The biographies do include the bare facts so we did too: born on 16th September 1925 to Nora Ella and Albert King, who were share croppers. His parents divorced when B was 4 and his mother and grandmother died within months of each other when Riley was 10. He carried on living alone in his grandmother's shack for five years before his father took him away unsuccessfully. When he returned he borrowed $15 to buy a red Stella guitar, he became part of a gospel group and was working driving a tractor from can to can't. (can see when the sun was up until you couldn't see after sundown).
His occupation was on the reserved list which meant that he was excused National Service during the war. He did prang the tractor however and he ran away to Memphis to seek out his 2nd cousin Bukka White. His conscience got the better of him and so he returned to the farm to pay for the repair debt. Once that was done he headed back to Memphis.
The first four songs he cut there for Bullet during May 1949 don't often get a full hearing - I found them on a Catfish disc that was issued and swiftly withdrawn for unspecified reasons. (the song about his wife "Miss Martha King" isn't hard to find however). B B King was dismissive when asked about the sides but he shows off some decent singing in a couple of blues styles with enough promise to get him a deal with RPM/Modern the following year.
In 1954 he did guitar duties for a single by Otis Spann, the instrumental "Five Spot" was on the flip side and in our survey on STAR BLUES. By 1956 he was doing over 340 one-night stands in a calendar year (still the record surely). So he invested in a bus "Big Red" but early in 1958 the vehicle was in an accident that killed two people in the other car and truck. All the group escaped unhurt through the back of the bus but B was left with a big bill to pay out of his own pocket. The insurance company had been suspended on the Friday, BB had commitments to fulfil over the weekend and he intended getting replacement insurance on the Monday morning. It took him years to clear it.
His troubles continued in 1958, he met Miles Davis who spoke about how the bizness worked and so started to get itchy feet regarding his contract with the Bihari Brothers. Down in Miami in July he recorded four songs for the Chess label. After some discussions Chess had to hand over the tapes and the sides weren't issued officially in the USA for a couple of decades. Vagaries in European licencing made them more readily available and just about every budget blues anthology having something by BB King used these tracks. "Recession Blues" is a fine piece, "Tickle Britches" done with more tongue in cheek shall we say. The other two are ballads that we ran out of time for last night.
King did sign for ABC in 1962 and his first recording session used the Maxwell Davis Orchestra. One number "Little Mama" laid around unloved from the date, it first saw light of day as an extra to the lovely project Dick Waterman put together to mark B's 80th birthday in 2005. It also had a similarly rare "May I have a talk with you" from the early 70s.
Two other significant events happened in 1971, he followed in the footsteps of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry by coming to England to record; he also set up F.A.I.R.R. with lawyer F Lee Bailey. The "In London" album included a track where he put Lucille on one side in favour of an acoustic instrument, he got backing from Alexis Korner and Humble Pie where Steve Marriott was understated on harp. The charity was something dear to BB King's heart as he thought he'd only just marginally avoided his life taking a criminal path at different times. the FOUNDATION for ADVANCEMENT of INMATE REHABILITATION and RECREATION was an important initiative as so many of the inmate population in America are African-American. He played dozens and dozens of gigs behind bars for prisoners; he recorded projects at Sing Sing, San Quentin and the gig at Cook County in 1971 (it yielded one of his landmark albums). In 1993 his concert in Gainesville prison included a family member in the inmate throng. "People" magazine ran a feature piece.
The Ali-Frazier fight billed as "Rumble In the Jungle" took place in Zaire in 1974, there was to be a filmed concert the day before as build up to the encounter. BB King was on the bill and he is in the film, the song "Sweet Sixteen" from the event was put onto the sampler prom for 2012's bio-pic "Life of Riley" so we put it into our tribute running order. Though B has always been a seasoned traveller he was less than thrilled with the plane used to get him to the gig: a tiny three wheeler so laden down that the front wheel barely touched the ground. There were genuine concerns about the plane's ability to take off and land. The weight was in the band equipment carried by James Brown entourage (theirs wasn't a one off gig in Zaire, they were due the entire continent). Luckily common sense prevailed and BB persuaded James to ship his gear on a separate flight for the remaining journeys.
We did have a number of songs where B provided guest guitar and we think you'll agree Lucille was always present as a distinctive voice no matter the setting. "Patches" is a pretty sentimental piece of hokum but just savour how far BB King dug down to let his guitar soar above the string arrangement. It was a masterful piece of showmanship. There was a telling dialogue with Elvin Bishop before and after their version of Roy Milton's "Keep A Dollar In Your Pocket", B asks Elvin if he could remember B stating he was King of the blues, Bishop had to concede not: surely ending the nonsense about "King of the Blues" once and for all.
