
Once upon a time, performers used to visit prisons and put on a concert for the inmates. One of the best and well known of these events can be found on Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1969). Cash sings a few of his hits–“I Walk the Line” and “A Boy Named Sue”–along with some other crowd pleasers. The biggest cheer comes when Cash sings “Folsom Prison Blues” with the line “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die”. This is a classic album and still holds up 50+ years later. GRADE: A
B. B. King at San Quentin (1990) has a different vibe. King projects a calming influence to the audience and mixes blues with some uplifting songs. I suppose the inmates at San Quentin might interpret “The Thrill is Gone” a little differently than you and I would.
I have a number of B. B. King CDs and B. B. King at San Quentin features King at the top of his game. GRADE: A
TRACK LIST:
Wanted Man | 4:02 | ||
Wreck Of The Old 97 | 3:19 | ||
I Walk The Line | 2:14 | ||
Darling Companion | 7:08 | ||
Starkville City Jail | 2:06 | ||
San Quentin | 4:08 | ||
San Quentin | 3:05 | ||
A Boy Named Sue | 3:50 | ||
(There’ll Be) Peace In The Valley | 2:37 | ||
Folsom Prison Blues | 1:32 |

TRACK LIST:
A1 | B.B. King Intro Written-By – B.B. King | 1:56 | |
A2 | Let The Good Times Roll Written-By – F. Moore*, S. Theard | 5:08 | |
A3 | Every Day I Have The Blues Written-By – Peter Chatman | 4:42 | |
A4 | Whole Lotta Loving Written-By – Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino | 3:26 | |
A5 | Sweet Little Angel Written-By – B.B. King, J. Taub | 3:12 | |
A6 | Never Make A Move Too Soon Written-By – Stix Hooper*, Will Jennings | 7:51 | |
A7 | Into The Night Written-By – Ira Newborn | 4:28 | |
B1 | Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness Written-By – Everett Robbins, Porter Grainger | 5:00 | |
B2 | The Thrill Is Gone Written-By – R. Darnell*, R. Hawkins | 6:28 | |
B3 | Peace To The World Written-By – Trade Martin | 3:52 | |
B4 | Nobody Loves Me But My Mother Written-By – B.B. King | 11:10 | |
B5 | Sweet Sixteen Written-By – B.B. King, Joe Josea | 3:29 | |
B6 | Rock Me Baby Written-By – B.B. King, Joe Josea | 3:25 |