Chris Cain records a tribute to the great B.B. King

To understand the why of ''Cain Does King,'' it helps to be a blues fan who loves B.B. King.

After all, what's the point of Chris Cain covering tunes that King already recorded?

Chris Cain ''Cain Does King'' Blue Rock'It

Well, like King himself said, ''Each time, each one makes history, makes their mark in history. We each do it and it will never die.''

With this album, Cain not only brings his great singing and playing his own mark, he brings a lot of love for a man whose playing inspired him to play guitar in the first place.

Years ago, Cain would come home from Silver Creek High School in San Jose every day and pick up a guitar and try to learn licks from records by the Kings (B.B., Albert and Freddie). Eventually he shared stages with Albert and B.B. and became quite close to Albert, while developing his own blues career with his own excellent songwriting and playing.

But for a long time he has wanted to do a tribute album to King, and finally got a chance, thanks to Patrick Ford of Blue Rock'It Records, who picked the tunes and produced.

And the result is grand and delicious.

Skipping the pop stuff -- don't look for ''The Thrill is Gone'' here -- Cain, Ford and a fine group of musicians dive into an eclectic mix. ''Heartbreaker'' from ''Blues On Top of Blues,'' ''Better Not Look Down'' from ''Take It Home,'' ''House Rocker'' from one of the old Crown collections.

There are riffs that are note-for-note the way King played them, and sections where Cain takes off in his own direction.

Even when using the same chordal structures and scales we are used to hearing from King, Cain tends to go for a heavier tone, and has his own bag full of characteristic riffs. On ''Gamblers' Blues,'' Cain starts with a King riff, then goes into a mix of King and Cain styles, making for a real rich mix.

On this album, Cain used his oft-seen Gibson 335, but also pulled out his old Gibson SG to get a meatier tone on a couple of tunes, including ''House Rocker,'' which is downright greasy.

Cain's voice is a rich baritone with plenty of blues soul; he doesn't try for any of that falsetto stuff that King manages. But he has all the range he needs, and the singing is first-rate throughout.

Cain has a wonderful feel for King, and delivers in this album the same kind of charm fans love from the big man. ''Better Not Look Down'' is a fine example of the kind of fun lyrics that King makes work in his shows and Cain makes work here: ''An old girlfriend of mine showed up the other day; that girl had been in love and for love and under love for most of her life!''

The closing tune is Leon Russell's ''Hummingbird,'' which King recorded on ''Indianola Mississippi Seeds'' in 1970. The arrangement is quite similar to King's, but closes with Cain playing a great solo over a chorus of singers that takes some King, mixes with a lot of what Cain has developed and makes a beautiful statement about the blues never dying.