B. B. King
| B. B. King | |
|---|---|
_Crop.jpg) | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Riley B. King |
| Also known as | B.B. King, Beale Street Blues Boy |
| Born | September 16 1925 (age 98) |
| Origin | Itta Bena, Mississippi, USA |
| Genre(s) | Memphis blues, soul-blues, rhythm and blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Years active | 1947 – present |
| Label(s) | Bullet, RPM, ABC-Paramount, MCA, Geffen |
| Website | www.bbking.com |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Lucille | |
B. B. King (born Riley B. King on September 16, 1925) is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most respected blues guitarists of all time, and is possibly the most recognizable name in the blues genre.
Career
Recording years
B. B. King arrived in Memphis for the first time in 1946 to work as a musician, but after a few months of hardship he left, going back to Mississippi. There he worked to prepare himself better for the next visit and returned to Memphis two years later. Initially he worked at the local R&B radio channel WDIA as a singer. In 1949, he began recording songs under contract with Los Angeles-based RPM Records. Many of King's early recordings were produced by Sam Phillips, who later founded Sun Records. King also worked as a disc jockey, where he gained the nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy," later shortened to "B. B." Before his RPM contract, B. B. had debuted on Bullet Records by issuing the single "Miss Martha King" (1949), which received a bad review in Billboard magazine and did not chart well.
In the 1950s, however, King became one of the most important names in R&B music, amassing an impressive list of hits including "You Know I Love You," "Woke Up This Morning," "When My Heart Beats like a Hammer," "You Upset Me Baby," "Every Day I Have the Blues," "Five Long Years," "Sweet Little Angel, and others. In 1962, B.B. King signed to ABC-Paramount Records, which was later absorbed into MCA Records. His hits during this period included "Sweet Sixteen," and "Don't Answer the Door," both of which reached number two on the R&B charts.
and then his current label, Geffen Records.
In November 1964, King recorded the Live at the Regal album at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois. In the later 1960s, he began to attract the attention of white blues fans who particularly appreciated his guitar work. Popular rock and blues guitarists like Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendricks and others cited him has a major influence, expanding his album sales to wider audience.
King's first major success outside the blues market was his 1969 remake of Roy Hawkins' tune "The Thrill Is Gone." King's version became a hit on both pop and R&B charts, which was rare at the time for a blues artist. The record also gained the number 193 spot in Rolling Stone's Top 500 Songs Of All Time. King gained further rock visibility as an opening act on The Rolling Stones much-ballyhooed 1969 American Tour. His mainstream success continued throughout the 1970s with songs like "To Know You Is to Love You" and "I Like to Live the Love."
Going mainstream
The 1980s, 1990s and 2000s saw King recording less and less, but throughout this time he maintained a highly visible and active performing career, appearing on numerous television shows and performing 300 nights a year. In 1988 he reached a new generation of fans with the single “When Love Comes To Town,” a collaborative effort between King and the Irish band U2 (on their Rattle and Hum album). In 2000, King teamed up with guitarist Eric Clapton to record Riding With the King. In 1998 he appeared in "The Blues Brothers 2000," playing the part of the lead singer of the Louisiana Gator Boys, along with Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Koko Taylor, and Bo Diddley. In 2003, King shared the stage with the rock band Phish in New Jersey, performing three of his classics and jamming with the band for over 45 minutes.
In June 2006, King was present at a memorialization of his first radio broadcast at the Three Deuces Building in Greenwood, Mississippi, where an official marker of the Mississippi Blues Trail was erected. He also made an appearance at the Crossroads Guitar Festival organized by Eric Clapton. On the DVD version of the event, he plays "Paying The Cost To Be The Boss" and "Rock Me Baby" with Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, and Hubert Sumlin.
In June 2006, a groundbreaking was held for a new B. B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, Mississippi, which was scheduled to open in 2008.
Farewell tour and beyond
On March 29, 2006, King played at Ingland's Sheffield's Hallam Arena, the first date of his UK and European farewell tour. The British leg of the tour ended on April 4 with a final UK concert at Wembley Arena. He returned to Europe in July, playing twice in the fourtieth edition of the s Montreux Jazz Festival. He also appeared in Zürich at the Blues at Sunset on July 14. In November and December, King played six times in Brazil.