Riley B. King a lowly sharecropper upbringing did play for Kings, Presidents and the Pope - he never forgot seeing the body of a black man displayed for public entertainment on court house steps after execution. He played for prison inmates and became an honourary doctor at Yale. He endorsed Pepsi, KFC, Budweiser and Panasonic. He even appeared in the Simpsons.
The most recent song we played was a piece he did with Buddy Guy, wherein they reflected on how lucky they'd been and how they enjoyed how things were turning out for them - only seasoned road warriors that had seen and done what they have would be entitled such reflective contemplation. Buddy Guy commented to his friend "You're the best that did it and got away with it".
Thank goodness he did, he filled a huge hole in our souls and when it all comes down, his music will still be around.
| track.title | track.artistsort | index | album.title | album.artistsort | label | duration | writercredit |
| I'm Movin' on | B. B. King | 1 | There Is Always One More Time | B. B. King | MCA | [ 4 mins 16 secs ] | sample / Jennings |
| Sinner's Prayer | Ray Charles & B. B. King | 9 | Genius Loves Company | Ray Charles | CONCORD | [ 4 mins 20 secs ] | fulson |
| Stay Around a Little Longer | Buddy Guy Featuring B.B. King | 4 | Living Proof | Buddy Guy | SILVERTONE | [ 5 mins 0 secs ] | hambridge / nicholson |
| Alexis' Boogie | B. B. King w. Alexis Korner & Humble Pie | 1 | In London | B. B. King | BLUESWAY | [ 3 mins 29 secs ] | B. B. King / Alexis Korner |
| Little Mama | B. B. King | 6 | B. B. King Treasures | B. B. KingDick Waterman | BULLFINCH PRESS | [ 1 mins 51 secs ] | B. B. King |
| May I Have a Little Talk With You | B. B. King | 12 | B. B. King Treasures | B. B. KingDick Waterman | BULLFINCH PRESS | [ 3 mins 53 secs ] | B. B. King |
| Walking Dr. Bill | B. B. King | 1 | Life Of Riley | B. B. King | UNIVERSAL | [ 5 mins 41 secs ] | clayton |
| Sweet Sixteen | B. B. King | 7 | Life Of Riley | B. B. King | UNIVERSAL | [ 6 mins 11 secs ] | B. B. King |
| Patches | George Jones & B. B. King | 11 | Rhythm Country And Blues | Various Artists | MCA | [ 6 mins 12 secs ] | Clarence Carter |
| Woman's Got Soul | B. B. King | 1 | tribute to Curtis Mayfield | Various Artists | [ 3 mins 50 secs ] | Curtis Mayfield | |
| Keep a Dollar in Your Pocket | Elvin Bishop feat. B. B. King | 5 | The Blues Rolls On | Elvin Bishop | Delta Groove Music | [ 4 mins 53 secs ] | Roy Milton |
| Miss Martha King | B. B. King | 1 | Got The Blues | B. B. King | CATFISH | [ 2 mins 40 secs ] | B. B. King |
| When Your Baby Packs Up and Goes | B. B. King | 2 | Got The Blues | B. B. King | CATFISH | [ 2 mins 28 secs ] | B. B. King |
| Got the Blues | B. B. King | 3 | Got The Blues | B. B. King | CATFISH | [ 2 mins 47 secs ] | B. B. King |
| Take a Swing With Me | B. B. King | 4 | Got The Blues | B. B. King | CATFISH | [ 2 mins 33 secs ] | B. B. King |
| Five Spot | Otis Spann feat. B. B. King | 6 | Chicago Blues - Chess Masters | Various Artists | CHESS | [ 2 mins 43 secs ] | Otis Spann |
| Blues Hotel | Koko Taylor feat. B. B. King | 6 | Royal Blue | Koko Taylor | Alligator | [ 4 mins 4 secs ] | jon tiven |
| how blue can you get | b b king | 15 | how blue can you get live recordings | b b king | MCA | [ 5 mins 57 secs ] | feather |
| Recession Blues | B. B. King | 15 | Chess Rarities | Various Artists | CHESS | [ 2 mins 22 secs ] | B. B. King |
| Tickle Britches | B. B. King | 17 | Chess Rarities | Various Artists | CHESS | [ 0 mins 0 secs ] | B. B. King |
| Better Not Look Down | B. B. King | 2 | Introducing B. B. King | B. B. King | MCA | [ 3 mins 11 secs ] | sample / jennings |
| When it All Comes Down | B. B. King | 5 | King Of The Blues | B. B. King | MCA | [ 4 mins 12 secs ] | B. B. King |
No comments:
Post a Comment