2 LPs on 1 CD: SINGIN' THE BLUES (1957)/THE BLUES (1958).

SINGIN' THE BLUES was originally released on Crown (LP 5020), THE BLUES on Crown (LP 5063).

Includes liner notes by Cy Schneider.

SINGIN' THE BLUES/THE BLUES are B.B. King's first two original Crown albums on 1 CD.

B.B. King is an American original. His signature sound is as unmistakable as that of Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra or a thunder storm coming down hard on Beale street. This reissue of B.B.'s first two records is a King-size treat. While sometimes he's still experimenting here with the tone that would eventually define his guitar sound and become his alone, his attack on the instrument is already peppered with the boxer's short, snapping jabs and rapid fire combinations.

King's vocals are exciting, playful and soulful; the horns are jumpin' and the piano honky tonks that thang all the way home. A number of the songs contained on these first recordings went on to become B.B. King classics, performed and re-recorded down through the years, but here are the first fresh, hot-from-the-oven versions of such tunes as "Did You Ever Love A Woman," "Every Day I Have The Blues" and "Sweet Little Angel." This is home cookin' and these are the original recipes.