B.B. KING: The Thrill Never Left

It is 1948, and a young man by the name, of Riley B King, stepped to the microphone at the radio station where Sonny Boy Williamson was the radio personality. Riley’s raw, loud, and enthralling voice went out over the airwaves in Memphis, Tenn breaking the white noise across the region. And just as he finished singing, the phone at the station would not stop ringing with praise from the listening audience. This was the beginning of a career that would span six decades and influence everything from Jazz to hip-hip. He changed his stage name to B.B. King, because he had been nicknamed The Beale Street Blues Boy, and from there he had his first of many hits. In 1951 he published 3 O’ Clock Blues which the fans ate up immediately. Two years before that he nearly lost his favorite $30 Gibson guitar in a fire that started with the argument of two men over a woman named Lucille. When he was told about the incident the following day, he gave the guitar the same name, and the rest as we say is history in the business.

In the coming decade, blues music became a catalyst for the British music invasion of the era as many artists from England hit the United States bringing new music. But quickly we say that the British artist was deeply in love with Black music and blues ways a doorway into that realm. The music they played was not new at all rather, it was these white artists' attempts at reproducing the blues they heard from BB King. Artists like The Who, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin, and The Yardbirds. It was well known that when blues artists from the states toured England they were often backed up by groups like The Yardbirds (which included young guitarists Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck). And to this day Eric Clapton counts BB King not only as one of his greatest influences but also as a lasting friend. BB King would not die before the newest form of Black music was born, and it too sang his praises.

In 1990, best known MC, Big Daddy Kane, feature a sample of “Ain’t Nobody Home” on his track called Who Am I. The track was a thoughtful look at how Black Americans came to be in the USA. On the now classic album, Death Certificate, the artist Ice Cube sampled “Chains and Things”, on the title track. An interpolation of the same track appears on Kendrick Lamar’s album good kid, m.A.A.d. city, on the track of the title m.A.A.d city. However, one of the most powerful uses of his music is on Big KRIT’s, Praying Man. It showcases the powerful blending of hip-hop rhythms and blues licks, steeped in unashamed upfront lyrics about the life of a black man in the south. It also highlights the relatability between the lives of two black men of the same community but in different eras where one would not think the elder and the youth had the same experiences. These final collaborations with one of the greatest purveyors of blues music are what makes BB King so special even today. For although he left us on this earthly plane, it is obvious that The Thrill is Gone only for those who did not have the gift of listening to him. Long live the King!