American musician B.B. King, a very important figure in the development of blues music. died exactly seven years ago, on 14 May 2015.
He was one of the most influential blues musician of all time and his virtuoso guitar technique earned him the title of “king of the blues”. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, he is considered one of the “Three Kings of the Blues Guitar“, along with Albert King and Freddie King.
Riley B. King was born in 1925 on a cotton plantation. Reared in the Mississippi Delta as a child, he worked on a farm and was introduced to music at church, where he sang gospel music and sometimes even performed professionally, but he was forbidden to sing the blues, which was considered “the devil’s music.”
When his employer gave him some money, he bought his first guitar for 15 dollars, an amount that was withheld from his salary until the debt was paid off.
King then turned to blues music and soon found that he earned more money singing and playing the guitar on street corners on Saturdays than he made all week on the plantation.
Known on the local radio, where he was a disc jockey, as the “Beale Street Blues Boy,” shortened to āBlues Boyā and finally to his famous initials āB.B.ā, King decided he wanted to make records.
So he left Mississippi for Memphis, Tennessee, which provided him with the exciting musical atmosphere he dreamed of . He settled there permanently in 1948.
King famously referred to his guitar as Lucille. The origin of this nickname dates back to 1949 when a fire broke out in the club where King and his band were playing, after two men got into a fight and knocked over a heater, that is barrel a half-filled with burning kerosene located in the middle of the dance hall.
The burning fuel spilled onto the floor, starting a fire that spread through the ballroom.
The venue was evacuated and King came out of the burning building, but then he realized he had left his beloved $30 Gibson guitar inside, so he ran back to rescue it, risking his life, nearly dying in an attempt.
He later discovered that the two men were fighting over woman called Lucille. Therefore he decided to give that name to each of his subsequent guitars as a reminder to be cautious, not to get into dangerous situations or not to fight over a woman.
Since then, his Lucilles were over forty and usually black!
B.B. King titled his 1968 album simply Lucille: it contains a song of over 10 minutes in which he talks about his guitar and how it got its name, which begins with these words:
āThe sound that you’re listening to
Is from my guitar that’s named Lucille
I’m very crazy about Lucille
Lucille took me from the plantation
Oh you might say
Brought me fame.
I don’t think I can just talk enough about Lucilleā
Then he explains how
āLucille has practically saved my life two, three times
No kidding, really hasā
for example in a car accident where the automobile flipped and Lucille held up the vehicle, sparing his life
āI remember once I was in an automobile accident
And when the car stopped turning over, it fell over on Lucille,
And it held it up off me
Really it held it up off me
So that’s one time it saved my lifeā
He also talks about the nightclub incident and his gratitude to his guitar: because when
āI am lonely
I pick up Lucilleā .
or
āwhen I’m blue, seems like Lucille tries to help me call my nameā¦
When things are bad with me, I can alwaysā¦
depend on Lucille.ā
Il chitarrista americano B.B. King, figura molto importante nello sviluppo della musica blue, ĆØ morto esattamente sette anni fa, il 14 maggio 2015.
Fu uno dei musicisti blues piĆ¹ influenti di tutti i tempi e la sua tecnica chitarristica da virtuoso gli valse il titolo di “re del blues”. Inserito nella Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nel 1987 ed ĆØ considerato uno dei “Three Kings of the Blues Guitar” , insieme ad Albert King e Freddie King (i tre kings/re possono anche far pensare ai tre re magi)
Riley B. King nacque nel 1925 in una piantagione di cotone. Cresciuto nel delta del Mississippi da bambino, lavorĆ² in una fattoria e fu introdotto alla musica in chiesa, dove cantava musica gospel e a volte si esibiva anche professionalmente, ma gli era proibito cantare il blues, considerato “la musica del diavolo”.
Quando il suo datore di valoro gli diede dei soldi, comprĆ² la sua prima chitarra per 15 dollari, importo che gli venne poi trattenuto dallo stipendio fino allāestinzione del debito.
