Happy Birthday, B. B. King

Published on September 16, 2005 By Ionolast In Misc

His reign as King of the Blues has been as long as that of any monarch on earth. Yet B.B. King continues to wear his crown well. At age 76, he is still light on his feet, singing and playing the blues with relentless passion. Time has no apparent effect on B.B., other than to make him more popular, more cherished, more relevant than ever. Don't look for him in some kind of semi-retirement; look for him out on the road, playing for people, popping up in a myriad of T.V. commercials, or laying down tracks for his next album. B.B. King is as alive as the music he plays, and a grateful world can't get enough of him.

For more than half a century, Riley B. King - better known as B.B. King - has defined the blues for a worldwide audience. Since he started recording in the 1940s, he has released over fifty albums, many of them classics. He was born September 16, 1925, on a plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi, near Indianola. In his youth, he played on street corners for dimes, and would sometimes play in as many as four towns a night. In 1947, he hitchhiked to Memphis, TN, to pursue his music career. Memphis was where every important musician of the South gravitated, and which supported a large musical community where every style of African American music could be found. B.B. stayed with his cousin Bukka White, one of the most celebrated blues performers of his time, who schooled B.B. further in the art of the blues.

B.B.'s first big break came in 1948 when he performed on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program on KWEM out of West Memphis. This led to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis, and later to a ten-minute spot on black-staffed and managed Memphis radio station WDIA. "King's Spot," became so popular, it was expanded and became the "Sepia Swing Club." Soon B.B. needed a catchy radio name. What started out as Beale Street Blues Boy was shortened to Blues Boy King, and eventually B.B. King.

In the mid-1950s, while B.B. was performing at a dance in Twist, Arkansas, a few fans became unruly. Two men got into a fight and knocked over a kerosene stove, setting fire to the hall. B.B. raced outdoors to safety with everyone else, then realized that he left his beloved $30 acoustic guitar inside, so he rushed back inside the burning building to retrieve it, narrowly escaping death. When he later found out that the fight had been over a woman named Lucille, he decided to give the name to his guitar to remind him never to do a crazy thing like fight over a woman. Ever since, each one of B.B.'s trademark Gibson guitars has been called Lucille.

Soon after his number one hit, "Three O'Clock Blues," B.B. began touring nationally. In 1956, B.B. and his band played an astonishing 342 one-night stands. From the chitlin circuit with its small-town cafes, juke joints, and country dance halls to rock palaces, symphony concert halls, universities, resort hotels and amphitheaters, nationally and internationally, B.B. has become the most renowned blues musician of the past 40 years.

Over the years, B.B. has developed one of the world's most identifiable guitar styles. He borrowed from Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker and others, integrating his precise and complex vocal-like string bends and his left hand vibrato, both of which have become indispensable components of rock guitarist's vocabulary. His economy, his every-note-counts phrasing, has been a model for thousands of players, from Eric Clapton and George Harrison to Jeff Beck. B.B. has mixed traditional blues, jazz, swing, mainstream pop and jump into a unique sound. In B.B.'s words, "When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille."

In 1968, B.B. played at the Newport Folk Festival and at Bill Graham's Fillmore West on bills with the hottest contemporary rock artists of the day who idolized B.B. and helped to introduce him to a young white audience. In ``69, B.B. was chosen by the Rolling Stones to open 18 American concerts for them; Ike and Tina Turner also played on 18 shows.

B.B. was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He received NARAS' Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 1987, and has received honorary doctorates from Tougaloo(MS) College in 1973; Yale University in 1977; Berklee College of Music in 1982; Rhodes College of Memphis in 1990 and Mississippi Valley State University in 2002. In 1992, he received the National Award of Distinction from the University of Mississippi.

In 1991, B.B. King's Blues Club opened on Beale Street in Memphis, and in 1994, a second club was launched at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles. A third club in New York City's Times Square opened in June 2000 and most recently two clubs opened at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut in January 2002. In 1996, the CD-Rom On The Road With B.B. King: An Interactive Autobiography was released to rave reviews. Also in 1996, B.B.'s autobiography, "Blues All Around Me" (written with David Ritz for Avon Books) was published. In a similar vein, Doubleday published "The Arrival of B.B. King" by Charles Sawyer, in 1980.

