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B.B. King was born as Riley B. King on September 16, 1925, on a plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi. He was a blues singer, record producer, and an electrical guitarist. Being exposed to blues was an important aspect in his life. He made many accomplishments throughout his musical career.
B.B. King’s first musical influence came from his church, Church of God in Christ. He was forbidden to play blues at home. Instead, he sang in spiritual groups like the Elkhorn Singers and Saint John’s Gospel Singers. A relative of B.B. showed him his first chords on the instrument. According to B.B. King, King of the Blues Worldwide (n.d.), as a teenager, he played on street corners for dimes, and would sometimes play in as many as four towns a night. When he started making more money playing in one night than he would in a week on the farm, he headed to Memphis. At that time, Memphis was where every style of African American musicians of the South gravitated. B.B. stayed with his cousin, Bukka white, a blues performer, who schooled him further in the art of the blues.
B.B. King’s song, “Three O’Clock Blues”, reached number one on the R&B
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charts and became his first national hit in 1950. He toured nightclubs, averaging more than 300 shows annually for over 30 years. According to B.B. King Biography (2015, May 28), his style of music earned him the title “King of the Blues.” He attended a dance in Twist, Arkansas, which had a barrel lit with kerosene in the middle of the floor, used to keep the people warm. While there, a fight broke out and the barrel was knocked over causing a fire. King later learned that the fight was caused because of a woman who worked there named Lucille. He named his guitar “Lucille” to remind himself never to do anything foolish again. In 1962, King signed with ABC Records. He released his biggest hit single, “The Thrill is Gone.” He was the first bluesman to tour the Soviet Union in 1979. He also became the first bluesman to enter pop mainstream. In 1987, King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2006, King was granted the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2006 for his duets.
Later that year, He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush. A museum was opened on September 13, 2008 to honor B.B. King. According to Welcome the story of B.B. King (2008), “The museum features a restored brick cotton gin building in which B.B. King worked in the 1940s. The museum contains a collection of artifacts owned by B.B. King and displays exhibits about his life and the lives of other musicians of the delta region and the culture where the blues arose.” Also in 2008, he released another album. He earned another Grammy award for his efforts. In February 2012, King played a gig at the White House with Buddy Guy and others. He and his performers were accompanied by Barack Obama on the song “Sweet Home
Chicago.” B.B.’s health had been decreasing over the past few years. After a concert in April 2014, fans voiced their concerns on social media saying that King appeared to be suffering from dementia. After that show, he gave a public apology. In October 2014, he fell on stage and cancelled upcoming gigs. King ended up in the hospital, but took Lucille with him no matter where he went. B.B. King died in his sleep on May 14, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada of vascular dementia. On May 27, 2015, thousands of fans filled Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee to watch a funeral in honor of the blues legend.
Blues refers to the music genre that originated from the African-American societies mainly from the deep southern region of the United States in the late 19th century. The blues form of music is characterized by notes that are played gradually bent or flattened. The blues notes comprised 12 measures or bars. These notes are used in jazz music, rhythm and blues. The inventors of the blues included slaves and the descendants of the slaves. There is a general belief that the blues originated from African folk songs. The blues spread out significantly from the south in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The music quickly progressed into various styles according to regions. Well-known pioneers of blues music in the 1920s include Blind Lennon Jefferson, W.C. Handy, Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and Son House. Blues exist in popular music in many areas today.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American baptist minister, Civil Rights activist, and humanitarian. He was born on January 25, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia under the name of Michael King, Jr. Both he and his father later adopted the name of the German protestant leader Martin Luther in honor of him. King thrived at Booker T. Washington High School, graduating at the age of 15 before moving on to Morehouse College. For years, he had questioned religion, but in his third year of college, he took a bible class that renewed his faith. King later went on to study at Crozer theological seminary for three years. He met his future wife during his last year of seminary, and went on to receive his Ph.D in 1955 at the age of 25.
