LISTEN: B.B. King’s “Philadelphia” With TSOP

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Legendary blues man B.B. King passed away this morning at the age of 89. You’ll find moving profiles on him all around the web, including this one from The New York Times, which chronicles his life “from the cotton fields of Mississippi” through a career as one of the defining voices and guitarists in the history of recorded music. He was an original crossover artist, “marrying country blues to big-city rhythms” and eventually making his way to Philadelphia to tinker with TSOP with producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. King worked with them in 1974 on an album called Friends. That’s where I’ll leave you today, with with a catchy instrumental track from the album called “Philadelphia,” a nice blend of King’s wailing guitar and the unmistakeable funk of TSOP. R.I.P.