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B.B. King

“King of the Blues”

Born on a plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi in 1925, Riley B. King would start from very humble beginnings. His family moved around the area, and the young Riley experienced early a life of constant motion. As a youngster he was a farm laborer, but drawn to music, he took up the guitar; he played on street corners, and would sometimes play in as many as four towns a night. In 1946, he hitchhiked to Memphis, to pursue his music career. Memphis was a large musical community where every style of music could be found, a good place for a young man who wanted to play the blues. Riley stayed with his cousin Bukka White, a celebrated bluesman in his own right, who was able to show him first hand the guitar foundations of the blues.

Playing an acoustic set of rural blues, he kicked around a lot of the clubs in Memphis, getting a break 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 16th St. Grill in West Memphis, and later to a ten-minute spot on black Memphis radio station WDIA. “King's Spot,” became so popular, it was expanded and became the “Sepia Swing Club.” Becoming a popular local disc jockey, Riley needed a professional sounding name. He was the Beale Street Blues Boy then Blues Boy King, and eventually B.B. King. This led to the studio recording of “Miss Martha King” for the local Bullet label, which didn’t cause much of a stir, but it did stimulate B.B. to pursue a recording contract.

He recorded a couple of singles for Bullet, and then signed with Modern’s RPM where he did “Three O’Clock Blues”, in 1951. This song proved to be a major hit, and he quickly followed that with “Please Love Me”, “You Upset Me Baby”, “Every Day”, (which would become his theme song), “Ten Long Years”, and “Sweet Little Angel”. These are available as “The RPM Hits 1951-1957” (Ace). These recordings rose to the tops of the R&B charts, and he went on the road to promote the songs, thus starting his life of incessant touring. This is how he developed his unique and signature style, every night, playing the blues. By 1955 he had a full time band, and hit the road, where he’s been ever since.

Riding the wave of popularity generated by the RPM records, he churned out a string of hits for their subsidiary Kent label, and stayed with them throughout the ‘50’s. This is the period where he made a name for himself, both in the record charts, and promoting the records by playing live. But by 1961, he had decided to change labels, looking to get a better deal than he was getting at RPM/Kent. He signed with ABC/Paramount records, which had just scored big by signing Ray Charles from Atlantic, they were aware of a bigger market, knew how to market B.B.’s music and were willing to pay for it. B.B. King received a $25,000 signing bonus. The overall environ was much more professional, and though they brought in first class arrangers and musicians, they pretty much gave B.B. a free reign, or so he thought.

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Top Ten List

B.B. King: Through the Years

Read "B.B. King: Through the Years" reviewed by Alan Bryson


Sixty-six years passed from the time in 1948 when Riley King auditioned for a spot on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program, until his final performance at the House of Blues on October 3, 2014 in Chicago. His life was a remarkable odyssey from a sharecropper's cabin to the pinnacle of success. We'll never know how many millions of miles he logged on his tour bus in the 50s and 60s --he and his band essentially lived on the road in ...

2
Bailey's Bundles

B.B. King: Live in Cook County Jail and More…

Read "B.B. King: Live in Cook County Jail and More…" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


In his ALLMUSIC artist's biography of B.B. King, Bill Dahl states, “Universally hailed as the king of the blues, the legendary B.B. King was without a doubt the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century." That is hyperbole of the order of Stephen Thomas Erlewine's introduction in the same publication to Johnny Cash as, ..."one of the most imposing and influential figures in post-World War II country music." Of course, neither statement is hyperbole ...

714
Live Review

B.B. King Live At The Hollywood Bowl, September 5, 2007

Read "B.B. King Live At The Hollywood Bowl, September 5, 2007" reviewed by AAJ Staff


One of the greatest blues figures is, of course, B.B. King. King fused the Texas blues playing of T-Bone Walker with a broader, almost literary sensibility; his thicker solo lines provide the opportunity to tell a story, to impart depth, and to dominate a horn section or at least supplement it on equal terms. Walker had learned his art from leading Blind Lemon Jefferson around from bar to bar when Walker was a young teenager in Dallas. Jefferson ...

