Bee King: biography, best songs, interesting facts, listen

BB King

"The King of Blues" - this unofficial title belongs to an outstanding guitar player, gifted singer and musician, who made an invaluable contribution to the development of electric blues and created his own unique musical style - the legendary Bee King. Many musicians, admiring his manner of playing the guitar, which was based on smooth bending and "shimmering vibrato", continually introduce famous King's musical phrases into their compositions. The extraordinary easily guessed imposing manner of performance of the famous bluesman and his rich original vocals, combined with the ringing vibrations of the strings, still attract new fans, thus proving that Bee Bi King is a truly popular superstar and idol worthy of admiration.

short biography

An outstanding musician, whom the whole world knows as the legendary bluesman BB King, was born under the name Riley B. King. That was the name of a boy who was born in the family of a simple farmer Albert King on September 16, 1925, in a place near the small town of Itta, located in Mississippi.

The child grew up in love, but his childhood could not be called completely serene. When Riley was four years old, his parents divorced, the boy stayed with his mother and grandmother. The boy's musical abilities were manifested very early, so his mother, Nora Ella King, who was the vocalist in the choir of the Baptist church, began to attract Riley to singing psalms from an early age. At nine years old, the boy lost his mother, remained in the care of his grandmother, and only a few years later his father took him to him. From a young age, Rally had to work on a cotton plantation, but in his spare time he enthusiastically played the guitar, which he bought for $ 15 at the age of 12. In 1943, King moved to Indianola, where he had to work as a tractor driver, but with free evenings he plays with great pleasure in the musical ensemble, which was very popular in that place.

After three years of a rather difficult life, Riley returns home, but soon he leaves again, but this time to Memphis to visit his cousin, famous American bluesman Bucca White. There, King patiently learned from his relative the technical subtleties of blues playing. After a year he returns home, and then after two years he leaves again for Memphis, where he decides to finally settle down and become a professional musician. First aid in this endeavor to Kingu is provided by his uncle Buck White: he gave him a debut on Radio KWEM, after which the young musician has his first fans. Following this performance, Riley receives an invitation to work as a singer and DJ on a local radio station. Due to the fact that the young musician began to appear very often on the air, he needed a new and memorable name. At first he was called "Blue Boy from Bill Street", but later this nickname was reduced to two letters "B.B." - so Riley Bee King became Bee King. 1949 in the life of King can be described as the time of the beginning of a creative take-off. At first, his first single did not receive any pleasant reviews, but this did not disappoint the young musician, he recorded one song after another, and then he made an agreement with the Los Angeles recording studio RPM Records. A little later, King gathered a small musical group, which initially consisted of eight performers. The group, dubbed “B.B. King Review,” signed a contract for a series of United States touring concerts that included performances in cities and towns across the country.

In the fifties, King's creative heat reached its apogee. He writes one song after another, which occupy the first lines of the hit parades, and releases his first album. During the tours, the musician gives a lot of concerts and as a result he becomes one of the most authoritative performers in the R & B musical style. Record in this period in the work of King was 1956, he carried out three sessions to record their new compositions, and also gave about three hundred and fifty concerts. The sixties are again very active in the creative life of the bluesman: he signs a contract with ABC-Paramount Records - a recording studio that has worked with such renowned performers as Ray Charles, Lloyd Price and Levi Siberi. As a result, new compositions appear, which are the winners of the hit - parades. In the fall of 1964, the musician performs in the famous theater "Chicago", presenting there his new innovative concert album called "Live at the Regal", which caused great enthusiasm of the public. In 1968, King took part in the folk festival held in Newport, and in 1969 won the honor of his performance to open a tour of America on the British rock band - The Rolling Stones.

The seventies are marked by an even greater rise in the career of King. He records about 80 tracks, collaborating with such renowned musicians as D. Cocker, S. Wonder, E. Clapton. During this period, BB, having won several Grammy awards, topped the list of popular bluesmen artists. He continues to successfully tour in many countries, where on average he gives about 300 concerts a year. In 1979, the famous bluesman visits the USSR for the first time. The eighties and nineties were marked by the inclusion of King in the Halls of Glory of Blues (1980) and R & B (1987). He still gives a lot of concerts, is filmed in various music television shows, but much less attention is paid to recording new songs. In 1991, King in Memphis opened the first blues club, and in 1994, this place of lovers of this musical direction appears in Los Angeles. In 1994, he again visited the Soviet Union, and then in 1997 he even participated in the Christmas concert at the Vatican.

