| Midnight Believer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1978 | |||
| Genre | Blues | |||
| Length | 33:19 | |||
| Label | ABC Records | |||
| Producer | Stewart Levine | |||
| B. B. King chronology | ||||
| ||||
Midnight Believer is an album by the American musician B.B. King, released in 1978 on ABC Records. [1] The album reached No. 27 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart. [2] [3]
Midnight Believer was produced by Stewart Levine. Artists including Roland Bautista and the Crusaders appeared on the album. [3]
A song from the album called "Never Make A Move Too Soon" reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart. [4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B [6] |
| The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [7] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [8] |
The Bay State Banner wrote that "the music he relies on is updated, synthesized, stringed mood ring music that's so today it stings; but King finds a way to act cool, undoing thirty years of gospel blues." [9] In 2006, the Liverpool Echo said that, "backed by the jazz-funk of the Crusaders, [King] became an alchemist and turned the beautifully-crafted songs of Will Jennings into blues nuggets with the most heartfelt singing." [10]
All tracks by Will Jennings and Joe Sample, except where noted.
Wilbur H. Jennings is an American lyricist. He is popularly known for writing the lyrics for the songs "Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On". He has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and has won several awards including three Grammy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Academy Awards.
The Crusaders were an American jazz/jazz fusion group performing from the 1960s to the 2010s. The group was known as the Jazz Crusaders from their formation in 1960 until shortening their name in 1971. The Crusaders played a wide assortment of genres, including straight ahead jazz, urban R&B, R&B-based jazz, and the blues. The band reached a commercial apex in 1979 with their hit single "Street Life", featuring lead vocals by Randy Crawford, and their accompanying album of the same name.
The Belle Album is the 12th studio album by soul musician Al Green. It is his first album recorded without longtime producer Willie Mitchell, owner of Green's former label, Hi Records. With Mitchell and his label Green also abandoned the famed Hi Rhythm Section, which had previously played a large part in defining Green's distinctive musical style. This also marks the first instance in which Green plays lead guitar on his records.
Joseph Leslie Sample was an American jazz keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, after which its name was shortened to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained a part of the group until its final album in 1991, and also the 2003 reunion album Rural Renewal.
Roland Bautista was an American guitarist. He was best known for his work with Earth, Wind & Fire. He also worked with such artists as Ronnie Laws, The Crusaders, George Duke and Randy Crawford.
Street Life is a studio album by the American jazz band the Crusaders. It was a top 20 album on three Billboard charts and represents the peak of the band's commercial popularity. The title track, featuring singer Randy Crawford, was a Top 40 pop single and became the group's most successful entry on the soul chart. It was No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. "Street Life" also hit the disco chart, peaking at No. 75, and was re-recorded by Doc Severinsen with Crawford reprising her vocal for the opening sequence of the noir crime drama Sharky's Machine, directed by Burt Reynolds in 1981. This faster paced version was also featured in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, released in 1997.
Live in Cook County Jail is a 1971 live album by American blues musician B.B. King, recorded on September 10, 1970, in Cook County Jail in Chicago. Agreeing to a request by jail warden Winston Moore, King and his band performed for an audience of 2,117 prisoners, most of whom were young black men. King's set list consisted mostly of slow blues songs, which had been hits earlier in his career. When King told ABC Records about the upcoming performance, he was advised to bring along press and recording equipment.
Nesbert "Stix" Hooper is an American drummer and founding member of The Crusaders.
Live at San Quentin is a 1990 live album by blues guitarist B.B. King performed at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, California.
Take It Home is a studio album by the American musician B.B. King, released in 1979.
L.A. Midnight is the twentieth studio electric blues album by B.B. King released in 1972. It features two extended guitar jams with fellow guitarists Jesse Ed Davis and Joe Walsh. It also features Taj Mahal on harmonica and guitar.. "Can't You Hear Me Talking To You" also features Davis on guitar.
Now Appearing at Ole Miss is a live album by B. B. King, recorded in 1979 and released as a double album on MCA Records in 1980. The live recordings were augmented with overdubs, most notably with percussion instruments. This has been criticized by reviewers as making the album stale, and it is widely regarded as B.B. King's weakest 'live' album. One notable feature, is that the album contains the first use of the bass style of playing known as "slap" by Russell Jackson, who would go on to play in the posthumous "B.B. King Experience Band" with another B.B. King band veteran James "Boogaloo" Bolden.
Standing Tall is an album by the jazz group the Crusaders, their third studio album with MCA Records. It features singer Joe Cocker as guest artist on two tracks: the 1981 Grammy-nominated song "I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today" and "This Old World's Too Funky for Me".
Those Southern Knights is a 1976 studio album by The Crusaders. It peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, as well as number 9 on the Soul LPs chart and number 2 on the Top Jazz LPs chart.
Royal Jam is a live recording by the jazz-funk band The Crusaders with B.B. King, Josie James and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It was recorded at London's Royal Festival Hall.
Arthur Adams is an American blues guitarist from Medon, Tennessee. Inspired by B.B. King and other 1950s artists, he played gospel music before attending college. He moved to Los Angeles, and during the 1960s and 1970s he released solo albums and worked as a session musician. In 1985 he was tapped to tour on bass guitar with Nina Simone, and he staged a comeback in the 1990s when he released Back on Track, and became a respected Chicago blues player and bandleader in B.B. King's clubs.
Southern Comfort is a 1974 album by jazz fusion band The Crusaders.
Now We May Begin is an album by the American R&B singer Randy Crawford, released in 1980 on Warner Bros. Records. The album got to No. 10 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 30 on the US Billboard Top R&B Albums chart. Now We May Begin has also been certified Silver in the UK by the BPI.
Free as the Wind is a studio album by The Crusaders issued in December 1976 on MCA Records. The album rose to No. 8 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart.
Love Me Tender is a studio album by the American blues musician B.B. King. It was released via MCA Records in 1982. King supported the album by appearing on Austin City Limits.
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