Hall of Fame Artista B.B King
B.B King
Mercoledì 23 Dicembre 2009 15:17 | 
Scritto da Administrator | 
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His reign as King of the Blues has been as long as that of any monarch on earth. Yet B.B. King continues to wear his crown well. At age 76, he is still light on his feet, singing and playing the blues with relentless passion. Time has no apparent effect on B.B., other than to make him more popular, more cherished, more relevant than ever. Don't look for him in some kind of semi-retirement; look for him out on the road, playing for people, popping up in a myriad of T.V. commercials, or laying down tracks for his next album. B.B. King is as alive as the music he plays, and a grateful world can't get enough of him.
For more than half a century, Riley B. King - better known as B.B. King - has defined the blues for a worldwide audience. Since he started recording in the 1940s, he has released over fifty albums, many of them classics. He was born September 16, 1925, on a plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi, near Indianola. In his youth, he played on street corners for dimes, and would sometimes play in as many as four towns a night. In 1947, he hitchhiked to Memphis, TN, to pursue his music career. Memphis was where every important musician of the South gravitated, and which supported a large musical community where every style of African American music could be found. B.B. stayed with his cousin Bukka White, one of the most celebrated blues performers of his time, who schooled B.B. further in the art of the blues.
B.B.'s first big break came in 1948 when he performed on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program on KWEM out of West Memphis. This led to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis, and later to a ten-minute spot on black-staffed and managed Memphis radio station WDIA. "King's Spot," became so popular, it was expanded and became the "Sepia Swing Club." Soon B.B. needed a catchy radio name. What started out as Beale Street Blues Boy was shortened to Blues Boy King, and eventually B.B. King.
In the mid-1950s, while B.B. was performing at a dance in Twist, Arkansas, a few fans became unruly. Two men got into a fight and knocked over a kerosene stove, setting fire to the hall. B.B. raced outdoors to safety with everyone else, then realized that he left his beloved $30 acoustic guitar inside, so he rushed back inside the burning building to retrieve it, narrowly escaping death. When he later found out that the fight had been over a woman named Lucille, he decided to give the name to his guitar to remind him never to do a crazy thing like fight over a woman. Ever since, each one of B.B.'s trademark Gibson guitars has been called Lucille.
Soon after his number one hit, "Three O'Clock Blues," B.B. began touring nationally. In 1956, B.B. and his band played an astonishing 342 one-night stands. From the chitlin circuit with its small-town cafes, juke joints, and country dance halls to rock palaces, symphony concert halls, universities, resort hotels and amphitheaters, nationally and internationally, B.B. has become the most renowned blues musician of the past 40 years.
Over the years, B.B. has developed one of the world's most identifiable guitar styles. He borrowed from Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker and others, integrating his precise and complex vocal-like string bends and his left hand vibrato, both of which have become indispensable components of rock guitarist's vocabulary. His economy, his every-note-counts phrasing, has been a model for thousands of players, from Eric Clapton and George Harrison to Jeff Beck. B.B. has mixed traditional blues, jazz, swing, mainstream pop and jump into a unique sound. In B.B.'s words, "When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille."
In 1968, B.B. played at the Newport Folk Festival and at Bill Graham's Fillmore West on bills with the hottest contemporary rock artists of the day who idolized B.B. and helped to introduce him to a young white audience. In ``69, B.B. was chosen by the Rolling Stones to open 18 American concerts for them; Ike and Tina Turner also played on 18 shows.
B.B. was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He received NARAS' Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 1987, and has received honorary doctorates from Tougaloo(MS) College in 1973; Yale University in 1977; Berklee College of Music in 1982; Rhodes College of Memphis in 1990; Mississippi Valley State University in 2002 and Brown University in 2007. In 1992, he received the National Award of Distinction from the University of Mississippi.
In 1991, B.B. King's Blues Club opened on Beale Street in Memphis, and in 1994, a second club was launched at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles. A third club in New York City's Times Square opened in June 2000 and most recently two clubs opened at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut in January 2002. In 1996, the CD-Rom On The Road With B.B. King: An Interactive Autobiography was released to rave reviews. Also in 1996, B.B.'s autobiography, "Blues All Around Me" (written with David Ritz for Avon Books) was published. In a similar vein, Doubleday published "The Arrival of B.B. King" by Charles Sawyer, in 1980.
