music

B B King. Things've come full cycle for the King of the Blues. He was a highlight of Newport-New England, finally reaping the musical benefits of his gradual rise to fame: he had a band that fit his talents. Which is nothing against the old Sonny Freeman and the Unusuals, because in the old days (like at the Regal), they just cooked. It's just that now B B has a band that's not only good, but it's big five horns, and piano augmenting the standard rhythm section with a rhythm guitarist as icing. Upshot? I've never heard him any better, and I've heard that repertoire numberless times. But if you listen closely, you can hear B B playing the same hybrid licks that Clapton and Bloomfield developed, and used to make themselves famous, with just enough humility left over to remember to mention where they heard the originals. It's clear that B B does his homework; there's just as much hybridized rock in his playing as blues, and since his licks were the foundation for most rock and roll guitar ... well, it's like recycling aluminum cans.

Leon Russell. The Master of Space and Time has fallen on hard critical times. It's just that his brand of severely limited, gospel styled rock and roll only works in certain contexts. It was fine with Joe Cocker and forty other women, kids and dogs, but once Delaney and Bonnie got divorced, it all began to go a little flat. None of which has stopped Leon from accumulating large sums of money, and putting Tulsa back on the map as freak capital of the world, it just hasn't done much for him artistically. In fact, everything Leon touches lately has stagnated immediately. Meaning: heard much outta Cocker lately? Or, watched Freddy King nosedive from a respectable second echelon bluesman to a very low grade musical puppet? Didn't think so. And critics have taken a dim view of his $10 three-record live album )little of which I've heard, but I can't say much for the prospect of 90 odd minutes of bad gospel rock.) Well, the judgment seems a little harsh now, and I'm not trying to kick him while he's down. It's just that his kind of music came, but, more importantly, it went. I know that, why doesn't he? At any rate, come early and bring a blanket.

Note bennie: Tom Rush is down from New Hampshire's hills for his thrice annually concert and rave-up, this time with a new band. He's still singing other people's songs though. Go see him, he needs the work. If you saw and loved the Pointer Sisters, you may want to know that the Coop is sold out of their album.

B B King. August 13 and 15 at Suffolk Downs, for Summerthing. Tickets are $3. Leon Russell. August 13, Schaefer Stadium. Tickets are $5 now, but $6 at the gate.