Love Me Tender
Studio album by
Released1982
GenreBlues
LabelMCA
ProducerStewart 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]

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[10]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[11]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[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 (17 June 1983). "B.B. King: Grateful for the Accolades". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E33.
  3. "Soul Brothers Top 20 Albums". Jet. Vol. 62, no. 26. Sep 6, 1982. p. 63.
  4. "Exclusive: Watch Two B.B. King Tracks From 'ACL' Vault". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 July 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 (8 May 1982). "Love Me Tender B.B. King". The Globe and Mail. p. F6.
  9. Lioce, Tony (8 Jan 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 | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". 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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