B.B. continues to tour extensively, averaging over 250 concerts per year around the world. Classics such as "Payin' The Cost To Be The Boss," "The Thrill Is Gone," How Blue Can You Get," "Everyday I Have The Blues," and "Why I Sing The Blues" are concert (and fan) staples. Over the years, the Grammy Award-winner has had two #1 R&B hits, 1951's "Three O'Clock Blues," and 1952's "You Don't Know Me," and four #2 R&B hits, 1953's "Please Love Me," 1954's "You Upset Me Baby," 1960's "Sweet Sixteen, Part I," and 1966's "Don't Answer The Door, Part I." B.B.'s most popular crossover hit, 1970's "The Thrill Is Gone," went to #15 pop.
B.B. King
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
| B.B. King | ||
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| Nazionalità |  USA |
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| Genere | Blues Soul Blues Memphis Blues R&B |
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| Periodo attività | 1949 - in attività | |
| Album pubblicati | 24 | |
| Studio | 11 | |
| Live | 2 | |
| Raccolte | 6 | |
| Sito ufficiale | bbking.com | |
| Si invita a seguire lo schema del Progetto Musica | ||
B. B. King alias Riley B. King (Itta Bena, 16 settembre 1925) è un chitarrista e cantante statunitense.
Con una lunghissima carriera alle spalle, oggi è uno dei più importanti esponenti del blues viventi. Con la sua "Lucille", una chitarra Gibson ES-345, è diventato un'icona stessa del genere musicale già a partire dagli anni cinquanta. Ha avuto una così grande carriera che ancora oggi è riconosciuto come il re del blues. Nella rivista Rolling Stone è posto come terzo chitarrista piu bravo del mondo (Lista dei 100 migliori chitarristi secondo Rolling Stone).
Indice[nascondi] |
Biografia [modifica]
King passò molta della sua infanzia vivendo con la madre e la nonna, lavorando come mezzadro. King ha detto che veniva pagato 35 centesimi per ogni 100 libbre (45 kg) di cotone che raccoglieva, prima di scoprire il suo talento. Da giovane, si appassionò per cantanti neri come T-Bone Walker e Lonnie Johnson e artisti jazz come Charlie Christian e Django Reinhardt. Presto incominciò a esercitarsi cantando musica gospel in chiesa.
Nel 1943 King si trasferì a Indianola, Mississippi e tre anni dopo a Memphis, Tennessee, dove affinò la sua tecnica di chitarrista con l'aiuto del cugino, il chitarrista country blues Bukka White.
Alla fine, King incominciò a trasmettere la sua musica dal vivo sulla radio di Memphis WDI,A come disc-jokey, una stazione che aveva da poco cambiato la propria programmazione per trasmettere soltanto musica nera, cosa estremamente rara all'epoca. Alla radio King incominciò ad usare il nome The Pepticon Boy, che più tardi divenne " The Blues Boy from Beale Street" ( il ragazzo del blues di Beale Street) o più semplicemente The Beale Street Blues Boy: ll nome fu poi abbreviato a Blues Boy e, infine, a B.B.
Nel 1949 King cominciò a registrare canzoni per la RPM Records di Los Angeles. Gran parte delle sue prime registrazioni furono prodotte da Sam Phillips che poi avrebbe fondata la leggendaria Sun Records.
Negli anni cinquanta King divenne uno degli esponenti principali del panorama R&B collezionando una lunga lista di hits tra i quali "You Know I Love You", "Woke Up This Morning", "Please Love Me", "When My Heart Beats like a Hammer", "Whole Lotta' Love", "You Upset Me Baby", "Every Day I Have the Blues", "Sneakin' Around", "Ten Long Years", "Bad Luck", "Sweet Little Angel", "On My Word of Honor", e "Please Accept My Love". Nel 1962 King firmò per la ABC-Paramount Records.
Nel novembre del 1964 King registrò al Regal Theater di Chicago l'album Live at the Regal che sarebbe ben presto entrato nella leggenda.
Il primo successo di King al di fuori del mercato blues fu una riedizione di "The Thrill Is Gone" di Roy Hawkins che nel 1969 scalò le classifiche sia pop che R&B, evento molto raro ancora oggi. L'elenco dei successi di King continuò per tutti gli anni settanta con canzoni quali "To Know You Is to Love You" e "I Like to Live the Love". Dal 1951 al 1985 King è apparso sulle classifiche R&B di Billboard ben 74 volte.
Nei decenni successivi King ha registrato sempre meno senza perdere in popolarità grazie alla partecipazione a show televisivi, film e tenendo annualmente circa 300 serate. Nel 1988 ha conquistato una nuova generazione di fan grazie al singolo "When Love Comes To Town", suonata insieme agli U2. Nel 2000 ha invece registrato Riding With the King in coppia con Eric Clapton.
Nel 2004 King è stato insignito di una laurea ad honorem presso University of Mississippi.
