B.B. King Gets Blues on Birthday

By Brett Ratner

Most people take the day off on their birthday.

Not blues legend B.B. King. At the tender age of 70, the "King of the Blues" signed the side of an airplane, brought the house down at his Memphis club and headlined a star-studded concert held in his honor.

The celebrations began on a rainy morning Thursday, October 26.

The scene: on the tarmac of the Memphis airport. Amidst the din of screaming jet engines and screeching tires taxied Northwest Airlines flight 4812 from Atlanta. As it rolled in gracefully to the ramp, one realized that this was no ordinary commercial plane. This jetcraft was graced with a painting of "Lucille", B.B.'s beloved Gibson, in commemoration of his birthday. This was the first time in Northwest's history such an honor was bestowed.

As throngs of onlookers, reporters, camera crews and enthusiastic airline employees pushed forward to see their hero, King emerged into the misty air to climb the stairs leading to the plane. As the precipatory conditions worsened, King hastily added his signature to the painting and then held up his real-life guitar, providing a photo opportunity. The entourage then headed back into the friendly confines of the terminal.

The scene: rehearsals later that day at Willie Mitchell's Blues Club on Beale Street. Like a who's who in classic American music, the performers filed into the club to crank up the amps in preparation for the big gig Friday night.

Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs, Keb Mo', Willie Mitchell, Preston Shannon and others ran the house band through its paces on a selected original tune, and a B.B. King classic. The vibe was laid back, but the enthusiasm of the performers was undoubtedly evident. Scaggs had little trouble explaining his interest in the ensuing concert.

"It's not often that you get to pay tribute to one of the masters," Scaggs said. "That's why I'm here."

On the hit single "Blind Love" and King's "Low Down", Scaggs was also putting a well-worn Gold Top Les Paul through its paces. Scaggs gave us a brief history on his #1 ax. "I had a [ES]335 stolen before a gig," explained Scaggs about an unfortunate experience that happened in the early 1970's. "I told the roadie to go to the nearest store and buy me another Gibson quick. This is the one he came back with and I've played it ever since."

Food and drink flowed amongst the small crowd that assembled as the performers, (including a full-blown gospel choir,) took to the small Willie Mitchell's stage. Charts were passed around, amps were tweaked, vocal harmonies were worked out and tension mounted for the upcoming festivities.

The scene: B.B. King's Blues Club on Beale Street, Thursday night. The King Bees took the stage of the packed house. The sharply dressed outfit, featuring a full horn section to compliment the standard guitar/keys/bass/drums, got the crowd pumped and ready for and evening of searing blues. Guitar Jake, a 15-year old blues wizard added to the excitement with his slick licks and surprisingly deep vocals. Little Jimmy King, who wields a Flying V strung right-handed but played left handed, got the award for the most searing guitar solo. He achieved this despite a broken string sustained by playing a little to hard with his teeth.

Sportin' a shiny jacket and his gal "Lucille", B.B. proceeded to grab the spotlight. The first thing one notices about B.B. live is that King, (typically associated with sparse, well-spaced notes,) has chops! Standing the better part of the first set, King more than kept up with his young-gun stage companions. He tempered his flurries of notes with crying sustain and a mature ear for note placement.

Taking a seat, King took the opportunity to bond with the audience. As a performer, King has a disarming presence. It's like listening to your grandpa give you advice, except for the fact that grandpa never had a rhythm section to back him up. Overall, his songs have an air of wisdom about them.

Highlights of his set was a snotty version of "How Blue Can You Get" and an emotional "The Thrill Is Gone". The latter tune ended with King whipping off a blistering solo, slinging his guitar to his side and making his way towards the frenzied audience to sign autographs.

The scene: soundcheck at the Orpheum Theater on Beale Street, Friday. The stage crew had a strong sense of purpose. With a surprising blend of speed and precision, lights were hung, monitors checked and drums were tuned. Huge racks of broadcast equipment was set up backstage so that those not fortunate enough to be part of the sold-out crowd could watch the event in the comfort of their own home. Next to the T.V. crew lived the Gibson guitar support station, headed by luthier supreme Mike McGuire of the Gibson Custom Shop. As the night would progress, the guitars of Slash, Buddy Guy, Willie Nelson and, yes, Lucille herself would find solace in McGuire's expert care. Also on hand was an array of Les Pauls, Epiphone hollowbodies, Nighthawks, Custom Shop Les Paul Bantams and Tobias basses. Several of these instruments found their way on stage for the big show.

