outstanding, with Lucille giving the center-stage on many occasions. The clarity and quality is amazing for a forty year old recording. This is the live B.B. King recording to buy. The Cook County Jail performance from 1971 is a close second, but the quality is not nearly as good.

b.b. king at the top of his form.
recorded live at the regal theatre, chicago in 1964, this is generally considered b.b. king's best album, and deservedly so. this is simply one of the great urban blues albums of all-time. b.b.'s singing is as powerful and nuanced on this recording as it was ever to be, before or after. his guitar playing is at a peak of expressive beauty here, far more tasteful and beyond the technic, at this point, of what any rock and roll guitarist was yet capable of. yes, the rock and rollers would improve greatly in time, but this was 1964, and King was the undisputed guitar king. a fine horn section, it should be mentioned, also graces the album. the whole affair is magical. a great night in recording history.