"Throughout the 1990's as well as the 1980's, 1970's, 1960's and 1950's, there has been only one King of the Blues - Riley B. King, affectionately known as B.B. King.Riley B. King was born on September 16, 1925, on a cotton plantation in Itta Bene, Mississippi, just outside the Mississippi delta town of Indianola. He used to play on the corner of Church and Second Street for dimes and would sometimes play in as many as four towns on a Saturday night.
With his guitar and $2.50, he hitchhiked north to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1947 to pursue his musical career. Memphis was the city where every important musician of the South gravitated and which supported a large, competitive musical community where virtually every black musical style was heard. B.B. stayed with his cousin Bukka White, one of the most renowned rural blues performers of his time, who schooled B.B. further in the art of the blues.
B.B.'s first big break came in 1948 when he performed on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program on KWEM out of West Memphis. This led to steady performance engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis and later to a ten minute spot on black staffed and managed radio station WDIA. "King's Spot", sponsored by Pepticon, a health tonic, became so popular that it was increased in length and became the "Sepia Swing Club". Soon, B.B. needed a catchy radio name. What started out as Beale Street Blues Boy was shortened to Blues Boy King, and eventually B.B. King. Incidentally, King's middle initial "B" is just that, it is not an abbreviation.
In the mid-1950's while B.B. was performing at a dance in Twist, Arkansas, a few fans became unruly.
Since B.B. started recording in the late 1940's, he has released over 50 albums many of them considered blues classics, like 1965's definitive live blues album "Live At The Regal", and 1976's collaboration with Bobby "Blue" Bland, "Together For The First Time".
In 1999, B.B. King released Let the Good Times Roll, his tribute to Louis Jordan. "Louis Jordan was a great musician," says King, "and in my opinion, was way ahead of his time. As people get to know him, they will realize what a great contribution he left to the music of today."
More from the source: showtimebudapest.hu
16.07.2009