TRACKLISTING

01. Same Old Blues
02. Dust My Broom
03. Worried Life Blues
04. Five Long Years
05. Key to the Highway
06. Going Down
07. Living on the Highway
08. Walking by Myself
09. I’m Tore Down
10. Palace of the King
11. Gimme Some Lovin’ – Prev. Unreleased
12. Send Me Someone To Love – Pre. Unreleased

Y’all might recognize this track from the Eastbound & Down theme song.

Often dismissed as a sub-par release by nitpicking sticklers from hell, Getting Ready was Kings first release for Leon Russells newly founded Shelter Records label (it would be followed by Texas Cannonball and Woman Across the River). Even though King had become quite influential on a bunch of white blues-rockers, he hadn’t released much interesting material during the years before, but this release caused a renewed interest, so that all three Kings reached something of a popularity peak around the same time. While most of Kings earlier stuff was powerful, yet extremely melodic and accessible material, the material on this album does come off as a response to the changed musical landscape: the overall sound is tough and meaty, both the session musicians and producers (Leon Russell and Don Nix) had a rock background (nearly all of them appeared on Joe Cockers Mad Dogs & Englishmen a year earlier), while several songs (especially on the second half) are consciously crafted blues-rock tunes. While there were a lot of nay-sayers at the time, the album does rock hard and offers a strong bunch of songs.