{"id":2607,"date":"2025-08-29T15:20:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T15:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/?p=2607"},"modified":"2025-08-29T22:01:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T22:01:59","slug":"remembering-bb-king-this-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/remembering-bb-king-this-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering BB King this Month"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"auto\">September 16th would have been B.B.&#8217;s 100th birthday. If you have the time, take a few minutes to reflect on a life well-lived, the gifts that he shared and the music he left us.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The man was legendary, his mastery of the genre was &#8216;other-worldly!&#8217; Happy Birthday to the King of the Blues!<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<figure style=\"width: 481px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.travelingboy.com\/tim\/bbking.jpg\" alt=\"With the \u201cKing of the Blues\u201d backstage at the Greek Theater,Los Angeles CA. Photo: Joe Reiling\" width=\"481\" height=\"468\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">With the \u201cKing of the Blues\u201d backstage at the Greek Theater, Los Angeles CA. Photo: Joe Reiling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The first time you meet the \u2018King of the Blues,\u2019 it\u2019s like greeting an old friend. He immediately puts you at ease with his welcoming smile, gripping your hand and saying, \u2018have a seat, have a seat.\u2019 I had been listening to his music most of my life and idolized him just like he was a member of my own family. So what better way to begin a conversation than, \u201cI\u2019ve heard it said the Blues is like a family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cAnother thing, it\u2019s kinda\u2019 like a tonic, it\u2019s good for whatever ails you.<\/strong> (laughter) <strong>Whatever you\u2019ve got that troubles you, there is a part of blues music that soothes whatever that ill may be.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"B.B. King - Three O Clock Blues\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/d9ozjCQkqZs\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And if anyone should know, Riley B. King would. Known the world over as simply B.B. King, this man has been the \u201cKing of the Blues\u201d for the better part of six decades. As an Ambassador and Elder Statesman of his genre, he is very aware of how some perceive his role as a Bluesman and especially how his actions can impact and influence others. And he is all too willing to share his experiences with those who follow in his footsteps.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cYes, not only just because I\u2019m a blues singer or blues musician, but I do feel there is responsibility that I should always share, if you will. Because I personally feel that if I show young people that I can play music without drugs, that I can play music without many of the things that some people think you have to have to get the feeling, if I can prove to them, which I have been doing for quite some time, that I don\u2019t use anything other than my fingers and my head\u2026\u201d<\/strong> As he begins to laugh, he adds<strong>, \u201cWhatever is left in it!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u2018Quite some time\u2019 is an understatement of monumental proportions. You would probably need to travel to the ends of the earth to find someone who hasn\u2019t heard or been affected by B.B.\u2019s blues. So if you think the phrase, \u2018reach out and touch someone\u2019 is just about your phone service, better think again.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201c$12 dollars a night!! Oh Boy, I started seeing stars.\u201d<br \/>\n&#8211; B.B. King<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>\u201cI believe it was Louis Armstrong who said, \u2018Music is a universal language and everybody understands it.\u2019 So that part I believe is true. Another part, when you try to play music to make people that are there, enjoy it. Whether it\u2019s on the radio or whether it\u2019s in the audience or whether it\u2019s on records, however you do it, they\u2019re the ones that are there and they\u2019re the ones you want to please. If you do that, every time you try to play, I believe personally, that you\u2019re going to hit 90% of the people.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On this particular night and this particular show in Los Angeles, I would estimate the average to be a great deal higher. The man is relentless when it comes to touring and performing and has been since those early days in and around the epicenter of the Blues; Memphis, Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cMemphis to me, then and still is, the home of the Blues as far as I\u2019m concerned. I know Chicago have taken over and all that, but Memphis to me is the home of the Blues! And it STILL is. It is trying to reclaim what it lost at one time, because Beale Street was known for the \u2018college of blues.\u2019 Muddy Waters and a lot of guys who left Mississippi, same as I did, instead of stopping in Memphis went on to Chicago. I stopped in Memphis.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"B.B. King - Sweet Little Angel (Live)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dNr_eIgP0tI\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A geographic magnet for early delta players, Memphis was always the first stop. And as most blues enthusiasts know, B.B. even got his name from the city. That\u2019s where Riley B. King became \u2018The Beale Street Blues Boy.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cHardly anybody that played the blues, didn\u2019t stop in Memphis at one time or the other. Even after that time, even today the British rock and Blues musicians have came through Memphis. I\u2019m just happy, in America we have a music that is called Blues and we can share it with the world.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>B.B. King began sharing his music with the world with the help of Sonny Boy Williamson II (aka Rice Miller.