Album: Live in Cook County Jail
Artist: B.B King
Release Date: January 1971
Genre: Blues
Length: 0:38:47
Label: ABC Records
Producer: Bill Szymczyk
Rolling Stone Top 500 (2012): #499
Rolling Stone Top 500 (2020): N/A
Blues, B.B and Prison...Oh My!
Live in Cook County Jail is exactly what the title of the album says. Blues legend B.B King performs to a little over 2,000 prisoners at Cook County Jail located in Chicago, Illinois. Jail warden, Winston Moore, attended a performance by King in 1970 and was so impressed, he invited King to perform at the prison. King, already having much success in his career decided to do the performance but not for money, but rather simply to give the prisoners a sense of hope. King informed ABC Records about the request to perform and ABC, deciding to capitalize on the performance, encouraged B.B King to bring press and recording equipment. And thus...the album was born. Live in Cook County Jail peaked on Billboard Top LPs chart at #25 and peaked #1 on the Top R&B chart. The positive reception of this album also exposed the conditions the prisoners were dealing with which ultimately led to an overall reform of the prison system in Cook County. This was also the first time King performed at a prison in his career which he eventually became famous for and helped establish the Foundation for the Advancement of Inmate Rehabilitation and Recreation.
Starting off with "Introduction", this 'song' (or technically an introduction to the prisoners), opens the album and gives the listener an idea as to what the prisoners' living conditions were on a daily basis. The track is just under two minutes and in that length of time you hear two different names of players within the prison system at Cook County Jail, Sheriff Woods and Judge Joseph Power, which were followed by an overwhelming amount of "boos". After the intros, B.B King and his band ignite the crowd with a high-energy song in "Every Day I Have The Blues". By far the most energetic song on the album, this song heavily showcases each member of King's band shining the brightest they can. Ron Levy (piano), John Browning (trumpet), Louis Hubert (tenor sax), Brooke Walker (alto sax), Wilbert Freeman (bass guitar), and Sonny Freeman (drums) continue throughout the record to accompany King's seductive guitar playing and his raspy, yet tender, voice. Progressively, throughout the album, you hear the band start to become more mellow and King delves more into his slower songs. Ending the entire set with "Please Accept My Love", King gave the inmates a performance that was sure to let them escape from the mundane prison life, even if for only 38 minutes.
Live albums are usually hit or miss for me. There are some fantastic live albums such as Nirvana's Unplugged and then there are some atrocious abominations that are enough to make someone's ears bleed like The Beatles Live At The Hollywood Bowl. Granted, the live album by The Beatles is only bad because the sound of girls screaming constantly overpowers any sound produced by the group. Live In Cook County Jail falls into the fantastic live album category for me. Something about the moment the prisoners start booing the Sheriff and Judge, all the way until the lady that introduced King and the band in "Introduction" says "he'll be back another time..." at the end of "Please Accept my Love" captures my attention the entire time. The recording quality sounds almost better than some studio albums released around the same time, which is insane for a live album, let alone a live album set in a prison. The album does show its date in other places such as King's speech in the middle of "Worry, Worry, Worry" about female/male relationships. Listening to this album currently, you question some of the philosophies on relationships King has, but keep in mind this was recorded late 1970. I don't think one song with some slightly questionable comments about males and females makes this album any worse. Nothing can make a King look bad, especially when executed as beautifully as this album.
Favorite Song: "Every Day I Have The Blues" Least Favorite Song: I don't personally think there are any bad songs on this record and I don't want to fill this in just to fill it in. Production Quality:
Mix = 10/10
Innovation = 9/10
Songwriting Quality:
Arrangement = 9/10
Lyricism = 6/10
Instrumentation Quality:
Vocal Timbre = 10/10
Instrumental Timbre = 10/10
Group Chemistry = 10/10
Overall Likability:
My Personal Rating = 9/10
Overall Rating: 9.2/10
Any confusion on how the rating is weighted/calculated, please look at the "About" page.
Remember this is all my opinion! Let me know if you agree, disagree or have any comments!