King dedicĆ² quindi alla musica blues e si accorse che guadagnava di piĆ¹ cantando e suonando la chitarra agli angoli delle strade il sabato di quanto non guadagnasse tutta la settimana nella piantagione.
Conosciuto alla radio locale, dove faceva il dj, come “Beale Street Blues Boy”, abbreviato in Blues Boy e infine con le sue famose iniziali B.B, King decise di incidere dischi.
CosƬ lasciĆ² il Mississippi per Memphis, Tennessee, che gli forniva l’eccitante atmosfera musicale che sognava. Vi si stabilƬ definitivamente nel 1948.
King si riferiva alla sua chitarra con il nome di Lucille. L’origine di questo soprannome risale al 1949 quando nel club in cui King e la sua band stavano suonando scoppiĆ² un incendio in seguito al litigio tra due uomini che nella colluttazione avevano rovesciato una stufa, cioĆØ un barile mezzo pieno di cherosene situato nel mezzo della sala da ballo. Il carburante in fiamme si rovesciĆ² sul pavimento dando lāavvio a un incendio che si diffuse nella sala da ballo.
Il locale fu evacuato e King uscito dall’edificio in fiamme, si rese conto di aver lasciato dentro la sua amata chitarra Gibson da $ 30, per cui rientrĆ² a recuperarla, a rischio della sua vita.
In seguito scoprƬ che i due uomini stavano litigando per una donna chiamata Lucille. Pertanto decise di dare quel nome a ciascuna delle sue chitarre successive per ricordare che bisogna essere sempre cauti, non mettersi in situazioni pericolose e non litigare per una donna . Le sue Lucille sono state piĆ¹ di quaranta e solitamente nere!
B.B. King intitolĆ² il suo album del 1968 semplicemente Lucille, in cui una canzone di oltre 10 minuti parla della sua chitarra e di come ha preso il nome, e che inizia con queste parole:
āIl suono che state ascoltando
viene dalla mia chitarra
che si chiama Lucille.
Vado pazzo per Lucille.
Lucille mi ha portato fuori dalla piantagione.
Oh si potrebbe dire,
che mi ha portato notorietĆ .
non credo che potrei mai parlare abbastanza di Lucille.ā
Poi spiega come
āLucille mi ha praticamente salvato la vita due o tre volte.
Non scherzo, lo ha fatto davveroā
per esempio in un incidente d’auto in cui la sua macchina e si ĆØ ribaltata e Lucille ha tenuto fermo il veicolo, risparmiandogli la vita:
āRicordo una volta che ho avuto un incidente automobilistico
e quando l’auto ha smesso di ribaltarsi, ĆØ caduta su Lucille,
che me lāha tenuta lontano
davvero me lāha tenuta lontano
Quindi quella ĆØ stata una volta in cui mi ha salvato la vita.ā
Parla anche dell’incidente in discoteca e della sua continua gratitudine alla sua chitarra: perchĆ©
āQuando sono solo, prendo in mano Lucilleā
oppure
āA volte quando sono giĆ¹ sembra che Lucille cerchi di aiutarmi
a dire il mio nome ā¦.
Quando le cose mi vanno male, posso sempreā¦
fare affidamento su Lucille.ā
One of my heroes is BB King. I even managed to visit BB Kings in New York before it closed, but sadly, he wasnāt there himself. Great post, thank you.šš„°š
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I am really happy that you enjoyed it and thank you for your kind comment even though I knew that you, as a musician, would appreciate this postš¶šøš¶
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Thank you, Luisa. ššš
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Very nice blog on a leading musician , the champion of ‘Beale Street Blues Boy’ , B.B King , rejuvenates us all . How he loved his Guitar was shown with this fact that he went into a fire zone without thinking of its consequences and brought back his Guitar anyhow . But what surprised him more in the burning hall was that two young persons were fighting for a woman called Lucille without apprehending the consequences of burning fire there . Later he gave the name of his Guitar as Lucille as symbol of not to fight for a woman taking risk of life or any thing like fire as such . Your blog always gives us a chance to learn about new things . Thanks !