642
Live Review

B. B. King in Denver

Read "B. B. King in Denver" reviewed by Geoff Anderson


B. B. King Buell Theater Denver, CO April 19, 2010

B. B. King is the last of the authentic Delta bluesmen. That group includes legends like Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. King is the real deal. He was born in the Delta and grew up on the plantations, doing farm work. He logged many a mile guiding a plow behind a mule. Later, he drove tractors ...

337
Album Review

B.B. King: One Kind Favor

Read "One Kind Favor" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins


It's well-established that the blues, an art form born out of the Mississippi Delta cotton fields in the early 1900s, is a root of all forms of popular music: rock, pop, jazz, funk and even hip-hop. The man known as Riley B. King was born in the environment of that Delta, and has since become the most recognized name in blues--and perhaps, the most influential as well: B.B. King. Though Itta Bena, MS has long been recognized ...

2
Album Review

Jimmy Smith: Dot Com Blues

Read "Dot Com Blues" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


He's known as one of the founding jazz fathers of Hammond B-3 organ funk, but Jimmy Smith has always played the blues. Born in December 1928 in a suburb west of Philadelphia, Smith has been performing since he was 12, at that time in a song and dance act with his father. After a stint in the navy, Smith took advantage of the GI Bill to study bass, piano and music theory upon his service discharge. During this period Smith ...

193
Album Review

B.B. King: Let The Good Times Roll: The Music of Louis Jordan

Read "Let The Good Times Roll: The Music of Louis Jordan" reviewed by Ed Kopp


B. B. King pays tribute to his late friend Louis Jordan with this swingin' collection of covers.Jordan’s music has not been lacking for attention of late. First, the Broadway show “Five Guys Named Moe" became a smash hit on the strength of his tunes. Then a horde of zoot-suited ex-rockers became Jordan imitators during the retro-swing craze. With the swing thing now waning, the King of the Blues has decided the time is right to put his own ...

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Video / DVD

B.B. King at Sing Sing, 1973

B.B. King at Sing Sing, 1973

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers


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Obituary

B.B. King (1925-2015)

B.B. King (1925-2015)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

It was bitter cold in 2011 as I waited for B.B. King's two tour buses to arrive at the Independence Events Center just outside of Kansas City. It was early January and one of those florescent late afternoons where everything seems to be in black and white and the sun takes a slide at 3:30. When the coaches arrived, one snuggled up next to the building's stage ramp while the other hooked left into the parking lot. A few minutes ...

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Performance / Tour

Liv Warfield at B.B. King Blues Club on April 6, 2014

Liv Warfield at B.B. King Blues Club on April 6, 2014

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations

Liv Warfield has burst onto the scene like a fireball from the sky – hitting the Jimmy Fallon Show, the Arsenio Hall Show and the Late Show with Letterman! That’s a late show trifecta. Musicians dream about a run like this. Where did Liv Warfield come from? And where has she been? The powerhouse from Portland (Oregon) was discovered on YouTube by his Royal Purple Majesty…Prince. I first met her at a pre-show Prince press conference at the Mohegan Sun ...

Event

Legendary "Secret Agent Man" Johnny Rivers Sets First NYC Concert In 25 Years, 9/28 At B.B. King's

Legendary "Secret Agent Man" Johnny Rivers Sets First NYC Concert In 25 Years, 9/28 At B.B. King's

Source: Seth Cohen PR

Legendary ‘Secret Agent Man’ Johnny Rivers Plans First New York Concert in 25 Years, as Hi-Fidelity Music Presents: JOHNNY RIVERS Comes Home - “A 70th Birthday Celebration" B.B. King Blues Club & Grill September 28, 2012 Backed By An All-Star Band featuring JIMMY VIVINO, WILL LEE + RICH PAGANO from THE FAB FAUX The legendary “Secret Agent Man" Johnny Rivers has confirmed his first New York City Concert in over 25 years, for September 28th at B.B. King Blues Club ...

