If you want a good night out, you could do a lot worse than Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings and their tasty diet of blues and R&B classics. Inevitably, the formula translates less well on record, but Wyman has the good sense not to be a bass player with delusions of grandeur. He sings on just two of the 15 tracks, mostly leaving the vocals to Georgie Fame, Beverley Skeete and others. Covers of songs by Ray Charles, Sam & Dave and Johnny “Guitar” Wilson are well chosen. “Disappearing Nightly” has a nice JJ Cale vibe and some great guitar by Albert Lee, while “Down Home Girl”, which the Stones did in the early days, is given a potent Bobby Charles-style arrangement.
Hardly essential, but rather enjoyable nonetheless.
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