The Real King :: essays research papers

Riley B. "B.B." King(guitarist/singer, born September 16, 1925, Itta Bena, MS) The most touching bluesman of our time, and the most influential galvanising guitarist ever, the "King of theBlues" sums up his message with some simple advice. "I would say to all people, but maybe to youngpeople especially-- grisly and blank or whatever color--follow your own feelings and trust them, find outwhat you want to do and do it, and then practice it every day of your life and obtain becoming what you are,despite any hardships and obstacles you meet." So hard to follow yet so good to live by, those words also describe the course of the musicians unique career. The obstacles in his path were many He was born during the Great Depression in thepoorest of American states, the son of black farm laborers. Only talent, hard work, and an unbeatableartistic vision can account for Kings journey out of the Mississippi Delta, through the roadhouse joints ofthe "Chitlin Circu it" in the South to the legendary Apollo Theater in innovative York, into the recording studio, tothe hearts of millions. Praising his "apparently inexhaustible reserve of creativity," as he presented B.B. Kingwith the National Medal of Arts in 1990, President George bush hailed the blues musician as a "trailblazer,an authentic pioneer who literally helped shape his art form."Riley B. King (the extra "B" came later and doesnt stand for anything) fagged his childhood all over thestate of Mississippi. When his parents separated in 1929, the boy went to live with his maternalgrandmother in Kilmichael his mother died when he was nine and, in 1940, B.B. joined his fathers newfamily in Lexington for two years before returning to Kilmichael. He took on farm work in Indianola in1946 but, after razing a tractor, decided his future lay in Memphis, Tennessee. A fan of the bluesmanBukka White, young B.B. looked him up for advice and found himself working as a stre et landmark bluesmanin Memphis. In 1948 he worked up the nerve to audition for WDIA, a hillbilly radio station that was aboutto change its format to cater to the black community. He got the job.He cut his first record in 1949, "Miss Martha King," followed by "Three OClock Blues" and "ShesDynamite" in 1951. Both reached Number nonpareil in Memphis. By 1955, King decided to put together hisown band, and a steady string of hits followed that included "Recession Blues," "Rock Me, Baby," "How