I received a Best Buy Gift certificate for Christmas so I looked through the SACD / DVD-Audio section and discovered a new SACD by B.B. King. I love Blues, I have a decent collection, including some box sets; Chess Blues and Atlantic Blues, individual CDs or CD sets by Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins and of course the 4 CD box set; B.B.King - King of the Blues. This is my first SACD by a Blues artist, so I was pretty pleased to bring it home and pop it in.

SACD ONLY Before you read too far, the SACD version of Reflections plays ONLY on an SACD player, it is not a dual layer disc. Reflections is also available on CD. My review shall concentrate on the superior recording and multichannel sound of the SACD. This SACD has two tracks, a Stereo Track and a Surround Track.

What the Album Contains

I've long loved the R&B and pop standards on this package, and now I've finally had the opportunity to record these great songs. Despite everything, it certainly can be a wonderful world. B.B. King. (quote from the back of the SACD) This isn't a collection of Blues songs by B.B. and Lucille (B.B.s beloved guitar, but you knew that if you were reading this review, right?), it is a collection of covers by B.B. King, most of them not really in what I consider the Blues. Is this to say I didn't like it? Absolutely not, to hear the King of the Blues belt out these standards was incredible, especially considering the man is 80! He is, I believe, the last of the legendary blues men to be alive. My favorite Blues artist, John Lee Hooker passed away on June 21st, 2001 and other favorites such as Lighting Hopkins, Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters departed long ago.

The SACD in Multichannel

I first listened to the album in multichannel, because I enjoy being surrounded by the music. The album starts with Exactly Like You. An organ comes in from the left, and it's joined by another from the right. Drums come in center channel, then booming in comes the deep voice of B.B. King. The surround channels just fill out the sound with reflections of the front channels. The sound is very rich and full, and I am amazed at how clear B.B.'s voice sounds after all these years. On the second track On My Word of Honor piano tracks come in left, and the rich mellow sound of Lucille comes in from the right. Each note is so clear, you can just hear it get picked and slowly fade out. B.B. sings with emotion that has obviously not been dulled with age.

I won't go with a track by track description but the other songs contained on the album are:

I Want a Little Girl
I'll String Along with You
I need You So
A Mother's Love
(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
Neighborhood Affair
Tomorrow Night
There I've Said it Again
Always on My Mind
Cross My Heart
What a Wonderful World

B.B. Kings band sounded excellent, and the brass and string sections added to some songs really gave them a full sound. I really enjoyed the way B.B. King's voice sounded so expressive and emotional. The songs are mostly slower ballad type songs, and not the traditional bluesy songs I associate B.B. King with. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the album. I will cover two more songs, because you should recognize them.

B.B. King covers Always On My Mind made famous by Willie Nelson. Heavy pianos begin the song, then B.B. wails out in his deep signature voice Maybe I didn't love you, quite as often as I should have, maybe I didn't treat you, quite as good as I could have, if I made you feel second best, Girl, I'm sorry I was blind, you were always on my mind, you were always on my mind. He plays the song a bit slower than Willie. I enjoyed his rendition of the song, but to be honest, I prefer Willie Nelson's version of the song. I don't know if it's because that's the one that I am used to, or I just like the way Willie sings it. I found Willie Nelson's voice to have a sadder more wistful tone in his voice that makes this song really stick in my mind.

B.B. King closes the album with another classic cover; Louis Armstrong's It's a Wonderful World Although I still like Armstrong's version of this song, B.B. did give this song a lot of emotional impact. I think its partly because B.B. really meant this song when he sang it, because when you've been King of the Blues going on 80 years, well, it is a wonderful world isn't it? On this song, he makes it his own, in a manner only matched by Ray Charles. It was a great song to end the album with.

Stereo Track

I listened to the stereo tracks on both of my home theater systems and I am happy to report that the album also sounds great in stereo, the sound was excellent and the soundstage and imaging were as good as you can get with 2 channels.


The Band Well of course we have B.B. King playing Lucille and on vocals. Joe Sample plays acoustic piano, Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes. Nathan East is on Bass; Abe Laboriel Jr. is on drums; Doyle Bramhall II is on guitar and Tim Carmon plays the hammond B3 and acoustic piano.
Toby Baker also plays the Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer. You can read who played what track by track when you buy the SACD. Many songs also feature a strings and brass section. The album was recorded Olympic Studios, London UK.

Test Equipment Both mixes were listened to on a Pioneer 47A Universal Player, Denon AVR-1905 Surround Sound Receiver, and Cambridge Soundworks Speakers and further evaluated using a Pioneer 45A Universal Player, Yamaha 5280 Receiver, Rotel RB 991 (200 w/ch) power amplifier for the front channels; a pair of Polk Audio Monitor 70s and the Yamaha Receiver (100 w/ch) for the Polk Audio Csi40 Center, Polk Audio R20s for left and right surround channels. The subwoofer I use is a Velodyne SPL 1000 series II (1000 watts RMS/2000 watt peak) with cross over set at 80 Hz.

Summary If you are a blues fan, you owe it to yourself to go out and get this beautiful album. B.B. King sounds excellent.

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Waking up