He moves slowly now, his 82-year-old body starting to betray him, joints aching from time and the endless miles he's traveled over a lifetime. He steps onto the stage, throws the strap of the Gibson ES-335 over his shoulder and squints slightly into the cheering crowd. His face breaks into a wide, humbled, almost embarrassed smile as a rumbling "Good Evening" floats out to his audience. As his left hand moves to the neck of the guitar and the right hand reaches down and strikes the strings, the years melt away and suddenly you find yourself watching a master craftsman ply his trade. The house fills with those unmistakable midnight blue tones that raise the hairs on the back of your neck. B. B. King half closes his eyes, screws up his face, and...he's off into his own place, taking you with him.
Born Riley B. King on September 16th, 1925 on a plantation in Mississippi, his early life was as a farm worker. A guitar-playing pastor at the Sanctified Church awed him with his playing when B. B. was five years old, but he did not buy his first guitar until he was 12. Working has a house-boy for $15 a month, he saved as much as he could (still needing a loan from his boss) and bought a red Stella Acoustic from a man down the road. Like so many blues guitar players of his time, he gave himself Guitar Lessons with the assistance of a couple of books and the popular recordings of the day. At fifteen he played on the streets for change in his native Indianolo, but later got the itch to move on in search of a music career, hitchhiking to Memphis in 1946.
After busking and playing in gospel groups in Memphis for a year, King was given an opportunity to play on a popular radio local radio show hosted by harmonica legend Sonny Boy Williamson. From there, he moved to regular gigs in Beale Streets clubs. Soon after, B.B. secured a stint on WDIA hosting a radio spot, singing blues and playing records under the self-appointed air-name Beales Street Blues Boy, shortening it to B. B. King. His first recordings were done in 1949, for Sam Phillips' Sun Records, but his first hit came in December 1951 with his remake of Lowell Fulson's "Three O'Clock Blues". He scored four number one R&B hits between 1951 and 1954, including his now signature "You Upset Me Baby".
By 1955, King had quit his radio show on WDIA, bought a bus, and embarked on a cross-country tour. In 1958, the bus hit a gas truck on a bridge in Texas. Although King nor none of his band members were on the bus at the time, the truck driver was killed. It took King several years to pay the debts incurred as a result of the accident.
Although King remained very popular with black audiences, he had yet to break free from the chitlin' circuit. This changed dramatically for King with the recording of "Live at the Regal", a live recording of a show done at a South Side Chicago blues club in 1964. This recording is often referred to as being one of the best lives records ever made.
It was his performance at the 1967 Montreaux Jazz Festival that exposed B. B. to a wider audience. During this time when so many British guitarists were paying homage to American blues artists, King struck well in the U.K. landing an tour opening for The Rolling Stones on their sixth U.S. tour.
In 1970, King recorded his most famous song "The Thrill Is Gone". Immediately recognized from the electric shrill of the opening notes to his booming, friendly voice, it is not only a staple of his shows but also a song that any self-respecting blues guitarist is obligated to learn.
His most famous band mate has always been "Lucille", the guitars named from an incident in Twist, Arkansas. During the show, two men started fighting, a kerosene heater was kicked over, and in moments the wood framed club was on fire. King escaped but ran back inside to rescue his cherished guitar, barely making it out with his life. When King learned that the fight was over a woman named Lucille, King named all of his guitars Lucille to serve as a reminder never to do something that reckless again. Gibson has issued a special commemorative B. B. King signature edition of the famed ES-335 named, of course, Lucille.
King said early on that he wanted to become a blues ambassador to the world, just as Louis Armstrong had done with jazz- and he did just that. In among his distinctive blues guitar licks are elements of rock, jazz and gospel that result in a style uniquely his own. King does not play chords nor does he sing while he plays. King sings out in a warm, friendly manner that deftly combines elements of pain and humor, and when he halts his voice Lucille picks up the song where King leaves off, carrying on in a round robin of singer and guitarist, call and response in the rich Delta tradition.
B. B. has always been a tireless performer. In his early days as a struggling musician, he would often play as many as four towns a night, making it back to WDIA in time for his on-air shift. His touring schedule is legendary; it is estimated that now, in his early eighties, King has played in the neighborhood of twenty thousand shows in his career and is still managing over two hundred shows a year. It's easy to see time wearing him down-he seems to talk more in his shows than he plays these days-but when it comes to King, the thrill is still there.
It's impossible to know how much longer we'll have him around. He has won Grammy's, been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and been awarded several honorary degrees, but he still ties directly to the rich, verdant Delta soil and the heavy tradition that it brought. Don't miss your chance to see blues royalty while you can- go see The King of the Blues.
Nick Koch is an amateur blues guitar player, blues historian/enthusiast, and freelance writer. He writes for GuitarTricks.com, which features hundreds of blues guitar lessons.
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