Slash proved to be the highlight of soundcheck. Not yet knowing which tunes he would eventually perform with B.B., Slash warmed up his chops to "The Thrill Is Gone", throwing in some surprisingly tasty, un-metallic blues licks. Visiting Gibson's guitar island later to sign some Epiphone Hollowbodies to be donated to various charities, we commented on Slash's tastefulness.

"It's too early in the morning to be tasteful," the top-hatted one said, apparently not realizing that it was now 6:30p.m.

The scene: Showtime. Excitement bubbled as the enthusiastic, sold-out crowd gathered in front of the Orpheum. People scouring the masses for tickets abounded. But there were few to none willing to give up a pair of tickets for this show. This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

As the doors opened, the crowd quickly filed into the theater. Featuring chandeliers and ornate balconies, one hardly imagined this as a setting for a rippin' blues concert.

A spotlight, (and ensuing round of applause,) guided B.B. King to his seat in one of the side balconies. With the King in his rightful throne, it was time for the festivities to begin.

It only took a few notes from Willie Mitchell's urgent saxophone for one to forget that this was a place where one usually watches ballet. The flamboyant Preston Shannon followed by ripping off some serious string bending on his bright red ES335 playing "Sweet 16".

Keb Mo' conjured up images of Robert Johnson with his skillful fingerpicking and earthy vocals. The infectious rhythm of "Dirty, Low Down and Bad" soon had the crowd clapping in time. Leaving the stage after a spirited performance of "Don't Answer The Door," Mo' couldn't hide his enthusiasm.

"I was shocked when they asked me to do this," Mo' said. "I learned about the blues by imitating B.B. It's just an honor to be around blues legends. It's a privilege".

David Porter hosted the first portion of the evening, sharing anecdotes of B.B.'s early years. Porter's presentation was augmented with a video that featured artists such as Bonnie Raitt and Keith Richards singing happy birthday to the King.

The evening moved right back into the music with performances by The Thomas Family, the smooth and cool Isaac Hayes and blues diva Wendy Moten. The songstress resembled a young Tina Turner with her emotional performance of "Proud Mary".

Rufus Thomas took the mic to share his recollections of King's early days, complete with video. Bobby "Blue" Bland and J. Blackfoot then wasted no time getting the tunes rolling again. Boz Scaggs took the stage with his smooth and poppy hit "Blind Love" in sharp contrast to his version of "Low Down". Buddy Guy proved to be a study in dynamics with "Sweet Angel" and his theme song "Damn Right I Got The Blues". Guy proceeded to repeatedly bring the band down to a whisper and then up to a roar. Unfortunately in the process, he forgot to concentrate on playing the song.

O'Landa Draper performed "Six Silver Strings", ironically with a choir backing her up instead of an orchestra of guitarists.

After a series of presentations by Hayes, the Jeff Healey Band, without question tore it up with Healey's theme song "See The Light". Kim Simmonds from Savoy Brown joined in the fun with some tear-jerking slide work.

Michael McDonald made short work of keeping the vibe of with "How Blue Can You Get". McDonald truly turned some heads with his prowess as a blues singer. "Takin' It To The Streets" earned kudos as an evening highlight. It was certainly the last incendiary performance of the evening. After his performance, McDonald seemed thrilled simply to honor his musical upbringing.

"[The concert] reminds me of all the great music that came out of Memphis," McDonald said. "I grew up in a time when B.B. King and Albert King were all the rage. It's great to see it revitalized."

The house band had a difficult time keeping time behind Willie Nelson's disjointed guitar and vocals. He was still cool to listen to however.

As an evening finale, King and Slash took the stage. While the two have previously performed together, they had difficulty getting in sync with each other. It was certainly a disappointment after hearing Slash's soundcheck and B.B.'s performance the prior evening.

Everyone joined onstage for "The Thrill Is Gone". Some cool solos were traded, but the tune fell a bit short of the boil everyone was hoping for.

No worry, the crowd truly dug it and all the performers headed for a post concert bash at Willie Mitchell's which yielded the barn burning jam everyone was expecting. I guess a fancy theater ain't no place to get the blues.

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