B.B. continues to tour extensively, averaging over 250 concerts per year around the world. Classics such as "Payin' The Cost To Be The Boss," "The Thrill Is Gone," How Blue Can You Get," "Everyday I Have The Blues," and "Why I Sing The Blues" are concert (and fan) staples. Over the years, the Grammy Award-winner has had two #1 R&B hits, 1951's "Three O'Clock Blues," and 1952's "You Don't Know Me," and four #2 R&B hits, 1953's "Please Love Me," 1954's "You Upset Me Baby," 1960's "Sweet Sixteen, Part I," and 1966's "Don't Answer The Door, Part I." B.B.'s most popular crossover hit, 1970's "The Thrill Is Gone," went to #15 pop.

By his own admission, he's terrible with chords. It seems strange that he never learned.

Comments

Spc Nobody Special

on Sep 16, 2005

Excellent blues player, very smooth, very clean sound. Sometimes I like to play along with his albums on bass or blues harp, or piano when I'm at home. My favorite is his recordings of How Blue Can You Get. I especially like the one he cut for the Blues Brothers 2000 movie with about a million other bluesmen. Mediocre movie, fine music.

Your love is like a fire, my love is like a cigarette.....Yeah your love is like a fire, my love is like a cigarette. Now you get me so downhearted baby, tell me how, tell me how blue can you get.........

I gave you a brand new Ford.....but you said I want a Cadillac......I bought you a ten-dollar dinner.......You said thanks for the snack......I let you live in my penthouse.........you said it was just a shack.........I gave you seven children......now you want to give 'em back...................

kingbee

on Sep 17, 2005

aaaaahahahah as i was reading the article, i was thinking about posting the bridge to 'how blue can you get?' but i see i done been beat to da punch.

i gotta disagree with the definitive recorded version tho. it's on 'bb king: live at the regal' where it serves as the climax of a medley of four of bb's greatest works, starting with 'everyday i have the blues' then jumps to 'sweet lil angel' and while preachin to the crowd (the regal was chicago's answer to the apollo ) bout how not everyone is an angel allla time, he seques into 'it's my own fault' . very few live recordings manage to convey the synergy between performer and audience the way it was captured that night with these 4 tunes (even tho that's always the intention). by the time he gets to 'how blue can you get?', he's become pure magic. as he begins callin out 'i gave you a brand new ford...' it's almost scary...and so powerful. as he delivers the line bout givin that woman 7 children, the whole place is up for grabs. they really shoulda tore down the regal the next day if for no other reason than it coulda never survived another one of those.

Ionolast

on Sep 17, 2005

kb

What do you think about his inability to play chords?

kingbee

on Sep 17, 2005

What do you think about his inability to play chords?

anyone who knows where to position his left hand on the neck to most effectively (efficiently too) locate the component tones of the kinda jazzy progressions bb's been using for years AND who has the talent to exploit those tones individually or 2 or 3 atta time, knows as much as he needs to know about chords.

he may not be able to create horn charts easily but i'm bettin he could do it. my guess is most of the guys who learn to play blues in the rural south may not be able to tell you how a 7th differs from a 9th or even the names of chords they play (especially if they use an unorthodox tuning like albert collins for example or even just an open tuning ) but they know what sounds need to be combined and where to find those sounds.

Ionolast

on Sep 17, 2005

I suppose. Did you hear his admission in the U2 movie "Rattle and Hum"?

kingbee

on Sep 17, 2005

Did you hear his admission in the U2 movie "Rattle and Hum"?

never seen the film.

i've seen bb perform maybe 10 times in venues of varying sizes ranging from several day-long outdoor festival events to clubs in which i spent most of the night within 30' of the man. unlike artists such as chuck berry (who's notorious for never appearing with the same sidemen twice), king's bands have held together well over all them annual gigs over all them years. i don't recall anything close to disonnance...perhaps the only blues band about which that can be said. i doubt that would be possible if he didn't understand chord structure and progressions intimately. one thing that has distinguished him from 90% of blues artists is his relatively complex (for blues) structure. he may not be able to lecture on diminished chords, but he damn sure knows when to toss em into the mix.