Nel 2005 per festeggiare i suoi 80 anni, pubblica un album pieno di ospiti illustri: Van Morrison, Billy Gibbons, Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Darryl Hall & John Oates, John Mayer, Mark Knopfler, Glenn Frey, Gloria Estefan, Roger Daltrey, Bobby Bland ed Elton John.
King ha inoltre donato la sua grande collezione blues alla Ole Miss Center for Southern Studies.
King e la chitarra [modifica]
Nell'inverno del 1949, King stava suonando in una sala da ballo nell'Arkansas. Per riscaldare il locale era stato acceso un barile contenente del kerosene, una pratica non troppo insolita. Due uomini incominciarono a litigare, facendo cadere il barile contenente il kerosene infuocato sul pavimento. Questo scatenò un'evacuazione. Una volta fuori, King si rese conto di aver lasciato la sua chitarra, una Gibson semi acustica, nell'edificio in fiamme e rientrò per recuperarla. Il giorno dopo, King scoprì che i due uomini avevano combattuto per una donna chiamata Lucille e decise di chiamare Lucille la sua prima chitarra, così come tutte le chitarre che ha posseduto da quell'esperienza quasi fatale, «per ricordarmi di non fare mai più una cosa del genere».
Curiosità [modifica]
- È considerato l'iniziatore di quella tecnica del "vibrato" per cui il dito compie piccoli movimenti "incrociando" la corda anziché seguirne la lunghezza; tale tecnica è definita "hummingbird" (colibrì), appunto dal movimento eseguito dalla mano sulla tastiera.
- È nipote, per parte di madre, del campione del mondo dei pesi massimi Sonny Liston.
Discografia [modifica]
- 1957 - Singin' the Blues
- 1958 - The Blues
- 1960 - My Kind of Blues
- 1965 - Live at the Regal (live)
- 1968 - Lucille
- 1969 - Live & Well
- 1969 - Completely Well
- 1970 - Indianola Mississippi Seeds
- 1971 - Live in Cook County Jail
- 1971 - B. B. King in London
- 1972 - Guess Who
- 1972 - L.A. Midnight
- 1974 - Together for the First Time (With Bobby 'Blue' Bland)
- 1975 - Lucille Talks Back
- 1976 - Bobby Bland and B. B. King Together Again...Live
- 1978 - Midnight Believer
- 1981 - Why I Sing the Blues
- 1985 - Six Silver Strings
- 1986 - Spotlight on Lucille
- 1987 - Great Moments with B.B. King
- 1988 - The King of the Blues: 1989
- 1989 - Indianola Mississippi Seeds
- 1989 - Got My Mojo Working
- 1990 - Lucille Talks Back
- 1991 - There is Always One More Time
- 1992 - Why I Sing the Blues
- 1992 - Lucille
- 1992 - King of the Blues
- 1993 - Blues Summit
- 1997 - Deuces Wild
- 1998 - Take it Home
- 1998 - Completely Well
- 1998 - Blues on the Bayou
- 1999 - Let the Good Times Roll
- 2000 - Makin' Love is Good for You
- 2000 - Riding with the King
- 2001 - A Christmas Celebration of Hope
- 2002 - Blues is King
- 2003 - Reflections
- 2003 - Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: B.B. King
- 2008 - One kind favor
Live [modifica]
- 1971 - B.B. King In London
- 1972 - Kansas City, 1972
- 1982 - Live in Cook County Jail
- 1987 - Live and Well
- 1990 - Live at San Quentin
- 1990 - B.B. King and Sons Live
- 1991 - Live at the Apollo
- 1980 - Live "Now Appearing" at Ole Miss
- 1996 - How Blue Can You Get? Live Performances
- 1997 - Live at the Regal
- 1998 - Live in Cook County Jail
- 1999 - Live in Japan
- 2001 - Live at San Quentin (Remastered)
- 2002 - Royal Jam the Crusaders whit B.B.King and the Royal Philarmonic Orchestra
- 2008 - B.B. King Live
Raccolte [modifica]
- 1960 - The Electric B.B. King - His Best
- 1998 - His Best - The Electric B.B. King
- 1998 - Greatest Hits
- 1999 - Millennium Collection - 20th Century Masters
- 1999 - His Definitive Greatest Hits
- 2000 - Anthology
- 2001 - Here & There - The Uncollected B.B. King
- 2003 - Christmas Collection - 20th Century Masters
- 2005 - Ultimate Collection
- 2005 - B. B. King & Friends: 80'
Ultimo aggiornamento (Mercoledì 23 Dicembre 2009 15:18)
