Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally asB.B. King, was an Americanblues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style ofsoloing based on fluidstring bending, shimmeringvibrato, andstaccatopicking that influenced many laterelectric guitar blues players.[9][10]AllMusic recognized King as "the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century".[10]
He was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and is one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning thenickname "The King of the Blues", and is referred to as one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along withAlbert King andFreddie King, none of whom is related).[11][12][13] King performed tirelessly throughout his musical career, appearing on average at more than 200 concerts a year into his 70s.[14] In 1956 alone, he appeared at 342 shows.[15]
He was attracted to music and taught himself to play guitar beginning his career injuke joints and on local radio. He later lived inMemphis and Chicago. Then, as his fame grew, he toured the world extensively.
While young, King sang in thegospel choir at Elkhorn Baptist Church inKilmichael. He was attracted to thePentecostalChurch of God in Christ because of its music. The local minister performed with aSears Roebuck Silvertone guitar during services and taught King his first three chords.[20] Flake Cartledge, his employer in Kilmichael, bought him his first guitarfor 15 dollars. Cartledge withheld money from King's salary for the next two months until he repaid the debt.[21][18]
In November 1941,King Biscuit Time first aired, broadcasting onKFFA inHelena, Arkansas. It was a radio show featuring the Mississippi Delta blues. King listened to it while on break at the plantation. A self-taught guitarist, he then wanted to be a radio musician.[22]
In 1943, King left Kilmichael to work as a tractor driver and play guitar with the Famous St. John's Gospel Singers ofInverness, Mississippi, performing at area churches and onWGRM inGreenwood.[23][24] He served in theU.S. Army duringWorld War II but was released after being ruled as "essential to the war economy" based on his experience as a tractor driver.[25][26][27]
Poster of B.B. King and Bill Harvey and Orchestra with a photo of King holding his guitar and Evelyn Young playing saxophone
In 1946, he followedBukka White toMemphis, Tennessee. White took him in for the next ten months.[18] King returned shortly afterward to Mississippi where he better prepared himself for the next visit. Two years later, he returned toWest Memphis, Arkansas. He performed onSonny Boy Williamson's radio program onKWEM in West Memphis where he began to develop an audience. His appearances led to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis and later to a ten minute spot on the Memphis radio stationWDIA.[28] The radio spot became so popular that it was expanded and became theSepia Swing Club.[29]
He worked at WDIA as a singer and disc jockey where he was given the nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy", later shortened to "Blues Boy" and finally to "B.B."[30][31][32] It was there that he first metT-Bone Walker. King said, "Once I'd heard him for the first time, I knew I'd have to have [an electric guitar] myself. 'Had' to have one, short of stealing!"[33]
According to King and Joe Bihari, one of the founders ofModern Records and its subsidiaries,Ike Turner introduced King to theBihari brothers while he was a talent scout for them.[35][36] Before his RPM contract, King had debuted onBullet Records by issuing the single "Miss Martha King" (1949), which did not chart well. "My very first recordings [in 1949] were[sic] for a company out of Nashville called Bullet, the Bullet Record Transcription company," King recalled. "I had horns that very first session. I hadPhineas Newborn on piano; his father played drums, and his brother,Calvin, played guitar with me. I hadTuff Green on bass,Ben Branch on tenor sax, his brother, Thomas, on trumpet, and a lady trombone player. The Newborn family were the house band at the famous Plantation Inn in West Memphis."[37]In 1949, King began recording songs under contract with Los Angeles-basedRPM Records, a subsidiary of Modern.Sam Phillips, who later foundedSun Records, produced many of King's early recordings.
