Talkin' Blues
...one of King's strengths has always been the slow burn, and there are a few on this album that really fit the bill. "The Very Thought of You" careens between Otis Redding soul and King's standard blues jam, while the eleven-minute Please Come Back to Me is an over-the-top, epic elegy for a lost love, filled with King's left-handed dexterity. Blues at Sunrise is a simmering, sweaty classic; King even relays the song's backstory- one that name drops the underrated Buddy Miles and the well-known Janis Joplin while he's playing it.And it's that historical bent that makes "Talkin' Blues" a collector's item. Hearing King play is one thing, but hearing him talk about the musical form that he spent all of his life honing, perfecting, and disseminating is what really makes this disc worth the dough. While many of today's acts talk about the hard road to success, King's insights into the genre's neglected past and uncertain future really put everything into perspective. And this piece might be preaching to the converted- what are the chances that anyone but blues fans will be reading an article on Albert King, after all? But, as King explains in Talkin' Blues, the effort is worth it. I'm just as far from being rich as you are, he says, but we manage to pay Uncle Sam. And that's all we worry about. --Popmatters