Amazon.com essential recordingB.B. King is the most influential guitarist in the instrument's electric history. His string-bending, vibrato, and phrasing are the raw material that players as diverse as Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour have spun into their own epic solos. This CD draws on King's '60s efforts for the defunct Kent label, tapping rarely heard instrumental tracks to present a crash course in his unique fusion of country blues, the single-string soloing perfected by Lonnie Johnson, and the swinging phrasing of jazz guitar pioneers like Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt. Tunes like "Slidin' and Glidin'" and "Calypso Jazz" are tickets to blues heaven. --Ted Drozdowski