WHILE LUCILLE WEEPS

You probably already know, B.B. King has passed away. Stop for a second. Before you shrug your shoulders and move on with your day, thinking that B.B.King was not raunchy enough to make it in your bag of blues, step back and consider what the man did to bring blues to the masses. You may be all about delta blues, Chicago blues, Memphis blues, rhythm and blues, dirty blues, blues rock or whatever, but you would be hard pressed to find another blues man better known to dabblers than B.B. King. Taken for granted by many? Yeah, particularly by those music snobs that consider his music too accessible. But if you think that there haven't been times when blues was under appreciated, or in danger dying altogether, you're wrong. The blues revival of the early sixties brought new appreciation for Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and others, but it was King who was omnipresent on the air, particularly television, at least in the states. He was on variety shows, telethons, awards shows, you name it. Even your parents sitting back in their recliners knew who B.B. King was.

I'm not going to lie to you. I don't listen to B.B. King all that much. He's not someone I turn to when I want to hear blues. So, yeah, maybe I could be seen as one of those music snobs, but that's not why I rarely listen to him. Maybe it is, I don't know. I like hearing train wrecks and a train wreck he decidedly wasn't. Thinking about it, I don't recall ever hearing him play a note out of place. So I guess all this yapping is me scolding myself. But I guarantee you, my parents knew who B.B. King was.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

B.B. King - Hully Gully Twist mp3 at Diddy Wah 1962
B.B. King - Fur Slippers mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu Dylan cover 1999
B.B. King - Night Life mp3 at Cover Me Willie Nelson cover
B.B. King - Going Down Slow mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu With Bobby "Blue" Bland
Visit:
B.B. King at Wikipedia
B.B. King Official site
B.B. King - High resolution version of above photo at Ace Records