Top 10 things you probably didn’t know about B.B. King
So, you think you know blues master B.B. King, who plays Thursday at Pikes Peak Center. Maybe not. Hey, no worries. Here are 10 tidbits about his life that will make you the go-to guy or gal at the concert.
King was born in a sharecroppers cabin on a Mississippi plantation in 1925.
His real name is Riley B. King. His first nickname in Memphis: the Beale Street Blues Boy, which became Blue Boy King and later B.B. King.
“I liked the blues from the time my mother used to take me to church,” King has said. “I started to listen to gospel music, so I liked that. But I had an aunt at that time, my mother’s aunt, who bought records by people like Lonnie Johnson, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson and a few others.”
King came to Memphis in 1947 and had his first big break a year later when he performed on blues great Sonny Boy Williamson’s radio program. “The King’s Spot” became a regular feature and was so popular it eventually was expanded and renamed as the “Sepia Swing Club.”
King once forced his way into a burning concert hall to retrieve his beloved $30 acoustic guitar. He later discovered that the fire was caused by a brawl over a woman named Lucille. Ever since, all of King’s Gibson guitars have been named Lucille. ”I’ve said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice,” King has said. “Stevie Ray Vaughn missed on both counts, but I never noticed.”
His emblematic vibrating guitar style was influenced by Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker and others. He, in turn, has left his mark on Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Jeff Beck and others..
”When I sing, I play in my mind,” King has said. “The minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille.”
In May 2011, King appeared on “Sesame Street” representing the letter B. “I’m a monarch who loves B words,” he sang, “so they call me B.B. King.”
At 76, the Grammy winner still tours more than 250 gigs a year, released more than 50 albums, received countless awards and been the subject of a documentary, “B.B. King: The Life of Riley.” which was release in May.
Brainyquotes.com contributed to this story.
T.D. MOBLEY-MARTINEZ, tracy@coloradosprings.com
LAS VEGAS – AUGUST 16: Recording artist B.B. King performs at his B.B. King’s Blues Club at the Mirage Hotel & Casino August 16, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** B.B. King