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWhen I first came to Memphis I\u2019d been listening to a guy, before I left Mississippi, called Sonny Boy Williamson. I use to hear Sonny Boy and a group called the King Biscuit boys (King Biscuit Time on KFFA radio) because they advertised for a flour company called King Biscuit Flour. So it seemed to me like I knew them. Isn\u2019t it funny that you watch TV or listen to radio and there are certain performers or announcers that you come to feel like you really know them, like your next door neighbor? (See opening paragraph) That\u2019s the way it was with me with Sonny Boy. So when I went to Memphis I had a chance to meet him! Well, you know, it\u2019s sort of funny I felt he outta\u2019 know me too, \u2018cause I knew him so well. (laughing) Anyway I asked Sonny Boy if he\u2019d let me go on his show and I had to audition for him. And he said, \u2018Yea, you can do that number you played for me.\u2019 So I went on his show that day and as fate would have it, he had two dates for that night. He had two places to play; one place where he played regularly for a lady called Miss Annie at the 16th Street Grill. He didn\u2019t get that much for it because it was kind of like a home base. If you ain\u2019t got no place to play, come on over here, always. But that night he had another place they were gonna\u2019 pay him maybe, oh, four or five times of what he would have made that one night. So he called Miss Annie and he said, \u2018Did you hear that boy on the radio today? She said yes. He said, \u2018Well I\u2019m going to send him down in my place tonight and I will be back tomorrow night.\u2019 So she said fine. And he looked at me and said, \u2018Boy, and you better play too, when you get there! Sonny Boy was one of those big, tall guys, one of those guys, like I don\u2019t want to tangle with him.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cI went to her place that night and my job was to play for the people that wasn\u2019t gambling. At that time West Memphis was like a little Las Vegas and her place was a little gambling establishment. The men, most of the men would gamble, a lot of the ladies did not. The front part of the little caf\u00e9, they served food, had a jukebox and everybody would dance. So if you had live music, like which I was, they didn\u2019t have to put no money in the jukebox and if you played and had a good beat, everybody would be dancin\u2019 and going on. And that would keep the people in the back, because they didn\u2019t have to worry about who they brought with them. In other words, my job was to keep them there.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"B. B. King - Rock Me, Baby\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OK_AwCjK0Ak\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>So that night, the first time in my life, I made $12 dollars, man! $12 dollars. I didn\u2019t know there was that much money in the world\u2026.for one night?? When I\u2019d been on the plantation workin,\u2019 I was making $22.50 a week. And what made me want to start to play, some Saturday evenings go to another little town where my church members couldn\u2019t hear me, (laughing) I sit on the corner and sing. Sometimes on a Saturday evening I\u2019d make $23 or $24 dollars which was more than I\u2019d make all week, but here this one night I\u2019m making $12 dollars, can\u2019t believe it. So the lady said to me, \u2018if you can get a job on the radio like Sonny Boy have\u2019 she said, \u2018then I\u2019ll let you work in his place, every night. I\u2019ll give you six nights a week with one night off and $12 dollars a night AND room and board.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cOh Boy, I started seeing stars. All kind of money jumping in my pocket, oh Lord, looky here, what has happened to Riley B. King?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Memphis radio was about to become the next rung on B.B.\u2019s ladder.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWell, I learned then that there was a newly bought radio station by two young men. One was named Bert Ferguson, the other was John Pepper, and they had just bought a Country &#8211; Western station, from what I understand, at that time, was about 25 or 50 watts. A small radio station and they had turned it into an all black operated station. And it was just starting to roll. It was the first station of that kind in North America. So that day I went over there and I saw this black guy sitting up in the window and I watched this guy and when the red light went off, I banged on this picture window. So he came up to the window and opened the door and says, \u2018what can I do for you young fellow?\u2019 I say, \u2018I want to make a record and I want to go on the radio.\u2019 (laughing) And I\u2019m wet, man. It had been rainin\u2019 and I\u2019d walked about two or three miles, with my guitar on my back. You got a way, turn your guitar, turn the face with the strings to your back to let the wind and the rain hit the other parts so it don\u2019t harm it, see?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>So, he looked at me and I\u2019m wet as a rat, man. So, he called Mr Ferguson, one of the owners and says, \u2018we got this boy out here and he wants to make a record and go on the radio, he said. I told him we don\u2019t make records but maybe we can do something about the radio.\u2019 And Mr. Ferguson, even today a real shrewd guy, he\u2019s one of the nicest men I ever met. He looked at me and he said, \u2018Come on in, son and maybe we can do something.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>And that VERY day, they put me on the radio with a product that was competitive to Sonny Boy, the guy that first put me on the radio. He advertised for a tonic called, \u2018Hadacol.\u2019 That very day they was just putting in the process, a new tonic that they was gonna\u2019 advertise. This new product was called \u2018Pepticon.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>So now he said, maybe we can use him, let me hear you. I started to playing, man. Whatever it was I played, they said, \u2018Oh yeah, this is great.\u2019 Me and my acoustic guitar, I didn\u2019t have an electric guitar at the time. Well, as fate would have it, they said, \u2018we\u2019ve got to have a jingle for it.\u2019 So I started rattling my little brains trying to figure out what we\u2019re gonna\u2019 do. And I came with something that went like this, (slapping time and breaking into song\u2026) \u2018Pepticon sure is good, Pepticon sure is good, you can get it anywhere\u2026in your neighborhood.\u2019 They said that\u2019s it, that\u2019s it.