B.B King - Life and influence
Riley B. King (09.16.1925 – 05.14.2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an originally American blues singer and electric guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. The man who played with almost all best musicians all over the world.
King was born on a slave cotton plantation in Berclair, Mississippi, where he picked up blues source and later worked at a cotton gin in Indianola, Mississippi. He get familiar with music in church, and decided to begin his performance career on local radio. Later BB King lived in Memphis, and then in Tennessee, and Chicago. His carierre started rising with many world tours.
First cut is the deepest, and that certainly proved true for BB King. BB has debuted on Bullet Records with single "Miss Martha King" 1949, which did not chart well on top lists.
King decided to form his own band "B.B. King Review" where is the main leadership been trusted to Millard Lee. Calvin Owens and Kenneth Sands have played(trumpet), Lawrence Burdin (alto saxophone), George Coleman (tenor saxophone), Floyd Newman (baritone saxophone), Millard Lee (piano), George Joyner (bass) and Earl Forest and Ted Curry (drums). One more meber was part of that band - Onzie Horne was an arranger who played main role with BB King and his compositions. By his own admission, BB King haven`t been good with playing chords very well and always relied on his improvisation.
He became blues brand name (BB) for Memphis blues his entire career, but he also paid attention to popular music as it evolved around him. His best records expanded what blues could be, drawing in the sounds of R&B, soul and funk. King's voice, and the lacerating solos he played on the guitars he named "Lucille" were constants, but everything around them changed.
BB King walk thru his carriere by making his path to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and considered as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of the Blues", and one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" along with Albert King and Freddie King.
King died at the age of 89 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 14, 2015, from heart failure leaded by diabetes. Interesting thing is that BB King introduced a complicated and so sophisticated style of solo playing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato. It turns that style made influence on many later acoustic-electric blues guitarists.
B.B. King | B.B. King's final performance at his beloved Indianola Homecoming Festival (Photo by Stephen Anderson)
BB King has so much love in blues music and get known for performing more than 200 concerts per year.
How much love he had best show year 1956, he consistently appeared in more than 340 shows. BB King was married twice, to Martha Lee Denton, November 1946 - 1952, and to Sue Carol Hall, 1958 - 1966. Both marriages has been ended by heavy demands made by King's 250 performances a year.
There is only one king, and his name is B.B King.
B.B. King - "The Thrill Is Gone" (LIVE @ Crossroads Guitar Festival)
List of mostly all BB s work:
- One Kind Favor (Grammy Award Winning CD)
- B.B. King Live
- Gold (2 CD)
- Indianola Mississippi Seeds
- Chronicles [3 CD Box Set]
- Anthology (Sound+Vision) [2 CD/DVD Combo]
- Live By Request (w/Guest Jeff Beck) [DVD]
- Christmas Collection – 20th Century Masters
- Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: B.B. King
- Reflections [SACD]
- Reflections
- In London
- Live At San Quentin (Remastered)
- Blues Summit Concert [DVD]
- Anthology (2 CD)
- Makin’ Love Is Good For You
- Let The Good Times Roll
- Live In Japan
- Millennium Collection – 20th Century Masters
- Blues On The Bayou
- Greatest Hits
- Take It Home
- Live In Cook County Jail
- Completely Well
- His Best – The Electric B.B. King
- Deuces Wild
- Live At The Regal
- How Blue Can You Get? Classic Live Performances (2 CD)
- Got My Mojo Working
- Blues Summit
- King Of The Blues [4 CD Box Set]
- Lucille
- There Is Always One More Time
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