Personnel includes: B.B. King (vocals, guitar); Maxwell Davis (tenor saxophone).

Includes liner notes by Malcolm Jones.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

A collection of 50's recordings originally released on the Flair, Modern and RPM labels, including King's signature tune, "Every Day (I Have The Blues)".

There's nothing nostalgic about this retrospective. B.B. King always played for keeps, and on this collection you can hear not only early B.B. King, but also the influence he spread far and wide, from Van Morrison to Stevie Ray Vaughn. These tunes all brim with life. The horn section is stokin' and smokin'; King's guitar is jagged and pointed right at the heart of the matter; and his vocals sizzle, moan, cajole and downright testify. BEST OF VOL 1 contains "Every Day I Have The Blues," "Sweet Little Angel," "Dust My Broom," "Aint That Just Like A Woman" and all those songs that so perfectly conjure up the smokey blue midnight hours where a deep lonesome ache can make you drunker than whiskey and crazy as moonlight. This is where the blues get dangerous.

Entertainment Weekly (11/15/91) - "...a wealth of stand-and-holler classics - all spiced by King's needle-sharp guitar...This is the REAL DEAL..." - Rating: A+

Down Beat (1/92, p.36) - 5 Stars - Excellent - "..superb guitar playing: thick, syrupy, single-string runs on the slow blues and stinging jabs and blazing riffs on the rousing boogies.."