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Thanks a lot for your marvelous commentšš
I am really glad you loved this post. I appreciate it.
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Thanks !
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You’re most welcome
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Luisa ! My first Novel is on Google named as :
‘THE YOGINI – A BRIDE IN NEED’
BY ARBIND KUMAR
PLEASE READ IT AND WRITE A REVIEW IN THE REVIEW COLUMN
I DESPERATELY EXPECT A FEW GOOD WORDS FROM YOU IN THE REVIEW COLUMN . THANKS !
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Ok!
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Thanks !
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Absolutely true.
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Thanks !
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You are welcome.
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šš¹šš¹š
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ā¤ļø
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ššøš
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[…] B.B. King and Lucille šø […]
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Thank you so much for reblogging this in your website.
I appreciate your efforts to promote my posts. I canāt thank you enough.ššš
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Lo ascoltai a Milano anni fa, un mito, dal vivo non ha prezzo, in apertura vi era Alex Britti.
Un saluto Wu Otto.
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Dev’essere stata un’esperienza incredibile! ā£ļøā£ļøā£ļø
Ti ringrazio per aver condiviso questo bel ricordo
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Lucille era nero lucido, e lui portava un anello d’oro al dito, quando suonava si vedeva brillare la sua mano, e luccicare la sua chitarra.
Si ĆØ stata un’esperienza incredibile!
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Fantastico!!!!!
I ricordi sono un tesoro meraviglioso
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Davvero interessante la storia del soprannome della chitarra di B.B. King, š.
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E’ diventata famosa insieme a lui ā£ļøšøā£ļøšøā£ļø
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Proprio cosƬ, āŗļø. Buon sabato e buon week end cara Luisa, šøššøššøš.
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Anche a te, Eleonora šā£ļøš
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Grazie, š¤šš¤š
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Another interesting post. Thanks Luisa.
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Thank you so much your constant kindness and support šš¹š
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ššš
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Wonderful post, Luisa. One Sunday morning in the late 1990s or early 2000s, I was returning home to Northern Virginia from a craft fair in Asheville, NC. On the Interstate near Wytheville, Virginia, I saw BB King’s bus with his name spelt out. https://perceptivetravel.com/blog/wp-content/BB_King_Museum_Tour_Bus.jpg
There was also a picture of Lucille.
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That’s a great photo, dear Pat
My sincere gratitude ššš
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It was tangential to your story, but seeing that bus has remained etched in my memory. Thanks!
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… and I’m so glad you shared that memory with meššøššš
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He was diabetic and appeared in a series of ads for some type of monitoring device. It also featured a teenage diabetic who was a wannabe musician. BB was teaching him how to play while playing Lucille, Later ads had them play some duets.
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Thank you so much for this interesting additional information
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Thanks for the insight Luisa. That is an interesting explanation. Thanks for sharing. Allan š¤š
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Thank you Allan, as always you are supportive and kind!ā£ļøš¹ā£ļø
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That 30 dollar guitar – a Gibson 335 – sold at auction in 2019 for $280,000. That’s quite a return! Great post, as always, Luisa.
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You can say that for surešø
Iām really glad that you liked this post!
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Thank you, Luisa, for the splendid tribute to BB King and the video!
Joanna
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Thank you so much, Joanna!
i really appreciate your words š¶
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Yet another gem from the ‘Queen’ š
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Thanks a lot, my dear Malc
Enjoy your weekend šš¹š
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I will. Hope you will too š
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“Usually over forty and black”! HA haha!! The man KNEW what he LIKED!!
Awesome post ~ which we just expect from you, don’t we? Never knew what those two “B’s” stood for, nor the story of Lucille š
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I am happy to know that you discover something new by reading my posts.