King assembled his band, the B.B. King Review, under the leadership of Millard Lee. The band initially consisted of Calvin Owens and Kenneth Sands (trumpet), Lawrence Burdin (alto saxophone),George Coleman (tenor saxophone),[38]Floyd Newman (baritone saxophone), Millard Lee (piano),George Joyner (bass) and Earl Forest and Ted Curry (drums). King hiredOnzie Horne, a trained musician, to be an arranger and assist him with his compositions. By his admission, King could not play chords well and always relied onimprovisation.[39]
King supported his recordings by touring across the United States with performances in major theaters in cities such as Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, and St. Louis, as well as numerous gigs in small clubs andjuke joints in the southern United States. During one show inTwist, Arkansas, a brawl broke out between two men and caused a fire. He left the building with the rest of the crowd but ran back in to get his guitar. He said he later learned that the two men were fighting over a woman named Lucille. He named the guitarLucille as a reminder not to fight over women, or run into any more burning buildings.[40]
Following his firstBillboardRhythm and Blues charted number one, "3 O'Clock Blues" (February 1952),[41] King became one of the most important names inR&B music in the 1950s, amassing an impressive list of hits[32] including "You Know I Love You", "Woke Up This Morning", "Please Love Me", "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer", "Whole Lotta' Love", "You Upset Me Baby", "Every Day I Have the Blues", "Sneakin' Around", "Ten Long Years", "Bad Luck", "Sweet Little Angel", "On My Word of Honor", and "Please Accept My Love". This led to a significant increase in his weekly earnings, from about $85 to $2,500,[42][43] with appearances at major venues such as theHoward Theater in Washington and theApollo in New York, as well as touring the "Chitlin' Circuit". 1956 became a record-breaking year, with 342 concerts booked and three recording sessions.[44] That same year he founded his own record label, Blues Boys Kingdom, with headquarters at Beale Street in Memphis. There, among other projects, he was a producer for artists such as Millard Lee and Levi Seabury.[19] In 1962, King signed toABC-Paramount Records, which was later absorbed intoMCA Records (which itself was later absorbed intoGeffen Records). In November 1964, King recorded theLive at the Regal album at theRegal Theater.[41] King later said thatRegal Live "is considered by some the best recording I've ever had ... that particular day in Chicago everything came together."[45]
From the late 1960s, his new manager, Sid Seidenberg, pushed him into a different type of venue as blues-rock performers likeEric Clapton (once a member ofthe Yardbirds andCream) and Paul Butterfield were bringing blues music to appreciative white audiences.[46] King gained further visibility among rock audiences as an opening act onthe Rolling Stones'1969 American Tour.[47] He won aGrammy Award in 1970 for his version of the song "The Thrill Is Gone"[48] which was a hit on both the Pop and R&Bcharts.Rolling Stone magazine listed it in the number 183 spot in their500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[49]
King was inducted into theBlues Hall of Fame in 1980, theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2014.[14][50] In 2004, he was awarded the internationalPolar Music Prize which is given to artists "in recognition of exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music."[51]
Discussing where he took the Blues, from "dirt floor, smoke in the air" joints to grand concert halls, King said the Blues belonged everywhere beautiful music belonged. He successfully worked both sides of the commercial divide, with sophisticated recordings and "raw, raucous" live performances.[45]
In June 2006, King was present at a memorial of his first radio broadcast at the Three Deuces Building inGreenwood, Mississippi where the Mississippi Blues Commission erected an official marker as part of theMississippi Blues Trail. The same month, a groundbreaking was held for a new museum, dedicated to him,[57] inIndianola, Mississippi.[58] TheB.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center opened on September 13, 2008.[59]
In late October 2006, King recorded a concert album and video entitledB.B. King: Live at his B.B. King Blues Clubs in Nashville and Memphis. The video of the four night production featured his regular band and captured his shows as he performed them nightly around the world. Released in 2008, they were his first performances in over a decade to be documented with a live album release.[60]
On February 21, 2012, King was among the performers of "In Performance at theWhite House: Red, White and Blues" during which PresidentBarack Obama sang part of "Sweet Home Chicago".[72] King recorded for the debut album of rapper and producerBig K.R.I.T. who also hails from Mississippi.[73] On July 5, 2012, King performed a concert at theByblos International Festival in Lebanon.[74]
On October 3, 2014, after completing his live performance at the House of Blues in Chicago, a doctor diagnosed King with dehydration and exhaustion and the eight remaining shows of his ongoing tour had to be canceled. King did not reschedule the shows, and the House of Blues show would be the last before he died in 2015.[76][77]
When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playingLucille.[78]
King used equipment characteristic of the different periods he played in. He played guitars made by various manufacturers early in his career. He played aFender Esquire on most of his recordings withRPM Records.[79] Later, he was best known for playing variants of theGibson ES-355.
