B.B. King

[A_B]

Yup.

Great sound, guitar-landscape-changing methods.

[Shirley]

Yeah, I love his playing, and his great attitude and work ethic probably made him the Blues' greatest ambassador.

[sancarlos]

Seemed like a real gentleman and as said above, a great ambassador for the blues.

Kind of sad and unseemly at the end where his family and managers were fighting over his estate as he was dying. It will only get worse, now.

My t-shirt from BB King's blues bar in Memphis was a regular part of my wardrobe for about ten years.

[mister d]

I was there too!!!!!!!

[Ryan]

Will Clark died?!?!



Oh wait, I was just answering my own imaginary thread title.

[vandwagon]

Love watching him play and just letting the music flow from his whole body. RIP

[DaveInSeattle]

Was lucky enough to see B.B. many, many times over the years, starting way back in the summer of '82. Guy was a fantastic musician, and a great performer. Was trying to tell my kids about him this morning, and the fact that he always wore a suit and tie, and that he never played and sang at the same time.

One funny story...some mates and I were going to see him in Santa Fe...probably '85 or so, and my one friend didn't have a ticket. Standing outside the gates was a guy with an extra. This guy had a pretty down look on his face, and he explained that he was selling a ticket because his girlfriend had dumped him earlier that day. Later, during B.B's set, we look across the crowd, and we see the dumped ticket-seller guy, with a huge grin on his face, happily singing along with "Caldonia". That's the power of the blues....

[Pruitt]

My introduction to the blues came via "Live at Cook County Jail" - and that album still holds up.

[DaveInSeattle]

My introduction to the blues came via "Live at Cook County Jail" - and that album still holds up.

Completely holds up...as does "Live at the Regal"...

One of the super fun things about seeing B.B. live, was his trumpet player...big, heavy dude, rocking the "Rick James" jeri curl, who would dance back and forth during the entire show. And the guy was a hell of a player...

[Steve of phpBB]

Was lucky enough to see B.B. many, many times over the years, starting way back in the summer of '82. Guy was a fantastic musician, and a great performer. Was trying to tell my kids about him this morning, and the fact that he always wore a suit and tie, and that he never played and sang at the same time.

I saw him around the same time, but all I really remember from the show is being annoyed about how much time he spent on stage talking about himself.

[DC47]

I saw him in the late 70s, before he had become a big-time draw. He played in a tent at a rural California fairgrounds before a modest crowd. I'm sure he was touring incessantly, and this was far from a big time gig. It was humid and hot as hell.

But he put on a classic show, sweating from beginning to end. Everyone in the crowd knew he was playing just for them. He was a master showman.

[Pruitt]

B.B. King spent his latter years as a kind of go to reference for non blues-fans. Sort of amiable and Vegas-like as a showman. Duets with pop stars, TV commercials...

And nothing wrong with that, as the man sang - he really paid his dues.

But there was a time when the guy just smoked.