The Smiley Smile Message Board

man...

RIP

RIP to the legend.

One of the true innovators. He was one of the first guitar heroes, if not the first. A very underrated singer, too. He had a BIG, powerful voice, but he could also be gentle and quiet. Hopefully he's at peace now.

Damn it.  :(  :(

I know he was just months away from 90 and was in hospice, but this news is still quite shocking. Especially considering about an hour before his death was announced, I posted on the Ben E King thread that we might lose BB King soon, and that I dread the day that comes.... Which happened to be today.

This truly is the end of an era. The last of the classic bluesmen. R.I.P.

This is sad. He's one of my heroes. Apart from John Lee Hooker he was the only bluesman who really got it made in the mainstream.

Great singer, great musician and from all I have heard: a great guy!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWLAAzOBoBI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBZXBlZjejc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC4DDkye8FU


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5Kt34pCTVc



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgTWSEfGwEU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqkWH4G1SRA

Woke up this morning to learn that BB had left Lucille for his ultimate journey to the great unknown and I wish him well.  He started in music as a radio DJ.  Had a huge collection of 'Blues' 'platters'...which he ultimately donated to a university ... I believe.
 
Smooth guitarist.  Not the gruffest or most powerful voice.  His biggest crossover hit remains 'The Thrill is Gone'.  When he was invited to come play it on David Letterman's show a couple of decades back...Paul Shaffer arranged to have 2 [if memory serves] cellists on hand.  BB said it was the first time since the song had been released that he had ever played it with cellos.  He seemed sincerely touched that Paul and Dave had gone to that much trouble for him.
 
Another BB-ism I love.  He gave a 12 year old guitar wiz named Joe Bonamassa the change to play live on stage WITH him.  Joe is one of the very BEST bluesmen out there even as I type.
 
BB King...Born Riley B. King on Sept. 16, 1925...the man passed away in his sleep at 9:40 [Pacific time] last night at his home.  While his early years might have been more than just a little difficult given the fact that he lived in a racist world BB must have enjoyed the 2nd half of his storied life immensely
 
50 some odd albums.  About 250 shows a year.  [although he played close to 350 shows one year back in the 50s]  King really only had to slow 'er down after his diabetes really took hold of him over these past 10 - 12 months or so.  He collapsed on stage last fall...in October I think.  By that point he had slowed himself down to about 100 or so shows and concert a year.
 
Awarded properly for his efforts and held in high esteem by musicians of all ages...BB King led a great life and left an unparalleled legacy.  The Thrill IS gone.  The benefits remain.

Brian commented on Facebook, go figure. 

https://www.facebook.com/#!/officialbrianwilson/photos/a.452661542240.241240.34250497240/10153296759097241/?type=1&theater

Great tribute from Brian...

Eighty-nine is a good age, but very sad all the same. A great loss...

RIP to the Beale Street Blues Boy. His 1980s concert at the University of Georgia is one of the best shows I've ever seen.

 :'(

(NP: King's Live at San Quentin)

Bit of an obituary/tribute: http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/bb-king-rip.html

  No one did more to make the blues mainstream music than BB King. A great artist and great man. RIP

  Yes, great singer. There was no mistaking when a B.B. song came on - instantly recognizable voice and guitar.

Amen! RIP Mr. King.

There'll be some very nice re-issues of BB's albums:

http://www.udiscovermusic.com/bumper-b-b-king-reissues-announced

To mark what would have been King’s 90th birthday on 16 September, a reissue of some of his catalogue on vinyl and digitally re-mastered for online retailers, will begin with the remaining 9 titles of his 11 celebrated early albums released on Crown Records, a subsidiary of Modern Records. On 11 September, joining the two other Crown Records titles already available (the 1956 LP release Singin’ the Blues and 1958’s The Blues), these nine releases on King’s first label feature material that has been unavailable for decades.

Also available, a pair of classic live albums, Live at the Regal, and Live in Cook County Jail, will be re-released on 18 September, both on disc and digital form. A double-LP set, Deuces Wild, which features King performing duets with a series of noted partners, including Bonnie Raitt, the Rolling Stones and D’Angelo, will be issued on vinyl for the first time, in a special vinyl gatefold edition, 9 October.

A very special double LP retrospective 'Ladies & Gentlemen... Mr B.B. King' will also be released on 6th November, featuring a selection of the best tracks form the already available 10CD box set.