In the September edition 1995 ofVintage Guitar magazine, early photos show him playing aGibson ES-5 through aFender tweed amp. In reference to the photo, King stated,"Yes; the old Fender amplifiers were the best that were ever made, in my opinion. They had a good sound and they were durable; guys would throw them in the truck and they'd hold up. They had tubes, and they'd get real hot, but they just had a sound that is hard to put into words. The Fender Twin was great, but I have an old Lab Series amp that isn't being made anymore. I fell in love with it because its sound is right between the old Fender amps that we used to have and the Fender Twin. It's what I'm using tonight."[80]
He moved on from the larger Gibson hollow bodied instruments which were prone to feedback when played at high volumes to various semi-hollow models beginning first with the ES-335 and then on to a deluxe version called the ES-355 which used a stereo option.[80] In 1980,Gibson Guitar Corporation launched the B.B. King Lucille model, an ES-355 with stereo options, a varitone selector, and fine tuners (neither of which he actually used ) and, at King's direct request, no f-holes to further reduce feedback. In 2005, Gibson made a special run of 80 Gibson Lucilles, referred to as the "80th Birthday Lucille", the first prototype of which they gave him as a birthday gift and which he used thereafter.[81]
He used a Lab Series L5 2×12" combo amplifier and used this amplifier for a long time. Norlin Industries made them for Gibson in the 1970s and 1980s. Other popular L5 users areAllan Holdsworth andTy Tabor ofKing's X. The L5 has an onboard compressor, parametric equalization, and four inputs. King also used a Fender Twin Reverb.[82]
He used his signature model strings "Gibson SEG-BBS B.B. King Signature Electric Guitar Strings" with gauges: 10–13–17p–32w–45w–54w and D'Andrea 351 MD SHL CX (medium 0.71mm, tortoiseshell, celluloid) picks.[82]
In 1991,Beale Street developerJohn Elkington recruited King to open the original B.B. King's Blues Club inMemphis and in 1994, they launched a second club atUniversal Citywalk in Los Angeles. A third club in New York City'sTimes Square opened in June 2000 but closed on April 29, 2018. Management is currently in the process of finding a new location in New York City.[83] Two more clubs opened, atFoxwoods Casino in Connecticut in January 2002,[84] and in Nashville in 2003.[85] Another club opened inOrlando in 2007.[86] A club inWest Palm Beach opened in the fall of 2009[87] and an additional one, based in theMirage Hotel,Las Vegas, opened in the winter of 2009.[88]Another opened in theNew OrleansFrench Quarter in 2016.[89]
From the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s, he appeared in several advertisements forMcDonald's.[91][92] In the early 2000s he also appeared in a campaign forBurger King.[93]
In 2000, the children's showBetween the Lions featured a singing character named "B.B. the King of Beasts" based on him.[94]
B.B. King: The Life of Riley, a feature documentary about him narrated byMorgan Freeman and directed byJon Brewer, was released on October 15, 2012.[95]
King was married twice, to Martha Lee Denton, from November 1946 to 1952 and to Sue Carol Hall, from 1958 to 1966. He attributed their failure to the heavy demands of his 250 performances a year.[18][97] It is said that he fathered 15 children with several women.[18][16] After his death, three more have come forward, claiming him as their father.[98] Though neither of his marriages produced children, biographer Charles Sawyer wrote that doctors found his sperm count too low to conceive children,[99] King never disputed paternity of any of the 15 who claimed it and by all accounts was generous in bankrolling college tuitions and establishing trust funds.[98] In May 2016, the 11 surviving children initiated legal proceedings against his appointed trustee over his estimated $30 million to $40 million estate. Several of them also went public with the allegation that King's business manager, LaVerne Toney and his personal assistant, Myron Johnson had fatally poisoned him. Autopsy results showed no evidence of poisoning. A defamation suit filed by Johnson against the accusing family members (including his own sister, Karen Williams) is pending. Other children have filed lawsuits targeting his music estate which remains in dispute.[98]
