Love Me Tender (B. B. King album)

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Love Me Tender
Love Me Tender (B.B. King album).webp
Studio album by
B.B. King
Released1982
Studio Music City Music Hall (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre Blues
Label MCA
Producer Stewart Levine
B.B. King chronology
There Must Be a Better World Somewhere
(1981)		Love Me Tender
(1982)		 Blues 'N' Jazz
(1983)

Love Me Tender is a studio album by the American blues musician B.B. King. [1] [2] It was released via MCA Records in 1982. [3] King supported the album by appearing on Austin City Limits . [4]

Contents

The album peaked at No. 179 on the Billboard 200. [5]

Production

Produced by Stewart Levine, the album was recorded in Nashville. [6] [7] The Muscle Shoals Horns appear on some tracks. [8] "Love Me Tender" is a cover of the song made famous by Elvis Presley; King was Presley's favorite blues musician. [9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]

The New York Times panned the first side of Love Me Tender, calling it "bland, countrypolitan elevator music," but thought more highly of side two's "first-rate after-hours blues." [7] The Globe and Mail wrote that "the singing is lugubrious, the playing is by rote, and the sound is so lush that King can barely be heard above it." [8]

AllMusic called the album an "extremely ill-advised foray into mushy Nashville cornpone." [10] The Rolling Stone Album Guide considered it a return to the "gentle sound" of Midnight Believer . [13]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."One of Those Nights"4:58
2."Love Me Tender"3:28
3."Don't Change on Me"4:35
4."(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time"2:52
5."You've Always Got the Blues"4:57
6."Nightlife / Please Send Me Someone to Love"4:30
7."You and Me, Me and You"3:05
8."Since I Met You Baby"4:30
9."Time Is a Thief"5:26
10."A World I Never Made"5:13

References

  1. ↑ "B.B. King | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  2. ↑ Lloyd, Jack (June 17, 1983). "B.B. King: Grateful for the Accolades". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E33.
  3. ↑ "Soul Brothers Top 20 Albums". Jet. Vol. 62, no. 26. September 6, 1982. p. 63.
  4. ↑ "Exclusive: Watch Two B.B. King Tracks From 'ACL' Vault". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  5. ↑ "B.B. King". Billboard.
  6. ↑ McGee, David (2005). B.B. King: There is Always One More Time. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 233.
  7. 1 2 Palmer, Robert (July 4, 1982). "The Blues Are Still a Living Tradition". The New York Times.
  8. 1 2 Lacey, Liam (May 8, 1982). "Love Me Tender B.B. King". The Globe and Mail. p. F6.
  9. ↑ Lioce, Tony (January 8, 1984). "TV room, above with mirrored ceiling and walls, is a highlight of a Graceland tour". The Providence Journal. p. H1.
  10. 1 2 "Love Me Tender B.B. King". AllMusic .
  11. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 843.
  12. ↑ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 631.
  13. 1 2 The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 395–396.
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