B.B. King Covers Elvis, Nat King Cole And More On New Album

06/02/2003 1:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
LAUNCH Radio Networks

(6/2/03, 1 p.m. ET) -- Veteran bluesman B.B. King covers songs originally recorded by Elvis Presley, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole and Sam Cooke on his new CD, titled Reflections, which will be released on June 10. On Reflections, King puts his unique musical stamp on well-known pop, jazz, and country tunes in addition to some blues numbers.

Among the songs on the new set are "What A Wonderful World," most associated with Armstrong; "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons," which was a hit for both Cole and Sam Cooke; "Always On My Mind," which was a hit for Elvis and Willie Nelson; and "There I've Said It Again," recorded by both Cole and Bobby Vinton.

King also covers himself, doing up-dated versions of his 1950s recording "On My Word Of Honor" and "Neighborhood Affair," a tune he co-wrote in the 1970s.

The 13-track album is produced by Simon Climie, who produced Riding With The King, the Grammy-winning collaboration between King and guitarist Eric Clapton.

King will join Clapton, Ray Charles, jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, and others on Monday (June 2) in New York for the Blowin' The Blues Away fundraising show at the Apollo Theater. The concert will benefit the many music and education programs organized by Jazz At Lincoln Center.

As previously reported, King will embark on his annual B.B. King Music Festival tour on July 25th on the West Coast. The tour will also feature Jeff Beck and bands Galactic and Mofro. Dates will be announced later.

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