[MUSIC] Artist of the Month >.>. B.B. KING - Repost

[Taymist]

twinflower

 

Joined: 17 Mar 2006

Location: OKC, OK

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:42 pm    Post subject: [MUSIC] Artist of the Month>> B. B. KING   

 

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Rolling Stone ranks him as the third greatest gruitarist of all time. He is also been a pilot, a gambler, fathered over fifteen children, been married several times, a supporter of Children in the Arts and a spokesman for diabetes. His guitar is named Lucille, he plays over 200 perfomances a year all over the world. He has played with the likes of Muddy Waters, U2, Bo Diddley, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton….or rather they have played with him. The man will be 82 years old this September..still out playing gigs and making his guitar sing! Who is it?

 

Riliey B. King

The Ambassodor of the Blues

B.B.King!

 

It has been more than six decades since B.B. King started making music, singing and playing the guitar, his first experiences in his church as a kid, then on street corners busking for change One small move in 1946 was the catalyst that sent King on his way to world acclaim…moving to Nashville to be closer to the music, and learning the blues from his cousin Bukka White. In the early years King played the “chitlin circuit”, a group of juke joints and small clubs, but in 1949 he had started recording albums. He soon found his way to the top of the R&B charts with such songs as..Three O’Clock Blues, Sweet Black Angel and Rock Me Baby. Although many people had been hearing the influences of King’s unique style of music being incorporated by other musicians of the sixties, it wasn’t until his recording of The Thrill is Gone that the average person knew who he was!

 

The unique style of B.B. King? He has a velvet voice that can make a person cry, and lead you straight into the blues! But it is his relationship with the guitar that sets him apart. King doesn’t play chords, and freely admits he can’t very well! Rather he plays single note solo’s, insisting that every note count…he uses a trilling vibrato on the fingering and bends the strings to make his guitars sing. He claims that when he voice is silent, it is Lucille who takes up the chorus..singing for him. *for those that don’t know…King’s guitars are always named Lucille…a story for yet another day this month*

 

There is so much to learn and appreciate about this fantastic artist…..I will be posting more info as the month progresses!! Please any comments, thoughts, questions..bring them here..for now I leave you with a few tunes to whet your interest….

 

Rock Me Baby This is one of my favorites..in this video performing with Eric Clapton

 

The Sky is Crying BB introducing the “new blood” to the blues..Stevie Ray Vaughn

 

Watch the fret work in this clip…that is the trill and the bend…..Sweet Little Angel

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Auld Manriva

 

Joined: 10 Jul 2006

Location: Lower Alabama

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:26 pm    Post subject:     

 

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The Auld Man first saw B.B. at about this time at the Blue Law club in Los Angeles.

Just a Little Love. Bill Graham in San Francisco and New York had begun a couple years earlier, pairing relatively unknown Blues and R&B players with Rock bands popular to us unwashed masses. This in order to widen our horizons and the fan base for these incredible artists we wouldn't have seen or heard otherwise. Radio being what it was in those days.

 

I dearly love B.B. King, and these vids with him and younger players are like watching a son come show Pops, the old master, what he can do now. This one with the brilliant Irish player Gary Moore (of Thin Lizzy and Skid Row to name just a couple) is just that. Listen to the masterful, subtle call and response they do on The Thrill is Gone.

 

B.B. also, like Howling Wolf and Muddy Waters, has one of the most evocative and iconic voices in the whole of Rhythm and Blues... Find 'himself' and Bobby Blue Bland on YouTube for yourselves and take a backbone slippin' trip on a Blues Train.

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Alishandra

 

Joined: 30 Apr 2007

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:56 pm    Post subject:     

 

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You know, I have never really heard anything from BB King and knew it was him singing. I just heard one of his songs that I know I had heard before but never knew was him. He does have a wonderful voice and his style of playing the guitar is very interesting!

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twinflower

 

Joined: 17 Mar 2006

Location: OKC, OK

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 5:01 am    Post subject:     

 

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I think you are not alone Ali! Many people recognize the voice, and the musical sound and style but don't realize it's BB. Although he has won a gazillion awards....even inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame...they don't know the name. Although in recent years he has become more known teaming up with the likes of U2...Eric Clapton (Riding with the King) and many other high profile groups of the last decade....

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Auld Manriva

 

Joined: 10 Jul 2006

Location: Lower Alabama

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 4:55 pm    Post subject:     

 

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Its the homogenization of radio, and other media. That and people not listening out of their range. BB is old school. I couldnt get my granddaughters to listen to him for 30 seconds, but get some sideways hat wearin' no talent hack on there and "OMG that's sooooooo cooool!!"

 

It's too bad the curiosity to find out where their favorites music comes from has been amputated... It's that way in the arts across the board, unfortunately..

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twinflower

 

Joined: 17 Mar 2006

Location: OKC, OK

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:13 pm    Post subject:     

 

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that's true!

 

One of the things I keep running across as i am Learing more about BB King..is that he has always stayed true to the blues....it is his core and center! But he has not limited himself, thinking only blues. He has over the decades incorporated the sounds of almost all genres in his music and playing...with a blues attitude.

 

One of the other FAQ's about BB King is his guitar...named Lucille. Back on the Chitlin Circuit..in one of the bars he was playing at, a fight broke out between two men about a woman. Back then these places were heated with kerosine lite off in a barrel, well the barrel got tipped over and the bar caught fire. BB ran out without his guitar, then ran back in the rescue it. Later, to remind himself to never do anything that stupid again he named the guitar Lucille. Who was Lucille? The woman the men were fighting over!!

 

Since then BB has had many guitar's, always named Lucille. Fender created a signiture edition, Lucille, in honor of BB.

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Apollo277

 

Joined: 18 Mar 2006

Location: New York/London

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:27 pm    Post subject:     

 

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I adore BB King, me dad always had him on when I was a kid. Few artists ever put as much soul into their work than BB.

     

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Taymist

 

Joined: 23 May 2006

Location: Scotland

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 2:09 am    Post subject:     

 

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BB is a true bluesman, he's legendary. One of blues guitars greatest and most recognizable ambassadors as well as a superb entertainer. I wouldn't call him a great guitarist, there are several far better players but he's had an impact that can't be measured on the music scene and many of our leading musicians today. There's no denying his unique style or that he was doing his thing long before anyone else, I just think in some ways, he's over rated.