BB King

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Biography

B.B. King is universally recognized as the leading exponent of modern blues. Playing his trademark Gibson guitar, which he refers to affectionately as Lucille, King's voice-like string bends and left-hand vibrato have influenced numerous rock guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield, and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, as well as modern blues players such as Buddy Guy. An eight-time Grammy winner, King has received virtually every music award, including the Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in 1987.

King picked cotton as a youth. In the '40s he played on the streets of Indianola before moving on to perform professionally in Memphis around 1949. As a young musician, he studied recordings by both blues and jazz guitarists, including T-Bone Walker, Charlie Christian, and Django Reinhardt.

In the early 50s King was a disc jockey on the Memphis black station WDIA, where he was dubbed the Beale Street Blues Boy. Eventually, Blues Boy was shortened to B.B., and the nickname stuck. The radio show and performances in Memphis with friends Johnny Ace and Bobby Blue Bland built Kings strong local reputation. One of his first recordings, Three OClock Blues (#1 R&B), for the RPM label, was a national success in 1951. During the 50s, King was a consistent record seller and concert attraction.

Kings Live at the Regal is considered one of the definitive blues albums. The mid-60s blues revival introduced him to white audiences, and by 1966 he was appearing regularly on rock concert circuits and receiving airplay on progressive rock radio. He continued to have hits on the soul chart (Paying the Cost to Be the Boss, #10 R&B, 1968) and always maintained a solid black following. Live and Well was a notable album, featuring Why I Sing the Blues (#13 R&B, 1969) and Kings only pop Top 20 single, The Thrill Is Gone (#15 pop, #3 R&B, 1970).

In the 70s King also recorded albums with longtime friend and onetime chauffeur Bobby Bland: the gold Together for the First Time...Live (1974) and Together Again...Live (1976). Stevie Wonder produced Kings To Know You Is to Love You. In 1982 King recorded a live album with the Crusaders.

Kings tours have taken him to Russia (1979), South America (1980), and to dozens of prisons. In 1981 There Must Be a Better World Somewhere won a Grammy Award; he won another in 1990 for Live at San Quentin. He was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1990 he received the Songwriters Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award. In May 1991, he opened B.B. Kings Blues Club in Memphis. A second one opened in New York City in 2000.

In 1989 he sang and played with U2 on When Love Comes to Town, from their Rattle and Hum. The four-disc box set released that same year, King of the Blues, begins with Kings career-starting single Miss Martha King, originally released on Bullet in 1949. For Blues Summit, King was joined by such fellow bluesmen as John Lee Hooker, Lowell Fulson, and Robert Cray.

King once said he aspired to be an ambassador of the blues, and by the 90s he seemed to have attained just that iconic status. In 1995 he received the Kennedy Center Honors. The next year saw the publication of his award-winning autobiography, Blues All Around Me (coauthored with David Ritz). In 2000 the double-platinum Riding With the King (with Eric Clapton) topped Billboards Top Blues Albums chart.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)

BB King

Biography

History

Tours

Personnel

Discography

Links

References