From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Mon Sep 16, 2002 1:18 am Subject: Born To Be With You : B.B. King B.B. KING (By Shaun Mather) Born Riley B. King, 16 September 1925, Itta Bena, Mississippi Certainly the King of the blues, B.B. King is one of the most influential guitarists of the 20th century and perhaps the most famous blues singer of all time. Between 1951 and 1985, he hit the Billboard R&B charts no fewer than 74 times, and also scored 35 pop hits, the biggest of which was "The Thrill Is Gone" (# 15, 1970). As with most great bluesmen, he grew up poor and picking cotton in Mississippi before heading to the big life in Memphis. His cousin lived there, the great country blues guitarist Bukka White who taught BB the finer points of blues guitar. By 1948 BBK was broadcasting live from the all black Memphis radio station WDIA. In 1949 he recorded for Jim Bulleit's Bullet Records before signing for the Los Angeles-based RPM Records. His sides for the next couple of years were normally recorded in Memphis (many of them produced by Sam Phillips at his Sun Recording Service) . He was part of the Beale Streeters with Bobby Bland, Earl Forest and Johnny Ace. His first R&B chart-topper came in 1951 with "Three O'Clock Blues", cut at a Memphis YMCA. Throughout the decade he built a formidable reputation on RPM and and its successor Kent, scoring with the likes of "You Know I Love You" (1952); "Woke Up This Morning" and "Please Love Me" (1953); "When My Heart Beats like a Hammer," "Whole Lotta' Love," and "You Upset Me Baby" (1954); "Every Day I Have the Blues", "Ten Long Years" (1955); "Bad Luck," "Sweet Little Angel," (1956) and "Please Accept My Love" in 1958. His sound went more urbanised during the proceeding decades but the guitar was biting just as ferociously. He moved to ABC-Paramount Records in 1962, where his output became more album based and saw such revered classics as Live At The Regal (1964). Sterling singles still came out, like "Paying the Cost to Be the Boss" (1968) and "Why I Sing the Blues" (1969). As with his his counterpart John Lee Hooker, the '90s were one of his most successful decades, with his 300 live shows a year playing to sold-out white audiences. Recommended listening: Any album with Beautician Blues on it! Official website: http://www.bbking.com/ Autobiography: B.B. King with David Ritz, Blues all around me : the autobiography of B.B. King. New York : Avon, 1996. (Paperback : New York : Spike, 1999.) Ace has just released a 4-CD box-set, "The Vintage Years", which is reviewed in the current issue of Now Dig This.