Completely Well
was
B.B. King
's breakthrough album in 1969, which finally got him the long-deserved acclaim that was no less than his due. It contained his signature number,
"The Thrill Is Gone,"
and eight other tunes, six of them emanating from
King
's pen, usually in a co-writing situation. Hardliners point to the horn charts and the overdubbed strings as the beginning of the end of
's old style that so identifiably earmarked his early sides for
the Bihari Brothers
and his later tracks for
ABC
, but this is truly the album that made the world sit up and take notice of
. The plus points include loose arrangements and a small combo behind him that never dwarfs the proceedings or gets in the way.
, for his part, sounds like he's having a ball, playing and singing at peak power. This is certainly not the place to start your
collection, but it's a nice stop along the way before you finish it. ~ Cub Koda