<\/strong> (laughing)<\/p>\n<p><strong>So I went on by myself doing ten minutes a day. I did that for about a month, ten minutes a day then I started to be very popular. Then they gave me fifteen minutes a day. Then I hired a trio and that was the first beginning of the BB King group. And about a month or so later, one of the disc jockeys left, so Mr. Ferguson said, \u2018B, you\u2019re very popular, how\u2019d you like to be a disc jockey?\u2019 I said, \u2018Yes\u2026Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!!!\u2019<\/strong> (laughing)<\/p>\n<p><strong>So they started training me to be a disc jockey and finally one day Mr. Ferguson came in, looked at me and said, \u2018B\u2019 he said, \u2018you know something?\u2019 I said, \u2018What is it, Mr. Ferguson?\u2019 He said, \u2018You\u2019re gonna\u2019 be very popular, you\u2019re gonna be a good disc jockey, but you\u2019ll never learn to TALK!\u2019 (laughing) So now, whenever I screw up a word, I smile and say, \u2018You were right, Mr. Ferguson.\u2019<\/strong> (laughing)<\/p>\n<p>When BB King first started touring, his path was littered with jukes, dance halls, rowdy crowds, and assorted wildness. Playing in those old converted barns, roadhouses, and bars back in the day always had a price. The cost could range from your rent money or your instruments, to the more personal affronts involving your girl or your next breath.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWell, the club I\u2019m thinking about wasn\u2019t so rowdy, but I did thank God I got out of there alive. This place was in Twist, Arkansas. This is where my guitar got the name, where I named my guitar \u2018Lucille.\u2019 This place we used to play quite often and it used to get quite cold there, in Twist. They used to take what looked like a big garbage pail and set it in the middle of the floor, half fill it with kerosene, light that fuel and that\u2019s what we used for heat in winter.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m thinking where\u2019s the Fire Marshall and OSHA when you really need them?<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cPeople would usually dance around it and never disturb it. But this one night, two guys start to fight and one of them knocked the other over on this container. When he did, it spilled on the floor. Now, when it spilled it looked like a river of fire, so everybody started running for the front door, including B.B. King!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>But when I got on the outside, I\u2019d realized then I left my guitar and went back for it. When I did, the building was a wooden building and it started to collapse around me. I almost lost my life trying to save it. The next morning we found that these two guys were fighting about a lady that worked in the nightclub. I never did meet her, but I learned that her name was Lucille. And I named my guitar Lucille, to remind me to never do a thing like that again. But that was the one place that I was so happy that I did get out alive.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Although B.B never refers to himself as the \u201cKing of the Blues,\u201d everyone else on the planet does. But when he speaks of his life and the music he loves there remains little doubt, royalty is in our midst.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cBlues to me, I think of it like beauty, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Blues to me is life. As we\u2019ve lived it in the past, as we\u2019re living it today and as I believe, we\u2019ll live it tomorrow. Because it has to do with people, places and things, and is good for whatever ails you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thank you, Mr. King. I\u2019m feeling better already.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cBy the way, I want to say one thing more in terms of that tonic. We used to sell tons of it. And it took me years to find out why so many of the older people bought it, especially church members. About four or five years ago somebody sent me a bottle of it. They don\u2019t sell it anymore, but somebody sent me a bottle that they kept. And I found out it was 12 percent alcohol.\u201d<\/strong> (laughing)<\/p>\n<p>I guess now we know why you were so POPULAR.<\/p>\n<p>(still laughing) <strong>\u201cI guess you\u2019re right!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cYes, not only just because I\u2019m a blues singer or blues musician, but I do feel there is responsibility that I should always share, if you will. Because I personally feel that if I show young people that I can play music without drugs, that I can play music without many of the things that some people think you have to have to get the feeling, if I can prove to them, which I have been doing for quite some time, that I don\u2019t use anything other than my fingers and my head\u2026\u201d As he begins to laugh, he adds, \u201cWhatever is left in it!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[701,1034,13,1033,848,19,309,1035],"class_list":["post-2607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-bb-king","tag-bb-king-interview","tag-blues","tag-bluesman","tag-chicago","tag-home_page","tag-los-angeles","tag-memphis"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Remembering BB King this Month - Traveling Boy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/remembering-bb-king-this-month\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Remembering BB King this Month - Traveling Boy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cYes, not only just because I\u2019m a blues singer or blues musician, but I do feel there is responsibility that I should always share, if you will. Because I personally feel that if I show young people that I can play music without drugs, that I can play music without many of the things that some people think you have to have to get the feeling, if I can prove to them, which I have been doing for quite some time, that I don\u2019t use anything other than my fingers and my head\u2026\u201d As he begins to laugh, he adds, \u201cWhatever is left in it!\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/remembering-bb-king-this-month\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Traveling Boy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-29T15:20:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-29T22:01:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/bbkingTim.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"481\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"468\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim E. 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