At the beginning of the two thousandth year, King’s creative activity began to decline noticeably in 2004, due to his advanced age and rapidly deteriorating health, the musician reduces the intensity of his touring schedule. In 2004, he came to the USSR for the last time, where one of his final concert performances was held in Moscow in the Kremlin Palace, and in 2005 King decided to make a farewell tour of Europe. Nevertheless, in 2006, he again visits the UK first in March, then in July Switzerland - jazz festivals in Montreux and Zurich, and in the autumn of the same year he successfully performs in Brazil. Bee B King’s future life is not as active as he is, although he continues to perform at various blues and other festivals, participates in charity events and in 2009 he attends European countries with concerts: Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark and Finland. In the fall of 2014, King, feeling a significant deterioration in well-being, abandoned all performances, in April 2015 he was hospitalized, and on May 14 of the same year he died in 1990 in the walls of his own house in Las Vegas.

Interesting Facts

• During his creative life, which lasted about seventy years (!), BB King gave more than 15,000 concerts, visited 90 countries of the world, including three times in the Soviet Union.

• The first producer BB King, who helped the musician record some of the early songs, was his relative Sam Phillips, who later founded the well-known Sun Records label.
• BB King, leading a healthy lifestyle: he did not consume alcohol, did not smoke, was a vegetarian, destroyed the negative view of the life of musical "stars".
• BB King admitted that he knew how badly he could play chords and therefore constantly relied only on improvisation. They also joked about King that he invented his minimalist style of performance in one position, since he was too lazy to constantly move his arm along the fingerboard.
• In 1956, King tried to do business by establishing a self-owned label, called "Blues Boys Kingdom". Unfortunately, this idea was not a success due to the dense concert schedule of the musician.
• In the 50s, King worked so hard, and his popularity so quickly gained momentum that the musician's earnings per week rose from $ 85 to $ 2,500.
• By the number of concerts of data during the year, 1956 was a record one: King visited the scene more than three hundred and forty times.

• In the cinema, BB King can be seen in two musical comedies - this is Heart and Soul (1993) and Blues Brothers 2000 (2000).
• BB King was very fond of women, claiming that they were his inspiration. Officially Bi Bee married only two times. His first wife was Martha Lee Denton, the second - Sue Carol Hall. According to some reports, a total of 15 children were given to the King by the children; as a result, Bi Bi became the grandfather of 50 grandchildren.
• King always wanted to learn how to fly a plane. His dream came true in 1963, when the musician turned 38 years old. Bee Bee, in his tight concert schedule, found time to go through flight courses and get a document for the right to fly, which he often used to fly to concerts from one city to another. The musician had to give up the helm only at the age of seventy in 1995 at the insistent request of an insurance company agent.

• B.B. King was simply obsessed with the work of Sinatra: every night before going to sleep, Bee Bee listened to the compositions of an outstanding artist from his classic album called "In the Wee Small Hours". In addition, King respected Frank Sinatra for the fact that racial prejudices were alien to the legendary singer, and he helped black musicians to open the way to the stage.
• King always had a good sense of good-natured humor and was a model of gallantry, so he was not tolerant of performers who used immoral vocabulary on stage. He even initiated the organization of a community of musical authors who would not use obscene words in their compositions.
• King suffered from diabetes for more than 20 years, so he was very pleased to advertise drugs and products for patients with this disease, and moreover twice appeared in commercials about blood glucose meters.
• BB King in 1974 was one of those who opened the boxing match, which was attended by the legendary Mohammed Ali and Joe Frazier.

Creation

Bee Bee King’s contribution to the history of blues is immense. First, he created and developed his exceptional style of guitar playing, which influenced many generations of musicians. King’s signature trick was in a fairly economical way of playing, decorated with soft bending and velvety vibrato, later he became a model for future guitarists. King, unlike other virtuosos, did not run his fingers all over the fingerboard, but mostly improvised in one position. Such a seemingly minimalist style of execution is in fact very interesting and rich in beautiful intricate moves. Secondly, the creative life of BB King, which lasted about seventy years, was very fruitful. He recorded about 140 singles, gave more than 15 thousand concerts worldwide, and he has more than 40 studio albums.

Best songs

Bi-King Blues compositions are considered very emotional and accessible for perception. Here are some of them:

"The thrill is gone“- this composition, in which the performer’s expressive vocals were revealed in full, connoisseurs of King’s work are considered truly unique. King radically reworked the original recording by R. Hawkins, depicting the moans of a broken heart, followed by insensitive vengefulness on a dramatically tense background played by string instruments. in 1969, and she was immediately appreciated, becoming a hit of the charts R & B and pop music. In addition, in 1971, for the performance of this song, King received a Grammy Award.

