Six of this album's seven songs were written by Joe Sample, the Texas-born jazz legend. Sample, who plays keyboards on the record, contributes to MIDNIGHT BELIEVER's overall sensibility and eclecticism. The rich production values and careful arrangements make for recordings that are lush and intricate, with less of the trademark grit shown on much of King's earlier stuff. So while this doesn't feel like a traditional blues album, it is unmistakably a B.B. King record. Sample brings with him the rhythm section of his former group, The Crusaders.