Riley B. King was born in Itta Bena , Mississippi ,
in 1926. He is still active today as a blues performer well into his eighties.
He is currently a resident of Memphis ,
Tennessee , the city he came to in
the Forties to play music and work as a radio DJ.
King arrived in Memphis
with his cousin, the country blues guitarist Bukka White, and landed a job as a
disc jockey on the Memphis
radio station, WDIA. It was here that he was coined “BB,” a moniker which
means, “blues boy.” In 1949, he landed a recording contract with RPM Records.
Many of his early recordings were produced by Sam Philips who would later found
Sun Records. He also assembled a band which came to be known as the BB King
Review.
During 1949, King played at a honky-tonk
where a fire broke out during one of his shows. As the patrons, musicians, and
King fled the bar, King realized that he had forgotten his guitar inside. He
battled the flames as he reentered the burning structure in order to save his
forgotten guitar. He later heard that the fight in the bar was about a girl named,
“Lucille.” King named his guitar after the girl and Lucille, the guitar has
been with him ever since.
By the Fifties, King had become one of the
biggest names in the blues, amassing numerous hit recordings and touring almost
constantly. Among his hits during the Fifties were, “3 O Clock Blues,” “Woke Up
This Morning,” “Please Love Me,” Whole Lotta Love,” “Everyday I Have the Blues,”
“Ten Long Years,” and “Bad Luck.” He gained a reputation as one of the best
guitarists in popular music with his economical style which featured string
bending and heavy vibrato. Every rock guitarist that followed would be
influenced directly or indirectly by King’s style of playing.
In late 1964, King would perform a show at
the Regal Theatre in Chicago .
The performance was recorded, and the resulting album, “Live at the Regal,”
would be hailed as one of the best live blues or rock recordings of all-time.
King had a huge hit in 1970 with the song, “The Thrill is Gone.” The song would
appear on both the pop and R&B charts. By 1964, King had signed with ABC
Records which would be absorbed into MCA Records and then Geffen Records, his
current label.
In addition to Live at the Regal, “Live in
Cook Country Jail” (1971) is an excellent live album. “Completely Well” (1969)
and “Indianola Mississippi Seeds” (1970) are outstanding studio albums. Several
greatest hits collections are also recommended especially for his earliest
work. Among these albums are: “The Best of B.B. King” (1973), “The Best of B.B.
King Volume One” (1986), “The Best of B.B. King Volume Two” (1986), “The
Vintage Years” (2002), “Original Greatest Hits” (2005), and “Gold” (2006).