Thank you very much for your kind encouragement šš¹šš¹š
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The song for all time… š»š¹šµš¤š
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šš¶ššøššš
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Che bel legame con la sua chitarra!!!! š
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Proprio cosƬ, Vitty ššøš
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Che grande amore che aveva per la sua chitarraā£ā£ā£ Bellissimo tutto quanto ci hai raccontato e, come sempre, grazie infinite š„š„š„ Buonanotte cara Luisa š„°
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Vero! L’immagine di B.B. King ĆØ stata sempre accompagnata dalle sue chitarre, tutte chiamate allo stesso modo: Lucille ššøā£ļø
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I have loved B.B King since the first day i heard him a deacde and more ago Luisa. But ofcourse living in India, many things dont come to us like this beautiful story of his Guitars and Lucllle. I can well imagine his love and obsession to it that Lucille becoming as one who could even save his life.
Thanks for this.
Narayan x
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He was a great musician, truly the King of blues musicš¶š¶š¶
I thank you very much for this nice comment and I wish you a lovely Sunday šš¶š
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Pleasure Luisa
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ā£ļøšā£ļøšā£ļø
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My wife and I saw BB King with his band in 1989. We were blown away how energetic he (he was about 65 at the time) and the other band members were. It was an awesome concert (it was only about 10 songs), and a great night for blues aficionados šøšøšø
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I think it was a great luck to be able to listen to him live
Thank you for sharing your beautiful experienceš¶š¶š¶
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Se scrivessimo un libro sulla storia della musica, certamente BB King e Lucille avrebbero una pagina tutta per loro.
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Ne sono convinta anch’ioš¶šøš¶
Grazie per ll commento e buona serata
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professo la mia ignoranza in materia che hai colmato.
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Grazie di cuore… e buona serata ššøš
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bella serata
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Well missed he was everyone inspiration a legend of all time blues
rock artist.
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You can say that for sure: he was such a legend!!!
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GRAZIE Luisa!!
Quello del blues ĆØ un mondo che conosco troppo troppo poco, per cui anche oggi ho imparato qualcosa di bello!
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Grazie a te, Claudia casa ā£ļøš¶ā£ļøš¶ā£ļø
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ā¤
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B.B. King is one of my favourites… I love Blues. (And Eric Clapton…) š
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So great! Both of them
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LOL. I remember Blues brothers 2. At the end I think it was B.B. King playing in the foreground and at the very end of the big room, a guy who looked like an accountant was playing the guitar. Mr Clapton himself. Saw him in concert. Twice. Unbelievable.
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Do you mean in this scene?
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This scene is fab. How bvle can you get. Visual memories can be tricky but it seems to me it was before, in an abandoned warehouse. Not on a stage.
Having said that, those were still wonderful times: blacks and white playing the Blues together. At the current rate, whites will soon be forbidden to play the Blues.
Thanks for the music. It was a great gatehring.
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Thank you so much for the lovely reply-
I hope your fear on the future of white-playing blues will be excessive-
I take the opportunity to wish you a happy weekend š¤©šš¤©
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You too my dear.
(The woke ideology is growing strong. Soon I won’t be allowed to enjoy Indian music, because I am not Indian… Sigh)
Or I won’t be allowed to write about women as main characters (which I have) because I am not one…Tssss
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š®
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Link Luisa ,,, “si la vita e tornata” (las glicinas) aqui en mi casa son las buganvillas Jaja saludos Juan
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Le bouganville sono meravigliose! Purtroppo dove abito io non resistono alle temperature invernali!š
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En Barcelona si,,, saludos Juan
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ššŗšŗšŗ
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Glad to learn the story of the iconic guitar Lucille. B.B. King is an icon himself! Thanks
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Thank you very much, Ruth
Iām glad that you enjoyed that. It always means a lot š
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BB is hot! Ever hear of Jimmy Thackery? https://thewordpressowl.wordpress.com/2020/01/13/edwards-blues-by-jimmy-thackery/
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Thank you very much:ššš
What a great performance š
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[…] B.B. King and Lucille šø […]
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Thanks a lot for reblogging!š·šš·
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