Ionolast

on Sep 18, 2005

never seen the film.

U2 is in Memphis for part of the film. B.B. joins them for "When Love Comes to Town." B.B. tells Bono, "I'm terrible with chords."

I've never seen him play a chord. Have you? Maybe he understands them, but why doesn't he play them?

kingbee

on Sep 18, 2005

I've never seen him play a chord. Have you? Maybe he understands them, but why doesn't he play them?

ahhhh i think i'm understanding the context now. i'm gonna guess he was doin exactly what i've done and will surely do again (altho in my case, it's far too shamefuly true).

even if this was a first rehearsal or even a first jam with someone who does stuff that's different than what i play, i'm gonna want them to at least give me a broad map. and there are so many chord positions and voicings, id say i dont know much theory or chords too (only like i said it would be true)

ive seen him play chords but only as part of the leads hes playing why should he need to play them? thats the point of having more than a trio.

kingbee

on Sep 18, 2005

oh...and if i find myself suddenly (or even having been informed previously) on a stage with a group who does stuff a few branches over from the stuff i normally do...you can bet i'm gonna downplay my skills from the jump. that way, if i screw something up (hahahah like that could happen), it aint like i didnt prepare em for it. and if it goes great, hey i'm a pro...what didya expect?

Ionolast

on Sep 18, 2005

even if this was a first rehearsal or even a first jam with someone who does stuff that's different than what i play, i'm gonna want them to at least give me a broad map. and there are so many chord positions and voicings, id say i dont know much theory or chords too (only like i said it would be true)

I've seen him on TV several times when it was just him and his band. No guest guitarists and he never played a chord.

ive seen him play chords but only as part of the leads hes playing why should he need to play them? thats the point of having more than a trio.

I've never seen his second guitarist play a solo and B.B. play chords, but you've seen him more times than I have and you've seen him in person. I never have even though he was in town here not very long ago, but I wasn't able to go. I wish I could have.

kingbee

on Sep 19, 2005

. No guest guitarists and he never played a chord.

anytime you sound at least 3 notes simultaneously, you're playing a chord. it's pretty easy to accomplish that even if you aren't sounding them at the same time (guitar is all about sustain and damping).

the best guitarist i've ever played with is a guy who began taking lessons when he was 5. he could sight read and very likely had perfect pitch (it might not have been natural but once you develop something like that thru training, it's a moot argument). i can't recall the inspiration for doin this (which is prolly a pretty good clue hahahaha)but one time when we were playin at what had become one of those spontaneous kinda parties, i was takin a catch-up break while he was goofin....playing scales and then some short classical pieces. i reached over and untuned his high e string. he kept playing the other 5 but sounded the untuned string a couple times (eventually he'd only do it once). once he knew what note it generated, he began compensating for it. after a few minutes we retuned but it wasn't the last time we played that lil game. a couple weeks later, the spirit moved me once again and eventually it became a kinda challenge thing. depending on the complexity of the piece, he could adjust and deal with up to three 'retuned at random' strings.

wouldnt surprise me a bit if bb could do the same thing. i know he can do it with a single broken string as can a lotta people (just one of them lil skills you develop outta necessity).

kingbee

on Sep 19, 2005

I've never seen his second guitarist play a solo and B.B. play chords

most people aren't payin to see him cover for the 2nd guitarist and vice versa. i'll have to dig up some video of him playin with someone like clapton (maybe even t-bone...i saw em on the same bill but i don't recall either one joinin the other). if nowhere else, i'd expect a lil friendly collaboration, if not actual cutting.

Ionolast

on Sep 19, 2005

anytime you sound at least 3 notes simultaneously, you're playing a chord.

Well, I mean bar chords.

Ionolast

on Sep 19, 2005

He's supposed to be on the Tonight Show tonight.

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