The Legacy of B.B. King
October 12, 2008
Man About Town
By Kurt Moore
klmoore@earthlink.net
The year was 1948, the town was Memphis and the station WDIA. Riley B. King had just been given a DJ position with the station and needed a catchy name. The first name he thought of was “Beale Street Blues Boy,” later to be shortened to “Blues Boy King.” That was further shortened to the name so familiar to America and the world today, B.B. King.
B.B. “Blues Boy” King is without doubt master of the Blues. Self described in song as a blues man, but a good man, B.B. laced his performance at the Welk Resort Center Theater with stories to drive home points to the audience.
B.B. is the son of a Mississippi sharecropper. Raised beyond poor, B.B. grew up with a guitar in his hands and worked the dives, clubs and other venues to become not only the “Blues Man” of song but became, according to Rolling Stones magazine, the third greatest guitar player ever.
Kurt L. Moore (KLM): “Mr. King, it’s been stated and written in Rolling Stones Magazine you are the third greatest guitar player ever.”
B.B. King (BB): “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
KLM: “Who would you say is the number one guitar player in the world?”
BB: “Eric Clapton is the greatest rocker. If Chet Atkins had not died, he would be the greatest all-around guitar player.”
Writer’s Note: Number one on the Stones list is Jimi Hendrix and number two is Duane Allman, both dead. That would make B.B. King the greatest living guitar player of all time.
B.B. King tells of a world few of us know—the world of start-up show business in the Deep South. He tells of dives, wild nights, pretty women and other assorted characters. His world of his past is described so one can almost smell the inside of the tavern, bar or saloon and feel the emotion of the blues as the house sways to the tempo.
B.B.’s a much laid back soul off stage, but on stage he is in his element. On stage, B.B. is on fire with the blues—almost totally opposite off stage.
Back in his dressing room, after the show, he is quiet, reserved and relaxed as he munches on a tray of treats.
BB: “This is the first time in history a black and a woman are running in a presidential race. Our country is growing up.”
B.B. King sits in a chair during the lion’s share of his performance.
BB: “I can’t walk or stand very long because of diabetes. My knees bother me a lot.”
B.B. is very relaxed even with people in his dressing room. We chat casually while he tells of things in and about his life. That will be another story for another time.
B.B. King is filled with the old south; so much so, you can actually feel it coming through him. You can smell the hot, muggy southern nights filled with the mournful wailing of the blues wafting from a nearby roadhouse.
B.B. King is King of the blues; no doubt about it my friend. He is his own man, born and bred with deep southern roots that have stayed with him throughout his life. He is an emissary of what the south is all about.
KLM: “Mr. King, when the last guitar has been strummed, the last song sung and the last curtain goes down, how do you want to be remembered?”
BB: “I would like to be remembered as a good neighbor to all.”
I am certain he will be. I am also certain he will be remembered as a straight, strong man who, in the end, will be judged by his character and not by the color of his skin.
B.B. King’s legacy will be his music, left behind, for many generations yet to enjoy.
We thank you B.B. King for enriching our lives by bringing your music to Branson.
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