Back in 2015, shortly before his death, I spent a weekend going back through B.B. King's back catalog.
It was during one of my visits to YouTube that I found a video of him performing at Sing Sing, New York State’s maximum-security prison.
The show took place on Thanksgiving Day 1972 and featured B.B., Joan Baez, Mimi Farina, the Voices of East Harlem vocal ensemble, and comedian Jimmy Walker, who was then a stand-up and had not yet found fame on the TV series Good Times.
Titled Sing Sing Thanksgiving, director David Hoffman's concert film is available on DVD.
Hoffman says the legendary bluesman called this “the best recording of his music he had heard”, and judging by the video below, it’s easy to see why.
In this clip, the legendary bluesman turns in a stunningly impassioned performance of “How Blue Can You Get,” full of soul, humor, and his fantastic guitar work.
B.B. had originally recorded the song as “Downhearted” for his 1963 album, Blues in My Heart.
Soon after he remade it as “How Blue Can You Get,” it was released as a single in 1964.
From then on, it became a staple in his live set.
Browse the B.B. King catalog here.
The Black Friday deals are reaching fever pitch, with Sweetwater offering up to 80% off big-name guitar brands - including $900 off a PRS!
"The luthier said, 'I've never seen one that had this penciling inside. It's a ground-zero Jazzmaster.’ ” Thurston Moore was gifted a vintage axe when Sonic Youth's gear was stolen. He had no idea how rare it was