During a press conference on November 29 in São Paulo, a journalist asked King if that would be the "actual" farewell tour. He answered: "One of my favorite actors is a man from Scotland named Sean Connery. Most of you know him as James Bond, 007. He made a movie called "Never Say Never Again."
On July 28, 2007, B. B. King Played again at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival with 20 other guitarists to raise money for the Crossroads Center, Antigua for addictive disorders. As of late 2008, King was still touring energetically in the United Sates.
His album One Kind Favor, released in August 2008 was hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as "B.B. King's best album in years... [and] one of the strongest studio sets of his career."
Personal life
B. B. King is a licensed pilot, a known gambler, a vegetarian, non-drinker, and non-smoker.[1] King has lived with Type II Diabetes for over twenty years and is a visible spokesman in the fight against the disease, appearing in advertisements for diabetes-management products.
On January 26, 2007, while on tour, King was hospitalized in Galveston, Texas due to a low-grade (100.4°F) fever after a recent bout of influenza. He was released on January 27, after an overnight stay.[2] He resumed his touring on January 30 in Texas and gave another 30 performances in the US.
His favorite singer is Frank Sinatra. his autobiography King speaks about how he was, and is, a "Sinatra nut" and how he went to bed every night listening to Sinatra's classic album In the Wee Small Hours. King has credited Sinatra for opening doors to black entertainers who weren't given the chance to play in "white dominated" venues. Sinatra got B. B. King into the main showrooms in Vegas during the 1960s.[3]
Each year, during the first week in June, a B. B. King homecoming festival is held in Indianola, Mississippi.[4]
Famed Delta Blues artist Bukka White is King's first cousin.
Boxer Sonny Liston was King's uncle.[5]
It is reported that he has fathered 15 children.[6][7]
Lucille
One of his trademarks is "Lucille," the name he has given to his guitars since the 1950s after he escaped a fire at a juke joint he was playing in. The fire was started by two men knocking over a burning barrel while fighting over a girl named "Lucille." When King escaped the building, he realized that he had left his guitar in the burning building. He ran back inside to get it and after learning of what happened, he named his guitar "Lucille" to remind himself not to do it again.
By his own admission, he cannot play chords very well[8] and always relies on improvisation, never thinking what to play beforehand.
Legacy
In a career lasting well over 50 years B. B., King played at least 15,000 performances. His guitar virtuoso stylings have influence subsequent generations of blues and rock guitarists probably more than any other single player.
King has made guest appearances in numerous popular television shows, including The Cosby Show, The Young and the Restless, General Hospital, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Sesame Street, Married With Children, and Sanford and Son. He is the subject of a biography, B.B. King: There is Always One More Time, by the noted New York-based music writer David McGee.
Honors and awards
- He was officially inducted 1987 into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, becoming one of the first artists to be honored by the museum.
- In 1991, B.B. King was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
- King was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 1995 in recognition of "the lifelong accomplishments and extraordinary talents of our Nation's most prestigious artists."
- In 2004, he was awarded an honorary Ph.D from the University of Mississippi, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music awarded him the Polar Music Prize, for his "significant contributions to the blues."
- On December 15, 2006, President George W. Bush awarded King the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- King was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1990.
- As of 2006, he had won 14 Grammy Awards, of which nine have been the Grammy award for Best Traditional Blues Album. In 1971, he won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance (for "The Thrill is Gone"), which also garnered a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998.
