B.B. King
Singer and Guitarist By: Cameran Cash and Adam Miller
Interesting facts about B.B. King
- B.B. King famously named all his guitars "Lucille"
- Had his own 10 minute tv show on WDIA radio in Memphis, Tennessee
- Started out playing on street corners and local clubs
- played more than 340 nights a year
- Had a loyal fanbase
- he influences many blues players
- His parents split up when he was a child
Early Life
- Name is Lucille
- Born on Sept. 16, 1925
- at age 12 he bought a cheap guitar
- taught himself how to play guitar
- Began Career in Memphis
- Grew up on a plantation
Their Music
- Three O'clock Blues (1951)
- Every Day I Have The Blues (1955)
- Sweet Little Angel (1956)
- Blues and jazz style
- The rock and roll type of music
- The electric guitar and the extended/shaky notes sounded so good together
- Started recording singles in 1949
- One of the most successful blues singers to ever live
Influences
- B.B. King went to a blues center in Memphis, Tennessee
- Rock music
- British musicians in the 1960's
- Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and John Mayall
- He heard local blues players
Time Period
- President Harry S. Truman committed to a policy of containment against communist aggression
- In the 50’s the cold war began and I think he was inspired to make music for the soldiers
- Truman's popularity was declined which effected the democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson's campaign
- All the economic and democratic situations might have made is difficult for B.B. King to preform due to the stressful elections and problems in the government
- The Cold War Began
- A Vaccine for polio was discovered
Works Cited
- Edelman, Rob, Timothy Berg, and Tom Pendergast. "1950s: Music." Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th- and 21st-Century America. Ed. Cynthia Johnson and Lawrence W. Baker. 2nd ed. Vol. 3: 1940s-1950s. Detroit: UXL, 2012. 751-763. Student Resources in Context. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
- “The 1950’s Introduction” SIRS Knowledge Source. 2015. Proquest. SIRS Decades. Web.10 April 2015.
- Tirro, Frank. "King, B. B.." World Book Student. World Book, 2016. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
Berg, Timothy. "King, B. B. (1925–)." Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th-Century America. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 3: 1940s-1950s. Detroit: UXL, 2002. 688-689. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 8 Feb. 2016.
"King, B. B." UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography. Ed. Laura B. Tyle. Vol. 6. Detroit: UXL, 2003. 1086-1089. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.