B.B. King & Eric Clapton - Help the Poor
In university, I hit a phase where I delved into blues with both feet. Finding greatest hits compilations for legends like Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Etta James, and many more, I ate through CD's finding songs that I could get excited about. Wading through hundreds of songs, I found that I didn’t care for the vast majority of them but inevitably had my own favourite hand picked gems. One song that always seems to be my go-to for blues music is a collaboration between legends B.B. King and Eric Clapton. Together, they released the 2000 album 'Riding with the King' with the track ‘Help the Poor’.
Originally released in the 1960s by B.B. King, 'Help the Poor' is a song written by Charles Singleton, a prolific writer for artists like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. For me, 'Help the Poor' has everything that I tend to gravitate to when it comes to blues music. Instead of being stereotypically slow and sleepy, the song has an upbeat swingy tempo. Incredible guitar solos from two of the biggest blues legends don’t compete against each other, but instead roll off of each other to enhance the song. With catchy riffs and a great chorus hook, ‘Help the Poor’ is a go-to song that I’d recommend to anyone breaking into the blues genre.