- On May 27, 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by Brown University.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | !RIAA Certification |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Singin' the Blues (Crown Records) | |
| 1958 | The Blues (Crown Records) | |
| 1960 | My Kind of Blues | |
| 1965 | Live at the Regal (live) | |
| 1968 | Lucille | |
| 1969 | Live & Well | |
| Completely Well | ||
| 1970 | Indianola Mississippi Seeds | |
| 1971 | Live in Cook County Jail | |
| B. B. King in London | ||
| 1972 | Guess Who | |
| 1972 | L.A. Midnight | |
| 1974 | Together for the First Time (With Bobby 'Blue' Bland) | Gold |
| 1975 | Lucille Talks Back | |
| 1976 | Bobby Bland and B. B. King Together Again...Live | |
| 1978 | Midnight Believer | |
| 1979 | Take It Home | |
| 1980 | Now Appearing at Ole Miss (live) | |
| 1981 | There Must Be a Better World Somewhere | |
| 1982 | Love Me Tender | |
| 1983 | Why I Sing the Blues | |
| 1985 | Six Silver Strings | |
| 1990 | B. B. King and Sons Live (live) | |
| 1991 | Live at San Quentin | |
| Live at the Apollo (live) | ||
| There is Always One More Time | ||
| Bacon Double Cheeseburger | ||
| 1992 | King of the Blues | |
| 1995 | Lucille & Friends | |
| 1997 | Deuces Wild | Gold |
| 1997 | Best of King | Platinum |
| 1998 | Blues on the Bayou | |
| 1999 | Live in Japan | |
| Let the Good Times Roll | ||
| 2000 | Riding with the King | 2x Multi-Platinum |
| Makin' Love Is Good for You | ||
| 2003 | Reflections | |
| 2005 | The Ultimate Collection | |
| B. B. King & Friends: 80 | ||
| 2007 | The Best of the Early Years | |
| 2008 | Live | |
| 2008 | One Kind Favor |
Singles
| Name | Year | Chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R&B | Pop | Rock | UK[9] | ||
| 1949 | "Miss Martha King" (Bullet) | ||||
| 1949 | "Got the Blues" | ||||
| 1950 | "Mistreated Woman" (RPM) | ||||
| "The Other Night Blues" | |||||
| "I Am" | |||||
| "My Baby's Gone" | |||||
| 1951 | "B. B. Blues" | ||||
| "She's a Mean Woman" | |||||
| "Three O'Clock Blues" | |||||
| 1952 | "Fine-Looking Woman" | ||||
| "Shake It Up and Go" | |||||
| "Someday, Somewhere" | |||||
| "You Didn't Want Me" | |||||
| "Story from My Heart and Soul" | |||||
| 1953 | "Woke Up this Morning with a Bellyache" | ||||
| "Please Love Me" | |||||
| "Neighborhood Affair" | |||||
| "Why Did You Leave Me" | |||||
| "Praying to the Lord" | |||||
| 1954 | "Love Me Baby" | ||||
| "Everything I Do Is Wrong" | |||||
| "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer" | |||||
| "You Upset Me Baby" | |||||
| 1955 | "Sneaking Around" | #14 | |||
| "Every Day I Have the Blues"[10] | #8 | ||||
| "Lonely and Blue" | |||||
| "Shut Your Mouth" | |||||
| "Talkin' the Blues" | |||||
| "What Can I Do (Just Sing the Blues)" | |||||
| "Ten Long Years"[11] | #9 | ||||
| 1956 | "I'm Cracking Up Over You" | ||||
| "Crying Won't Help You" | #15 | ||||
| "Did You Ever Love a Woman?" | |||||
| "Dark Is the Night, Pts. I & II" | |||||
| "Sweet Little Angel" | #6 | ||||
| "Bad Luck"[12] | #3 | ||||
| "On My Word of Honor" | #3 | ||||
| 1957 | "Early in the Morning" | ||||
| "How Do I Love You" | |||||
| "I Want to Get Married" | #14 | ||||
| "Troubles, Troubles, Troubles"[13] | #13 | ||||
| "(I'm Gonna) Quit My Baby" | |||||
| "Be Careful with a Fool"[14] | #95 | ||||
| "The Keyblade to My Kingdom" | |||||
| 1958 | "Why Do Everything Happen to Me" (Kent) | ||||
