Talented, Guitarist, Blues, Singer
B.B. King Riley B. King better known as B.B. King was born on September 16th 1925 to a family of sharecropping farmers near a cotton plantation in tiny small town named Itta Bena in the Mississippi Delta. According to http://rockhall.com/inductees/bb-king/bio/ King moved to Memphis, Tennessee in his early twenties with the intention of making his living playing the blues. He landed a regular spot as a deejay and performer on radio station WDIA, where he became known as the Beale Street Blues Boy. King also built a reputation as a hot guitarist at the Beale Street blues clubs, performing with a loose-knit group known as the Beale Streeters. This group included vocalist Bobby Blue Bland, a longtime peer and collaborator. In my opinion B.B King unique style and enormous talent empowered him to become one of the greatest to ever do it. King is widely regarded as one of the most influential blues guitarists of all time, inspiring countless other electric blues and blues-rock guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and a list of others. It has been said that King doesn’t play chords on the guitar instead he bends each string till the notes seem to cry. His style echoes his upbringing in the Mississippi Delta and coming of age in Memphis, Tennessee. King is so uniquely different from other artist because it is the sound from his guitar that makes him stand out in so many ways. Very few artists have that distinctive sound that is easy recognizable once you hear king play and sing its easy recognizable because the sound is so distinct from other guitarist and musicians.
B.B. King is a legend. Every blues guitarist on singer on the planet is still trying to get his unique sound and his technique. Also He has written some of the most famous blues songs of all time such as "The thrill is gone" or "Everyday i have the blues" these are just a few of his many songs. His singing voice is amazing and he has kept that same class and charisma that he has had since he released his first record. Most people have said that he just an all-around likeable guy that everyone likes to be around he does not let his pride get in the way he still remembers where he came from. Many people like fact that he is humble person. He admits that he does not play chords very well and he only started the bee sting vibrato because he was bad at slide guitar he has not went to guitar school or any form of music school. In fact King taught himself everything that he knows He stated that he owes it all to man above the make the creator God.
Back in the early days, King nicknamed his guitar Lucille; as if it were a woman with whom he was having a channel of communication with king had a strong love for Lucille he said that was his first love. In fact King looks at his guitar as an extension of his voice and vice versa. King stated that “The minute I stop singing orally, that’s when I let the strings cry and “I start to sing by playing Lucille.” However, many people wonder why king named his guitar Lucille there is history behind this name. There have been many Lucille’s over the years, and Gibson Guitar Company has even marketed a namesake model with King’s approval so Gibson has a line of guitars named after kings guitar. The name of the guitar comes from a gig back in 1949. A couple guys there got into a fight over a woman, and they ended setting the club on fire. B.B. King escaped, but then he realized he had forgotten his guitar inside. Risking his life to save the guitar, he asked what the name of the woman that the two men were fighting for was, and it turned out to be Lucille. Her name was Lucille that’s where he ultimately got the name