Two guitar legends - Eric Clapton and B.B. King - first performed together in NYC in 1967. Over 30 years later, in 1999, the two longtime friends joined forces to create a collection of all new studio recordings of blues classics and contemporary songs. The resulting album Riding with the King would be released in June 2000 and go onto sell over 2 million copies and win the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary, the album will be expanded and remastered and released in June 2020. Two additional previously unreleased tracks have been added to the album: The blues standard “Rollin’ & Tumblin’” and a cover of Willie Dixon’s “Let Me Love You Baby”. Both tracks were recorded during the original sessions and were mixed specially for this release.
The album features five Dixon originals, plus a selection of covers from writers as diverse as Isaac Hayes (“Hold On I’m Coming”), Johnny Mercer (“Come Rain Or Come Shine”) and “Big” Bill Broonzy (“Key To The Highway”). John Hiatt wrote the album’s title track.
The album features an all-star line-up of musicians: Andy Fairweather Low, Steve Gadd, Nathan East, Joe Sample, Doyle Bramhall II, Susannah and Wendy Melvoin, and Jim Keltner. Arif Martin contributed string arrangements and orchestration to two tracks.