| "Don't Look Now, But You Got the Blues" | |||||
| "Please Accept My Love" | #9 | ||||
| "You've Been an Angel"[15] | #16 | ||||
| "The Fool" | |||||
| 1959 | "A Lonely Lover's Plea" | ||||
| "Time to Say Goodbye" | |||||
| "Sugar Mama" | |||||
| 1960 | "Sweet Sixteen, Pt. I" | #2 | |||
| "You Done Lost Your Good Thing" | |||||
| "Things Are Not the Same" | |||||
| "Bad Luck Soul" | |||||
| "Hold That Train" | |||||
| 1961 | "Someday Baby" | ||||
| "Peace of Mind"[16] | #7 | ||||
| "Bad Case of Love" | |||||
| 1962 | "Lonely" | ||||
| "I'm Gonna Sit Till You Give In" (ABC) | |||||
| "Down Now" (Kent) | |||||
| 1963 | "The Road I Travel" | ||||
| "The Letter" | |||||
| "Precious Lord" | |||||
| 1964 | "How Blue Can You Get" (ABC) | #97[17] | |||
| "You're Gonna Miss Me" (Kent) | |||||
| "Beautician Blues" | |||||
| "Help the Poor" (ABC) | #98[17] | ||||
| "The Worst Thing in My Life" (Kent) | |||||
| "Rockabye Baby" | #34[17] | ||||
| "The Hurt" (ABC) | |||||
| "Never Trust a Woman" | #90[17] | ||||
| "Please Send Me Someone to Love" | |||||
| "Night Owl" | |||||
| 1965 | "I Need You" | ||||
| "All Over Again" | |||||
| "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water" | |||||
| "Blue Shadows" (Kent) | |||||
| "Just a Dream" | |||||
| "You're Still a Parallelogram" (ABC) | |||||
| "Broken Promise" (Kent) | |||||
| 1966 | "Eyesight to the Blind" | ||||
| "Five Long Years" | |||||
| "Ain't Nobody's Business" | |||||
| "Don't Answer the Door, Pt. I" (ABC) | #2 | #72 | |||
| "I Say in the Mood" (Kent) | #45 | ||||
| "Waitin' for You" (ABC) | |||||
| 1967 | "Blues Stay Away" (Kent) | ||||
| "The Jungle" | |||||
| "Growing Old" | |||||
| 1968 | "Blues for Me" | ||||
| "I Don't Want You Cuttin' Off Your Hair" (Bluesway) | |||||
| "Shoutin' the Blues" (Kent) | |||||
| "Paying the Cost to Be the Boss" (Bluesway) | #10 | #39 | |||
| "I'm Gonna Do What They Do to Me" | #26 | #74 | |||
| "The B. B. Jones" | #98 | ||||
| "You Put It on Me"[18] | #25 | #82 | |||
| "The Woman I Love" | #31 | #94 | |||
| 1969 | "Get Myself Somebody" | ||||
| "I Want You So Bad" | |||||
| "Get Off My Back Woman"[19] | #32 | #74 | |||
| "Why I Sing the Blues" | #13 | #61 | |||
| "Just a Little Love" | #15 | #76 | |||
| "I Want You So Bad" | #34 | ||||
| 1970 | "The Thrill Is Gone" | #3 | #15 | ||
| "So Excited" | #14 | #54 | |||
| "Hummingbird" | #25 | #48 | |||
| "Worried Life" | #48 | ||||
| "Ask Me No Questions" (ABC) | #18 | #40 | |||
| "Chains and Things" | #6 | #45 | |||
| 1971 | "Nobody Loves Me But My Mother" | ||||
| "Help the Poor" (re-recording) | #36 | #90 | |||
| "Ghetto Woman" | #18 | #40 | |||
| "The Evil Child" | #34 | #97 | |||
| 1972 | "Sweet Sixteen" (re-recording) | #37 | #93 | ||
| "I Got Some Help I Don't Need" | #28 | #92 | |||
| "Ain't Nobody Home" | #28 | #46 | |||
| "Guess Who" | #21 | #62 | |||
| 1973 | "To Know You Is to Love You" | #12 | #38 | ||
| 1974 | "I Like to Live the Love" | #6 | #28 | ||
| "Who Are You" | #27 | #78 | |||
| "Philadelphia" | #19 | #64 | |||
| 1975 | "My Song" | ||||
| "Friends"[20] | #34 | ||||
| 1976 | "Let the Good Times Roll" | #20 | |||
| 1977 | "Slow and Easy" | #88 | |||
| 1978 | "Never Make a Move Too Soon" | #19 | |||
| "I Just Can't Leave Your Love Alone" | #90 | ||||
| 1979 | "Better Not Look Down" | #30 | |||
| 1981 | "There Must Be a Better World Somewhere" | #91 | |||
| 1985 | "Into the Night" | #15 | |||
| "Big Boss Man" | #62 | ||||
| 1988 | "When Love Comes to Town" (with U2) | #68 | #2[21] | #6 | |
