Live & Well [Cardboard Sleeve (mini LP)] [SHM-CD] [Limited Release]

Live & Well is a 1969 album by B. B. King, consisting of five tracks recorded "Live" at the Village Gate in New York City, and five additional studio tracks. Explaining the album's title, producer Bill Szymczyk wrote in the liner notes, "We got together, what I consider to be, some of the best young blues musicians in the country and locked ourselves in 'The Hit Factory' for two nights. The results of those two nights are the "well" side of this album." Although Live & Well wasn't a landmark album in the sense of Live at the Regal, it was a significant commercial breakthrough for King, as it was the first of his LPs to enter the Top 100. That may have been because recognition from rock stars such as Eric Clapton had finally boosted his exposure to the White pop audience, but it was a worthy recording on its own merits, divided evenly between live and studio material. King's always recorded well as a live act, and it's the concert tracks that shine brightest, although the studio ones (cut with assistance from studio musicians like Al Kooper and Hugh McCracken) aren't bad. 01."Don't Answer the Door" (Jimmy Johnson) - 6:14 02."Just a Little Love" - 5:18 03."My Mood" - 2:39 04."Sweet Little Angel" (King, Jules Taub) - 5:03 05."Please Accept My Love" (King, Sam Ling) - 3:14 06."I Want You So Bad" - 4:15 07."Friends" (King, Bill Szymczyk) - 5:37 08."Get Off My Back, Woman" (King, Ferdinand Washington) - 3:16 09."Let's Get Down to Business" - 3:36 10"Why I Sing the Blues" (Dave Clark, King) - 8:36