I’m going to cheat for my first blog post of 2021. This is not an artist I grew up with – but I wish, oh how I wish, I had! Unfortunately, AIR never played B.B. King – his was a name spoken of at engineering college campus, in hushed tones over a glass of Old Monk – this was the guy who was Clapton’s guru (along with J.J. Cale). My God – what an understatement that was for the “King Of The Blues”! I first heard B.B. in 1998 when a boss of mine gave me a CD called “Deuces Wild” to listen to. I was instantly and forever a fan – if you’ve never heard B.B. please please, please listen to this album. It is a collection of duets of classics, sung by B.B. King and some of the most famous artists of our time. There’s Eric Clapton (‘Rock Me Baby’), The Rolling Stones (‘Paying The Cost To Be The Boss’) , Tracy Chapman (‘The Thrill is Gone’), Joe Cocker (‘Dangerous Mood’), David Gilmour (‘Cryin’ Wont Help You’…. I promise, in 30 minutes you will become a fan forever!

B.B. King really was the MAN! Watch this video of BB doing “Paying The Cost” at Crossroads and see Eric Clapton (!!) being a fan-boy – it’s mind boggling  to realise just how much reverence B.B. was held by one the best guitarists of all time. Watch Eric from 3:20 to 4:20 looking at BB with awe and affection – it’s super cute?

B.B’s blues were grounded in the reality of black America, being born on a cotton plantation and actually picking cotton till his early teens. Getting his first guitar at 12, at 18 he left the plantation for Memphis and became a disc jockey and musician on the radio. Hanging out at Beale Street, the mecca of the blues, he used to listen to and play with some of the biggest names in Delta Blues, and very soon acquired the nickname of “Beale Street Blues Boy”, which was shortened to “B.B.” and he forever became “B.B. King”!

B.B. is also famous for his favourite guitar called “Lucille”. The story about Lucile goes like this – one night in 1949, B.B. was performing at a dance in Twist, Arkansas, when two men started fighting over a woman, knocked over a kerosene stove and set the club on fire. The place was evacuated, but King rushed back inside to retrieve his guitar. Upon learning that the woman the men were fighting over was called Lucille, B.B. decided to name his guitar Lucille – to remind himself never to fight over a woman…..and never to run into a building on fire! ?

His voice is probably even more recognisable than his guitaring! That gravelly baritone, seems to rise from deep down in his soul. It’s like a volcano rumbling, deep in the earth, getting ready to erupt – his voice was hand-crafted by God himself to sing the blues. Bono’s comment about BB’s voice is a classic. When they were recording ‘When Love Comes to Town’, Bono was blown away by King’s vocal. “I gave it my absolute everything I had in that howl at the start of the song,” Bono said. “Then B.B. opened his mouth, and I felt like a girl.”? 

B.B.King played with and was respected by every artist you can think of, was known as an amazing gentleman who loved his audiences and gave them everything when he was in front of them.  He was without doubt the “Chairman Of the Board” – audiences regularly gave him a standing ovation when he came on stage – as a mark of respect and love. His album “Live At The Regal” is probably the best blues album ever recorded – if you never listen to any other blues album, please listen to this. And watch his “Live at Albert Hall” and Crossroads videos on YouTube. 

Hail to the King. The King Is Dead. But he will live forever in my ears!