"The Thrill is Gone" (listen)

"Three o'clock blues"- a terrific composition, permeated with amazing guitar solos, on which a kind of" croaking "vocal of the performer is superimposed. In 1951, the song immediately occupied the first line of the Billboard magazine chart and remained there for 5 weeks and held first place for 15 weeks in the R & B category.

"Three O'Clock Blues" (listen)

"Chains and things"- this sad, soaked-up song, included in the album titled" Indianola Mississipi Seeds ", was recorded in 1970. It was the result of an experiment with various kinds of arrangements. It clearly shows the distinctive King's manner of performance, as explained by the musician, born as a result of an error that created an unpleasant situation, from which King adequately unscrewed.

"Chains And Things" (listen)

"When Love Comes to Town"- very catchy composition, which bluesman recorded in 1988, along with the popular at that time U2 - rock - group from ireland. This single, which appeared when Kingu was more than 60 years old, appeared in many charts and gave impetus to a renewed interest in the work of the musician.

"When Love Comes to Town" (listen)

"Every Day I Have the Blues"- the song recorded in 1955 is still considered the benchmark of blues music. It entered the top ten of the R & B charts, and in 2004 from the Hall of Fame Grammy Award received an award as a musical record that has historical significance.

"Every Day I Have the Blues" (listen)

"Lucille"

Lucille - King named all his guitars by this female name, the name did not appear by chance, this was preceded by some dramatic events that happened to King in the town of Twist in Arkansas during one of his touring tours. By coincidence, instead of the promised concert hall, the musicians had to perform in a cold, uncomfortable building, more like a barn. To heat the room, the organizers decided to use an old barrel half full of kerosene as a stove. During the concert, two young men got into a fight, as a result of which an improvised stove turned over, kerosene came out and a fire started. In a panic, people ran out into the street, and King rushed to the exit with them, but suddenly remembered that his favorite instrument remained on the scene. At the risk of his life, the musician returned to the burning building - the guitar was saved.

Later, Riley learned that as a result of a scuffle that began because of a girl named Lucille, two people died. Since then, in memory of this tragic event, all King’s guitars have worn this female name. Unfortunately, the saved tool was stolen some time later from King: the thieves dragged him out of the trunk of the car. The musician was so upset by the loss of his favorite, that in the newspaper he advertised a reward of 20 thousand dollars for the return of the guitar, which in fact cost only $ 30. Throughout his life, King did not lose hope of finding his first Lucille, constantly increasing the reward, which in the end was already 900 thousand dollars. Guitar to the owner never returned. King had seventeen "Lucille" in total, but he never played the last one, this instrument was presented to the musician for his seventieth birthday, and a portrait of a bluesman was depicted on it. King never took her with him on tour, the guitar hung all the time at his home, BB just admired her. Subsequently, the famous company for the production of musical instruments Gibson released a limited series of semi-acoustic guitars called "Lucille".

Bi BB King Awards

The entire almost seventy-year active creative life of Bi-King was lavishly appreciated according to merit. He received 15 Grammy music awards from the American Academy of Recording: 10 for albums of blues music, 4 for the best performance and 1 for recording in the style of folk music. In addition, bluesman was awarded the following awards:

• 1977 - Yale University awarded King an honorary doctorate in music;
• 1980 - “Blues Hall of Fame” awarded King for a significant contribution to the development of this area of ​​music;
• 1987 - BB King was one of the first musicians to be included in the Hall and the Museum of Glory of Rock and Roll, as a musician who had a great influence on the development of the music industry;
• 1990 - King receives the United States National Medal for special merit in the arts;
• 1991 - B.B. King became an honorary member of the "Association of the National Foundation of Arts".
• 1995 - "The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts" recognized King as the most respected artist of the nation with a distinctive sign awarded to him.
• 2004 - University of Mississippi conferred a doctorate in philosophy to blues.
• 2004 - The Academy of Sciences of Sweden, for exceptional achievements in the development of blues music, awarded King an international music prize;
• 2006 - United States President George W. Bush presented King with the Freedom Medal;
• 2007 - Brown University awarded King an honorary doctorate in music;
• 2014 - King was honored to be included in the R & B Hall of Fame.

Би Би Кинг - это выдающийся музыкант, который придумав свой собственный уникальный язык, с искусно вплетенными интонациями рок-н-ролла, свинга и R&B, внес настолько весомый вклад в развитие блюза, что до сих пор его имя ассоциируется с данным музыкальным направлением. Кинг поистине был легендарным гитаристом, оказавшим огромное влияние на современных исполнителей, и сейчас трудно найти музыканта, которого не интересовал бы фирменный стиль великого блюзмена.