Elvis Presley is also known as the “King of Rock and Roll” is the most influential Rock and Roll artist of all time. “Elvis Presley life story began when Elvis Aaron Presley was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to grow up as an only child. He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1948, and Elvis graduated from Humes High School there in 1953.” (Elvis Presley Biography)
Coretta Scott King was born and raised in Marion, Alabama. She was born on April 27, 1927. Coretta grew up on a farm and picked cotton to help make money for her family. She graduated valedictorian
B.B. King is an African-American musical artist and song composer. B.B. King, whose real name is Riley B. King. B.B. King was born in September 16, 1925 in Berclair, Mississippi. B.B. King was born into a sharecropping family with his mother, Nora Ella, and father, Albert King. Three years later, B.B. King’s little brother was born, his name was Curce King. B.B. King had a hard life growing up as a child. In 1928, B.B. King’s little brother died at the age of two from eating grass. A couple of years later, his parents separate and B.B. King leaves with his mother to his cousin’s house in another part of Mississippi. A very tragic event happened in 1935; B.B. King’s mother dies drunk and the cause of death was because of her diabetes complications. While B.B. King lived with his aunts and his grandmother, Elnora Farr, they took him to church where he played the gu...
Blues music grew up in the Mississippi Delta and more often than not, started directly in the fields. Blues music started as a way for slaves to express their emotions with each other. It was common for slaves to talk to each other in a rhythmic style so they were the only ones that could understand. For example, the slaves might sing to each other about the location of their boss. This was the common style of Blues Music for quite some time until Blind Lemon Jefferson rose to stardom. Lemon Jefferson was instrumental in the progression of country blues. His free-flowing style revolutionized Blues Music. Lemon Jefferson was considered by many to be the founder of Texas Blues. Jefferson was the spark that gave African American men a chance at
Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15,1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the middle child of three born to Alberta Williams King and Martin Luther King Sr. Martin’s parents were kind and loving and did their best to try to shield their children
After being released from the military King had plans of leaving plantation life for the big city. He tried to convince members of small gospel groups he sung with to join him but realized if he was going to make it big he'd have to do it on his own. He eventually left Mississippi and hitchhiked to Memphis with $2.50 in his pocket. When King arrived in Memphis in 1946 he stayed with his cousin Bukka White who was a well known blues-man.
B.B. King was a blues singer and guitarist. His full name is Riley B. King. He was born September 16, 1925, near Indianola, Mississippi. An important aspect in King's life was, of course, when he was first exposed to the blues. 'I guess the earliest sound of the blues that I can rremember was in the fields while people would be pickin' cotton or choppin' or somethin,' " he told Living Blues . " When I sing and play now I can hear those same sounds that I used to hear then as a kid."
Mississippi- a birth place of the blues music. Blues were born in the Mississippi Delta as a call-and response lyrical pattern “sorrow” slave songs and haunting “field hollers” (Wilson). First introduction of blues was in 1912 when a black composer W.C. Andy recorded “The Memphis Blues” which later became popular in 1914. But it was in the twenties, that nation got the craze of blues when singers like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith recorded classic blues with jazz bands. While Blues falls into its own category, there are many different kinds of blues. Early emerging were Delta Blues and Chicago Blues. Three early pioneer of Delta Blues were Eddie “Son” House, Bukka White, and Big Joe Williams. During the great depression many African-Americans migrated towards the north giving Blues a new identity with the advent of the electric guitar – Chicago Blues. Then in 1960’s and 70’s Blues increasingly merged with rock music. American culture started to wake up to racism and discrimination. People started looking and experiencing the African-American culture in earnest and music was one part of it. Blues also helped in the development of Rock-N-Roll. It may have been just a form of expression in its infancy, but it became an identity for African-Americans for deca...
Both B.B King and Muddy Waters have had a huge impact on the blues culture and will remembered as major contributors of not only the blues genre but of music in general.
For additional help in understanding his reasoning and thought processes, The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr., edited by Clayborne Carson, can give one a sense of exactly why King had such a strong religious background. In fact, the first words of the writing state “Of course I was religious. I grew up in the church. My father was a preacher, my grandfather was a preacher, my great-grandfather was a preacher, my only brother is a preacher, my daddy’s brother is a preacher. So of course I didn’t have much choice” (Carson 1). Furthermore, this work is special because it combines hundreds of King’s writings in order to make a first person narrative of his life. The book skips no part of his life and includes his thoughts and feelings
They were a mixture of story telling and talking with a definite call and response. Religious music was very important in forming blues music. Because most blacks went to Christian churches from an early age and were exposed to Christian hymns. Ragtime was an influence that came later and is a faster blues played with the piano and someone singing which was usually played in bars called barrel houses.
... a new, better-organized demonstration and gave a very moving address to an audience of 500 at Memphis Temple on April 3. He spoke of and accepted the possibility of his own death, a recurring theme in his speeches. The following evening, shortly after 5:30 p.m., King was shot and killed on the balcony outside his motel room.