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Event

Jambalaya Brass Band to Perform for Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Party at B.B. King Blues Club

Jambalaya Brass Band to Perform for Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Party at B.B. King Blues Club

Source: Carol Green, Redwood Entertainment

New York, NY—Jambalaya Brass Band, NYC's ultimate New Orleans party band, will be performing four sets at the Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Party at Lucille's in the world famous B.B. King Blues Club & Grill on Tuesday, February 21, 2012, starting at 7:00 PM. At Lucille's, along with tunes from their successful CD It's a Jungle Out There, Jambalaya Brass Band will be performing other original and traditional favorites. The band's foundation will be provided by Ron Caswell on Tuba, ...

168

Festival

B.B. King, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Cyndi Lauper and Jan Garbarek, stars of the Heineken Jazzaldia (San Sebastian, Spain)

Source: San Sebastian Jazz Festival (Jazzaldia)

B.B. King will be opening a massive open-air free-entrance show in the Green Stage at the Zurriola beach on July 21. Heineken Jazzaldia (San Sebastian Jazz Festival) is due July 21-25. The Festival will have a new venue (the San Telmo Museum) along with the Kursaal Auditorium, the Zurriola beach and the Plaza de la Trinidad (Trinity Square). Other confirmed names are: Abdullah Ibrahim, Mavis Staples, Dave Douglas, Medeski Martin and Wood, John Scofield, Hiromi, Charlie Haden, Cassandra Wilson, Toots ...

43

Interview

Interview: B.B. King

Interview: B.B. King

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Proud of your vast CD collection? Think your iTunes library is bursting with great stuff? Trust me, B.B. King has you beat. Two weeks ago, when I was in Missouri to interview the 85-year-old blues legend while he was touring on the road, I spent time with “the Boss" in the back of his cozy bus. My interview appears in today's Wall Street Journal (go here). Like a kid eager to show off a cool toy, B.B. was only too happy ...

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Recording

Listen up Preview: Big Head Blues Club, Featuring B.B. King, "Crossroads Blues" (2010)

Listen up Preview: Big Head Blues Club, Featuring B.B. King, "Crossroads Blues" (2010)

Source: Something Else!

By Nick DeRiso Robert Johnson's “Crossroads Blues" remains one of the most terrifying, wonder-filled songs, even if you don't know the oft-told tale of how the doomed Mississippi bluesman became so proficient so quickly at playing his guitar. It's one of the reasons that, despite the brevity of his time on this earth—born about 1910 and dead by 1938, likely poisoned by a lover's jealous mate after recording just 29 tunes—Johnson is still a touchstone for artists as diverse as ...

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Book / Magazine

The B.B. King Treasures: Photos, Mementos & Music from B. B. King's Collection

The B.B. King Treasures: Photos, Mementos & Music from B. B. King's Collection

Source: All About Jazz

In 1947, with a two-and-a-half dollars in his pocket and his guitar on his back, Riley B. King, a sharecropper moonlighting as a blues and gospel musician, hitchhiked to Memphis from his home in Indianola, Mississippi.

Today, after touring the world as an ambassador of the blues for more than half a century, B. B. King is a living legend.

Like a celebration thrown by B.B. for his countless fans, published for the occasion of his 80th birthday, The B. ...

234

Festival

Telluride Blues and Brews B.B. King, ZZ Top, Galactic

Telluride Blues and Brews B.B. King, ZZ Top, Galactic

Source: JamBase

TELLURIDE BLUES & BREWS ANNOUNCES INITIAL LINEUP B.B. King, ZZ Top, The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, Allen Toussaint, and Galactic

Telluride Blues & Brews 2009 by Dino Perrucci The Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, which will be held September 17-20, 2010, has announced B.B. King and ZZ Top will be headlining this year's festival. Joining these legendary artists on the Blues & Brews stage will be Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, Allen Toussaint, Galactic, Black Joe Lewis & the ...

Adam Levy
guitar
Seth Okrend
guitar and vocals
Habaka KFJ
vocals
Peter Novelli
guitar, electric
Bees Deluxe
band / ensemble / orchestra

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Blues Master Works

Crown Records
2013

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One Kind Favor

Geffen Records
2008

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King Of The Blues

Crown Records
2000

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Dot Com Blues

Verve Music Group
2000

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