B.B. King, Eric Clapton – Riding With The King (MoFi, 2xLP, 33RPM)

Hear the Grammy-Winning Album in Exceptional Audiophile Quality: Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g 33RPM 2LP Set Features Two Bonus Tracks and Clear, Detailed Sound

24-bit / 44.1kHz digital master to analog console to lathe (except for tracks 13, 14: 24-bit / 96kHz digital master to analog console to lathe)

Sourced from the original masters, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, mastered by engineer Krieg Wunderlich, housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, and featuring two bonus tracks unavailable on the original versions, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 33RPM 2LP set presents the 2000 album in exceptional audiophile quality. Transparent, clean, and crisp, it showcases the dynamic interplay between the two six-string pioneers with riveting presence and near-visceral physicality. This reissue’s quiet surfaces and black backgrounds reveal deep-seated colors, accents, and textures that go hand-in-hand with the vibrant arrangements.

Winner of the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album, Riding with the King teems with one standout performance after another. And while Clapton definitely earns his co-headliner status, he ensures the effort functions as a major platform for King’s inimitable talents. The elder statesman stamps every track with character, emotion, and an authenticity that traces an unbroken line to the roots of the blues. To state the obvious and use a phrase commonly cited in the genre, he’s the real deal.

King delivers a semi-autobiographical monologue on the title track, stretches his legs with Clapton on an epic read of “Three O’Clock Blues,” swings and sways during “Days of Old,” and gets intimate on a stripped-down take of “Worried Life Blues.” The then-74-year-old is in incredible voice throughout. He growls, the rise and fall of the raw electricity in his singing coming across with hurt and conviction, “Ten Long Years.” He lays into every syllable of “When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer” as if life depends on it, the throaty cries complemented by sharp, pinched guitar fills and tasteful piano accents. And he turns tender on “Come Rain or Come Shine,” the lone track augmented by strings.

A true partnership built on mutual admiration, symbiotic interests, and spontaneous call-and-response musicianship, Riding with the King represents a high-water mark for a pair of giants who made their long-awaited opportunity count. And then some. Enjoy the ride.