BB King Album Guide and Biography

Classic Rock and Roots

Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B. B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimmering vibrato, and staccato picking that influenced many later electric guitar blues players. AllMusic recognized King as "the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century".  He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and is one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of the Blues", and is referred to as one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and Freddie King, none of whom are related)

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00:00Riley B. King was born in Ittubena, Mississippi in 1926. King was the son of sharecroppers,

00:14and he moved around Mississippi during his youth and began singing in a gospel choir. King eventually

00:23moved to Memphis, Tennessee. King eventually moved to Memphis, Tennessee, a city where he would begin

00:30to play music professionally and work as a radio DJ. King arrived in Memphis with his cousin,

00:37the country blues guitarist Bucca White, and landed a job as a disc jockey on the Memphis radio station

00:45. It was there that he was coined B.B., a moniker which means Blues Boy. In 1949, King landed a

00:57recording contract with RPM Records. Many of his early recordings were produced by Sam Phillips,

01:04who had later found Sun Records. He also assembled a band which came to be known as the B.B. King

01:12Review. During 1949, King was playing at a honky-tonk when a fire broke out during one of his shows.

01:20As the patrons, musicians, and King himself fled the bar, King realized that he had forgotten his

01:28guitar inside. He battled the flames as he re-entered the burning structure in order to save his forgotten

01:36guitar. He later heard that the fire was caused by a fight in the bar about a girl named Lucille.

01:44King named his guitar after the girl, and Lucille, the guitar, has gone down in history.

01:51By the 1950s, King had become one of the biggest names in the blues, amassing numerous hit recordings

02:00and touring almost constantly. Among his hits during the 1950s were Three O'Clock Blues,

02:08Woke Up This Morning, Please Love Me, and Whole Lotta Love. He gained a reputation as one of the best

02:16guitarists in popular music with his economical style which featured string bending and heavy vibrato.

02:24Every rock guitarist that followed would be influenced directly or indirectly by King's style

02:31of guitar playing. In late 1964, King would perform a show at the Regal Theater in Chicago. The performance

02:40was recorded and the resulting album, Live at the Regal, would be hailed as one of the best live

02:47blues or rock recordings of all time. King had a huge hit in 1970 with the song, The Thrill Is Gone.

02:56The song would appear on both the pop and R&B charts. By 1964, King had signed with ABC Records,

03:04which would be absorbed into MCA Records and then Geffen Records. King passed away at the age of 89

03:12in 1915. In addition to his legendary album, Live at the Regal, Live in Cook County Jail from 1971

03:23is an excellent live album. Completely Well from 1969 and Indianola Mississippi Seeds from 1970 are

03:34outstanding studio albums. Several greatest hits collections are also recommended for King,

03:40especially for his earliest work. Among these albums are The Best of B.B. King from 1973,

03:48The Best of B.B. King Vol. 1 from 1986, The Best of B.B. King Vol. 2 also from 1986,

03:57The Vintage Years from 2002, Original Greatest Hits from 2005, and Gold from 2006.

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