RIP B.B. King

Steve Atwood · Post by **Steve Atwood** » 16 May 2015 5:29 am

Imagine if he had played steel:

from an interview on NPR:

GROSS: (Laughter) Now you also left Hawaiian guitar. How did you hear Hawaiian guitar, and how did it - why was it so exciting to you - it was another sound you tried to emulate?

KING: Well, I'd hear it on the radio. I would hear the Hawaiian sound or the country music players played steel and slide guitars, if you will. And I hear that - to me, a steel guitar is one of the sweetest sounds this side of Heaven. I still like it. And that was one of the things that I tried to do so much was to imitate that - that sound. I could never get it. I still haven't been able to do it, and that was the beginning of the trill on my hand.

http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript ... =406988156

Bill L. Wilson · Post by **Bill L. Wilson** » 16 May 2015 12:50 pm

One "WELL PLACED NOTE" that's all you need!...Rest In Peace, Friend.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 16 May 2015 1:02 pm

KING: ...to me, a steel guitar is one of the sweetest sounds this side of Heaven... one of the things that I tried to do so much was to imitate that - that sound... and that was the beginning of the trill on my hand.

I like that! And that B.B. King "butterfly vibrato" with his left hand was part of his signature sound. One note of that was instantly recognizable... B.B. King!

robert kramer · Post by **robert kramer** » 17 May 2015 3:28 am

Excerpt of Rolling Stone interview with B:

Q: None of those guys were bending notes with vibrato the way you did:

"I wanted to be able to do like my cousin, Bukka White and some of the other great slide guitarists. I have stupid fingers. They just wouldn't do it. Or stupid head, one or the other. And I also fell in love with Leon [McAuliffe], who used to play steel guitar with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. I never knew his last name, but you'd always hear Bob say, oh, Leon. And the guitar talked."

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/featu ... 515?page=3

Michael Breid · Post by **Michael Breid** » 17 May 2015 5:29 am

Mike Perlowin was right. And a lot of people today don't have a clue when they go to a concert of just what the "real" music is. It's just an excuse to get high, drunk, or see who you can pick up. Believe it or not, Mr. Ripley, there is still great music out there for the listening. B.B. was a classic. RIP Mr. Bluesman.

Tommy Detamore · Post by **Tommy Detamore** » 17 May 2015 6:43 pm

B.B. was a huge influence on me. He was one of the first artists I ever saw in concert. And as a young guitar player I tried hard to emulate his style.

I was fortunate enough to meet him once in a hotel elevator in London. We had just finished a show at Wembley Arena, and he was coming in from his show at Royal Albert Hall. We said hello and I told him I was a musician and was huge fan of his music. He asked "What do you play?" When I told him steel guitar, he said "Ooh I like that!" I thought that was so cool!

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 18 May 2015 12:42 pm

Are you sure that's B B King? It looks like he is playing a chord:

robert kramer wrote:

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 18 May 2015 2:04 pm

Yeah, B.B. said in a recent interview that he had forgotten how to play chords.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 19 May 2015 7:10 am

Doug Beaumier wrote:Yeah, B.B. said in a recent interview that he had forgotten how to play chords.

There was no reason for him to do that himself since he could hire people to do it for him. It says here on the internet (so it must be true) that he grossed about $100 million, of which $10 million to $30 million remains. The vultures are circling around the estate.

Glenn Suchan · Post by **Glenn Suchan** » 19 May 2015 9:09 am

Here's a track from my absolute favorite B.B. King album, Live at the Regal, recorded in November 1964, well before his "The Thrill is Gone" fame:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDXz4DHa9aY

Here's the whole album, but I urge you to buy it if haven't already:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMTpa2wRFIQ

RIP B.B. The 'Sweet Little Angels' in heaven are happy to have you home.

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 19 May 2015 4:14 pm

If you don't have it, the Live in Japan CD is a great one. BB stretches out on guitar more than usual.

RIP.

robert kramer · Post by **robert kramer** » 20 May 2015 10:44 am

More "Live at the Regal"

"How Blue Can You Get"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq-o9hr4vy0

I gave you a brand new Ford - you said I want a Cadillac
I bought you a ten dollar dinner - you said thanks for the snack
I let you live in my penthouse - you said it was just a shack
I gave you seven children - and now you want to give them back

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 26 May 2015 11:43 am

Mike Perlowin wrote:I saw B.B. King and Ike and Tina Turner open for the Stones in 1969. He was awesome...
The kids in the audience were completely clueless. They had no idea who he was or why the Stones hired him or what his music was all about...

But the Stones did.
Back in the '60s we, in Britain, revered the old blues singers more than they were appreciated back home. BBKing is one of those, who, like Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, Lighting Hopkins and Leadbelly paved the way for the Liverpool Sound, which was nothing more than re-introducing American music to Americans. It's a weird turn of fate that American folk music is studied more outside of America than it is in its home.

George Redmon · Post by **George Redmon** » 26 May 2015 9:03 pm

I read where BB's estranged kids are saying his manager poisoned him, and kept his kids away from him. Hear anything about that?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 26 May 2015 9:45 pm

Yes, unfortunately. Here we go again... family members fighting over the estate of a dead, rich musician. We've seen this movie before.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 28 May 2015 12:14 pm

Yes indeed. I wonder how my daughters will fight over my extensive collection of instruments when I disappear from existence. I just hope they don't throw them all in the dumpster.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 28 May 2015 1:10 pm

I read that B.B. admitted to having 15 children by 15 different women, none of whom he was married to. He was married twice but had no children with his two wives. No wonder he had to keep playing until age 89. Imagine paying child support for 15 kids!

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 28 May 2015 5:11 pm

...at least he acknowledged his obligations. Most men don't.

Steve Schell · Post by **Steve Schell** » 31 May 2015 10:17 pm

My brush with greatness: I was providing piano service/standby for the Long Beach (CA) Blues Festival in the early 1990s, working for founder and organizer Bernie Pearl. B. B. King was the headliner that year, and there was concern all afternoon as B. B. was running late. Finally a huge bus arrived on the backlot just in time and the musicians filed out. I was touching up the piano for perhaps a bit too long as B. B. and his band came onstage. Finally his keyboard player (piano, B3) burst out "I wanna have it in tune man, but I gots to go right now!" They gave a great performance!

The Steel Guitar Forum

RIP B.B. King

Imagine if he had played steel

The Great B.B. King.