Now synonymous with the blues he’s played for decades, B.B. King has been on the road since before it was paved. At age 82, he's still pursuing a career he began in the late 1940s and continues to play more than 100 dates a year. He’s cut the genre’s biggest pop hit (“The Thrill is Gone”), recorded with the world’s biggest pop group (U2’s “When Love Comes to Town”), and made more than 60 albums and concert films, including the new
B.B. King Live DVD.
Then there’s his guitar playing. Even if the King captured on his new DVD is subdued compared to the ebullient spirit who shouted his heart out on classic albums like
Live at the Regal, he remains the world’s most influential guitarist, instantly recognizable by a single note. His sustain, vibrato, elegant bending and phrasing, and resolute swing has inspired musicians of all genres. And through it all
his Gibson guitar Lucille has been at his side. She’s changed incarnations over the years, evolving from an
ES-345 to the sleek machine he caresses on
B.B. King Live,
an elegant 80th Anniversary model―gorgeous in black pearl finish with crowns on the headstock and pickguard, designed especially to celebrate his 80th birthday―September 16, 2005.
On top of all that, King has a reputation for being one of the nicest, most gracious men in show business. He’s certainly been a charming host every time I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with him over the past decade-plus.
Here’s a compendium of previously unpublished excerpts from some of those interviews that capture the great B.B. King in reflection, talking about his life, his music, and the blues.
On his status: “I’m always happy when people mention the blues and mention my name. It makes me feel good. It also makes me aware that people have praised me for what I’ve done. It makes me aware that I should continue to do the best I can, not slack on it. Some people say. ‘It’s time to retire,’ but I never think about that. As long as I’m alive I’m steady tryin’ to do what I do better.”
On collaborating: “When I’m working with people like
U2 or
Eric Clapton, I’m concerned about their feelings, not mine. If it’s my project, I want them to be happy. If I’m working on theirs, I still want them to happy, but I’m more lenient in terms of my own musical interests. I also want to be pleasant to people.”
On his famed cordiality: “I grew up in a segregated society and I learned I can get things done much better by talking to a person with an even temperament. I find just talkin’ straight to a person, giving them the facts, they usually pay attention and listen at least somewhat.
“That’s how I stayed out of devilment back in the segregated days. I would speak as I felt, but not in anger, even though the insides of me were tearin’ apart. My mom taught me that. I remember when she was dyin’ [King was orphaned as a young boy] she said to me, ‘If you’ll always be nice to people, there will always be somebody who will stand up for you.’ She wasn’t lyin’ at all.”
On racism: “It’s no secret that it was a pattern in all the Southern parts of the country. What you might not know is that the same thing happened in many other parts of the country when we toured in the beginning. You’re gonna find that, as long as we live, it’s gonna be a part of life. But discriminating against people because of their color, creed, religion, etc., could be corrected more than it is.”
On his sartorial splendor: “I grew up on the plantation in overalls. That’s all I had to wear. I swore to God that if I lived to be a man, I would have other types of clothes to wear. I have a few pairs of jeans, but I don’t wear them around the stage.”
On sleeping with the lights on: “I swore as a poor kid that when I grew up I would have what I wanted to eat when I wanted to eat it and I would never sleep in a dark room. For a little boy sleeping alone in the Delta, the nights were very, very dark. After my mama died, I stayed with some of my relatives for a while, and they would talk about ghosts and then at 9 o’clock say, ‘It’s time to go to bed, boy.’ And then they’d cut the lantern. So I do not sleep in a dark room even if there’s somebody with me.”
On his courtly stage demeanor: “My heroes as bandleaders were Count Basie, Bennie Goodman, Duke Ellington, Jimmy Lunceford, Lionel Hampton … I loved Nat “King” Cole and the Mills Brothers. When they were on-stage they were dressed in uniforms. You didn’t see them drinking or smoking. That’s my idea of being on the bandstand. That and addressing your audience with love and respect.”
On living his songs: “I can see the characters when I’m singing. For example, when I sing about a ‘Sweet Little Angel,’ I see this beautiful lady. Man, she’s beautiful―either in the nude or dressed or in her kitchen or driving a car. All of these beautiful things I see in my mind. But if it runs into an area that’s emotional, I’ll see her having dinner with a guy and something going wrong. I find myself crying some time. My only time for thinking about other things is between the songs. That’s when I come to myself. But I gotta say, when the melody starts and the rhythm section is workin’, I’m in Heaven, just floatin’, man.”
On his vocal influences: “Lonnie Johnson: I love his singing as much as his playing. He seemed to tell me stories like nobody else did. Blind Lemon Jefferson: his guitar playing and singing just went together like it was perfect. And there was others. Louis Jordan, T-Bone Walker was a fabulous guitarist, but his singing was all right. But I think gospel singers did more for me than anybody else. In my early years I wanted to be a gospel singer. I used to stutter, but when I got to singing a gospel song, somehow it made me forget about stuttering.”
On slide guitar: “Bonnie Raitt is my favorite slide guitarist. Before her it was a guy named Earl Hooker. Before him, it was Robert Nighthawk. If Hooker was living today he’d be younger than I am. Nighthawk would be near my age. I used to hear him when I was on the plantation in Mississippi. He used to come on the radio. I love his ‘Annie Lee’ and ‘Sweet Black Angel,’ ‘She Know How to Love a Man.’ I loved his singing, too. He sang like he was sleepy, but he got his words over to me. My cousin Booker [Bukka White], I liked his playing, too. They all had their own style. Earl Hooker was more sophisticated with his slide, but Robert Nighthawk was the gutty get-down-to-it blues.”
On high rolling in Vegas: “I used to think that I could win. You hear what I say? I used to think that. Now I do it for fun if I go out gambling, which I don’t do now often. Now I’m so happy to be home [King lives in Las Vegas.] I don’t go any place.
“But one of the things I like about living in Las Vegas is that you’ve got music going from early evening to late morning. You can always go hear some good music―the best ever, because they come here from around the world to play. I don’t drink, but if I wanted to I could have a beer any time of day out among people.
“I used to gamble quite a bit, but when I do go out now it’s just for fun. I might get lucky a little bit. It’s hardly nobody who comes and gambles and don’t win something, but what they do is give it back and more. I hardly play poker any more unless it’s a machine. But I like to play blackjack and keno.
The only big money I ever won was keno. I won $50,000 a couple of times playing keno. But I’m not gonna tell you how much I lost playing that.”