King was an FAA-certified private pilot and learned to fly in 1963 at what was thenChicago Hammond Airport inLansing, Illinois.[100][101] He frequently flew to gigs but in 1995 his insurance company and manager asked him to fly only with another certified pilot. As a result, at around the age of 70, he stopped flying.[102]
King's favorite singer wasFrank Sinatra. In his autobiography, he spoke about how he was a "Sinatra nut" and how he went to bed every night listening to Sinatra's classic albumIn the Wee Small Hours. During the 1960s, Sinatra had arranged for King to play at the main clubs in Las Vegas. He credited Sinatra for opening doors to black entertainers who were not given the chance to play in white dominated venues.[103]
In September 1970, King recordedLive in Cook County Jail during a time in which issues of racism[104] and class in the prison system were prominent in politics. King also co-founded the Foundation for the Advancement of Inmate Rehabilitation and Recreation tying in his support for prisoners and his interest in prison reform.[104] In addition to prison reform, King also wanted to use prison performances as a way to preserve music and songs in a similar way thatAlan Lomax did.[105]
In 2002, he signed on as an official supporter ofLittle Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in underprivileged public schools throughout the United States. He sat on the organization's honorary board of directors.[106]
Diagnosed withdiabetes in 1990,[107] King was a high-profile spokesman in the fight against the disease.[56][108] He appeared in several television commercials forOneTouch Ultra, a blood glucose monitoring device, beginning in the early 2000s.American Idol contestantCrystal Bowersox, who was diagnosed with diabetes at age six, would co-star with King in later commercials.[109][110]
The last eight shows of his 2014 tour were canceled because of health problems caused by complications fromhigh blood pressure and diabetes.[77][111][112] On May 14, 2015, at the age of 89,[22] he died in his sleep fromvascular dementia caused by a series of smallstrokes as a consequence of histype 2 diabetes.[113] Two of his daughters alleged that he was deliberately poisoned by two associates trying to inducediabetic shock;[114] an autopsy showed no evidence of that.[111][115]
Commemorative guitarpick honoring "B.B. King Day" in Portland, Maine
TheKennedy Center Honors – given to recognize "the lifelong accomplishments and extraordinary talents of our nation's most prestigious artists" (1995)[131]
Grammy Hall of Fame Award for "The Thrill is Gone" – given to recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance" (1998)[132]
^abHerzhaft, Gérard (1997)."B.B. King".Encyclopedia of the Blues. Translated by Brigitte Debord (2nd ed.). Fayetteville, Ark.: University of Arkansas Press. pp. 108–110.ISBN1610751396.
^abcdefgTroupe, Quincy (June 4, 1958)."BB King: American Blues Musician, b. 1925". Jazzandbluesmasters.com. RetrievedFebruary 17, 2010....was born on a cotton plantation, in Itta Bene [sic], Mississippi, just outside the delta town of Indianola.
^abSebastian Danchin,Blues Boy: The Life and Music of B.B. King, University Press of Mississippi, 1998, p. 1,ISBN1-57806-017-6.
^Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture. Edited by Jessie Carney Smith. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, California. 2011.ISBN978-0-313-35796-1, pp. 805–806.
^"B.B. King [Timeline]". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. RetrievedApril 6, 2015.1980: B.B. King is inducted into the first class of the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.
^"Grammy Database". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. February 8, 2009. Archived fromthe original on February 13, 2010. RetrievedFebruary 17, 2010.
De Visé, Daniel (2021).King of the Blues: the Rise and Reign of B.B. King (First ed.). New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.ISBN9780802158055.OCLC1261767849.
Sawyer, Charles (2022).B.B. King: From Indianola to Icon (First ed.). Atglen, PA: Schiffer Books.ISBN9780764363856.
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