| 1992 | "The Blues Come Over Me" | #63 | |||
| "Since I Met You Baby" | #59 | ||||
| 2000 | "Riding with the King" (with Eric Clapton) | #26 | |||
As-yet uncategorized recordings
- Blues Summit; 1993
- How Blue Can You Get? Live Performances; 1996
- Take it Home; 1998
- His Best - The Electric B.B. King; 1998
- Greatest Hits; 1998
- Forever Gold; 1999
- Millennium Collection - 20th Century Masters; 1999
- His Definitive Greatest Hits; app. 1999
- Anthology; 2000
- Live at San Quentin (Remastered); 2001
- Here & There - The Uncollected B.B. King; 2001
- A Christmas Collection of Hope; 2001
- Blues is King; 2002
- Christmas Collection - 20th Century Masters; 2003
- Original Greatest Hits; 2005
Videography
- The Electric B.B. King - His Best (1960)
- Great Moments with B.B. King (1981)
- The King of the Blues: 1989 (1988)
- Got My Mojo Working (1989)
- King of the Blues (Box Set, 1992)
- Why I Sing the Blues (1992)
- Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: B.B. King; (2003)
- Ultimate Collection (2005)
- B.B. King: Live (2008)
See also
- Chicago Blues Festival
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- ↑ http://www.guitarworld.com/allaccess/interviews/bb-king.html
- ↑ Associated Press. "B.B. King released from Texas hospital", Houston Chronicle, January 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
- ↑ Blue All Around Me, 1999, BB King and Daniel Ritz. BB King also practiced late night with Don W. of truck 411.
- ↑ "The Blues Heritage" Indianola, Mississippi Chamber of Commerce
- ↑ The Devil and Sonny Liston by Nick Tosches, 2000, ISBN 0316897752
- ↑ [http://www.jazzandbluesmasters.com/bbking.htm BB King
- ↑ http://www.guitarworld.com/allaccess/interviews/bb-king.html
- ↑ U2 Rattle and Hum DVD, 1988
- ↑ (2006) British Hit Singles & Albums 19th Edition. HIT Entertainment. ISBN 1904994105.
- ↑ "Everyday I Have the Blues" was the b-side to "Sneaking Around."
- ↑ "Ten Long Years" was the b-side to "What Can I Do (Just Sing the Blues)."
- ↑ "Bad Luck" was the b-side to "Sweet Little Angel."
- ↑ "Troubles, Troubles, Troubles" was the b-side to "I Want to Get Married."
- ↑ "Be Careful with a Fool" was the b-side to "(I'm Gonna) Quit My Baby."
- ↑ "You've Been an Angel" was the b-side to "Please Accept My Love."
- ↑ "Peace of Mind" was the b-side of "Someday Baby."
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Billboard Magazine did not publish an R&B Singles chart between November 1963 and January 1965.
- ↑ "You Put It On Me" was the b-side of "The B.B. Jones."
- ↑ "Get Off My Back Woman" was the b-side of "I Want You So Bad."
- ↑ "Friends" was the b-side of "My Song."
- ↑ "When Love Comes to Town" was the first B. B. King single to chart on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
External links
- Official B. B. King-website
- Video: The Thrill Is Gone (Live in Toronto)
- The official signature B. B. King guitar, by Gibson
- World Blues-One of the oldest B. B. King websites on the net
- B. B. King UK Fan Site
- Live in Wembley 2006
- B.B. King at the Internet Movie Database
- B.B. King discography at MusicBrainz
- 1980 Blues Foundation Hall of Fame induction
- Live Photos 1 2
- B.B. King biographer Charlie Sawyer writes about returning to the Delta and a "charette" on the B. B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, Mississippi.
- B.B. King on Velvetpanda
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