National blues act
B.B. King
Live and well
National Blues Artist of the Year doesn't
begin to cover it. When all is said and done, B.B. King is the blues
performer of the millennium. Tangible proof? Seventy-plus albums, several
biographies, awards and gigs from Vegas to Vatican City. He's been the man ever
since he was the Beale Street Blues Boy, starting out at a Memphis radio
station when he was fresh from Itta Bena, Mississippi. But the intangibles are
greater still: his guitar style -- no, just the way he bends a single note --
has had a profound impact on uncounted guitarists. That note will be heard at
house parties, jukes, theaters, and arenas long after B. has gone to a greater
reward. So what did he do in his 73rd year? Well, he produced a record for the
first time, his fine Blues on the Bayou (MCA). Still, a mid-1960s LP,
Live and Well (MCA), contains an introduction that still says it all.
Over an instrumental from the band, the announcer comes to the mic: "Ladies and
gentleman, it's Blues Time. I'd like for you to get yourselves together, get
yourselves in the frame of mind to dig the KING, that is, the KING of the
blues, Mr. B. . . . B . . . King."
The Official B.B. King page at MCA Music
A B.B. King bio at Biscuit Time
A B.B. King site at World Blues.com
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