A tribute to the late king of soul, Ray Charles, featuring performances by contemporary artists including Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Al Green and Mary J. Blige.

B. B. King has the blues running through his blood.

Growing up in the rural poverty of the Mississippi Delta, King first experienced the blues at nine years old, when his mother passed away. The man of the house before the end of his first decade, he used this strife as a source of inspiration and launched one of the most celebrated musical careers in American history.

King has led a remarkable life, and this riveting autobiography dramatizes his whirlwind adventures from the Memphis of the forties to the Moscow of the nineties with unflinching candor and sincerity. But most of all, B.B.'s story is the story of the blues--the evolution from country acoustic to urban electric, the birth and explosion of rock 'n' roll--and B.B.'s own long, but ultimately triumphant, struggle for crossover success, during which he remained unwaveringly true to the music of his heart.

(Guitar Play-Along). The Guitar Play-Along series will help you play your favorites songs quickly and easily. Just follow the tab, listen to the CD to hear how the guitar should sound, and then play along using the separate, sound-alike backing tracks Melody and lyrics are also included in case you want to sing, or to simply help you follow along. The CD is playable on any CD player, and is also enhanced so Mac and PC users can adjust the recording to any tempo without changing the pitch Songs: Just like a Woman * Paying the Cost to Be the Boss * Please Accept My Love * Rock Me Baby * Sweet Little Angel * Sweet Sixteen * Why I Sing the Blues * You Upset Me Baby.

In this first-ever collaboration, Slowhand meets Lucille to jam on 12 tunes. Features note-for-note transcriptions of King classics, blues standards and new songs, including: Come Rain or Come Shine * Days of Old * Help the Poor * Hold On I'm Coming * I Wanna Be * Key to the Highway * Marry You * Riding with the King * Ten Long Years * Three O'Clock Blues * When My Heart Beats like a Hammer * Worried Life Blues.

The most significant factor in the career of Aaron ""T-Bone"" Walker was his ability to bridge the worlds of blues and jazz. The guitar artistry of this early exponent of urban blues was not only admired by blues musicians like B.B. King, Gatemouth Brown, Albert King, and Albert Collins, and rock guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, but by such jazz greats as Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, and many others with whom he recorded. Stormy Monday is the first biography of T-Bone Walker to be published. Using dozens of interviews with Walker, as well as with members of his family, close friends, fellow musicians, and business associates, the book offers a remarkable frank insider's account of the life of a blues musician and compulsive gambler, from the wild living and hard drinking on the road to a solid and contented family life at home. ""In a very real sense the modern blues is largely his creation."" blues authority Pete Welding has written about T-Bone Walker. ""The blues was different before he came on the scene, and it hasn't been the same since, and few men can lay claim to that kind of distinction. No one has contributed as much, as long, or as variously to the blues.

Willie Nelson, Joe Ely, Marcia Ball, Tish Hinojosa, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lyle Lovett...the list of popular songwriters from Texas just goes on and on. In this collection of thirty-four interviews with these and other songwriters, Kathleen Hudson pursues the stories behind the songs, letting the singers' own words describe where their songs come from and how the diverse, eclectic cultures, landscapes, and musical traditions of Texas inspire the creative process.

Conducted in dance halls, dressing rooms, parking lots, clubs-wherever the musicians could take time to tell their stories-the interviews are refreshingly spontaneous and vivid. Hudson draws out the songwriters on such topics as the sources of their songs, the influence of other musicians on their work, the progress of their careers, and the nature of Texas music. Many common threads emerge from these stories, while the uniqueness of each songwriter becomes equally apparent. To round out the collection, Hudson interviews Larry McMurtry and Darrell Royal for their perspectives as longtime friends and fans of Texas musicians. She also includes a brief biography and discography of each songwriter.

Import exclusive compilation for the enduring blues legend.

Out of print in the U.S.! Recorded in the Land of the Rising Sun over three decades ago, this 1971 concert is still as exciting and exhilarating after all these years. 13 tracks including 'The Thrill Is Gone', 'Sweet Sixteen', 'Every Day I Have The Blues' and many more. Universal.