One of the first things anyone saw or heard about legendary American blues guitarist’s B.B. King’s passing away on May 15 was the mention of his 1969 hit ‘The Thrill Is Gone’. The internet has a way of misjudging poetry, it seems. That’s when the blues diehards came along to point out that ‘The Thrill Is Gone’ was more about a love losing its passion, and nothing to do with death.
Quite contrary, B.B., born Riley B. King in 1925, would want his music to live on forever, rather than people mourning the death of the blues or the guitarist himself.
For over 65 years, B.B. King lived up to his name of being one of the most reputable names in blues rock, singing about everything from love to guitars to (of course) the blues, averaging at about 200-300 shows every year, well into his 70s. King influenced everyone from Eric Clapton to Buddy Guy, thanks to his renditions of songs such as the downright raunchy ‘Rock Me Baby’ to the rambling blues rock ode to his guitar ‘Lucille’ and his 1959 Number One howling hit ‘Sweet Sixteen’.
Like the best in blues, King went from rags to riches – beginning as a tractor driver in the 1940s when he landed a regular playing gig in Memphis. Within a few years of performing and composing live, King began ruling the charts in the 1950s when it came to R&B. When B.B. sat down to play ‘Lucille’, which is what he called his guitars, everyone else always got up on their feet – whether it was US President Barack Obama or some of the coming generations of blues greats, from Buddy Guy to Clapton to John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr.
The tributes have poured in for King – Eric Clapton recorded a video message in which he said, “There’s not a lot left to say, because his music is almost a thing of the past now. There are not many left to play it, in the pure way that B.B. did. He was a beacon for all of us who loved this kind of music and I thank from the bottom of my heart.” Clapton went on to recommend one of King’s best known work from 1965, B.B. King Live at the Regal. Buddy Guy posted his own tribute to King. He said, “B.B. King was the greatest guy I ever met. The tone he got out of that guitar, the way he shook his left wrist, the way he squeezed the strings... man, he came out with that and it was all new to the whole guitar playin’ world. He could play so smooth, he didn't have to put on a show. The way BB did it is the way we all do it now. He was my best friend and father to us all. I'll miss you, B. I love you and I promise I will keep these damn Blues alive.”
And if you’re still looking for the right B.B. King song to share as a tribute to the legend, try ‘Lucille’, or even better, his Eighties song ‘Why I Sing The Blues’, on which King makes peace, “ Now Father Time is catching up with me/Gone is my youth/I look in the mirror everyday/And let it tell me the truth/I'm singing the blues/ I just have to sing the blues/I've been around a long time/Yes, yes, I've really paid some dues.”
