Kenjo Wong MUS-204-301 Riley B. King, known as B.B King was born September 16, 1928 in the hamlet of Berclair, Mississippi near the town of Itta Bena. His parents Albert and Nora Ell King were sharecroppers who divorced when he was four years old. He lived with his mother until she passed away when he was nine and was later raised by a host of his relatives that included uncles, aunts, and kind white plantation owners. Some of his first exposure to music was from the singing of workers in fields and from the guitar playing of a reverend in a local church. His mother passed on her devout Baptist nature and it led to him becoming the lead singer in the Holiness church’s gospel choir. He was heavily influenced by the recordings of Lonnie Johnson and Blind Lemon Johnson. He is known to have blended aspects of the blues with that of Jazz by borrowing techniques of famed Jazz guitarist Django Reinhart and saxophonist Lester Young. His …show more content…
career as a musician really began when he traveled to Memphis to find his cousin Bukka White, an already well known musician. King played on street corners and grew better known until he got the job of disc jockey on the radio with the nickname, “The Beale Street Blues Boy.” The name was later adapted into the initials B.B which became his stage name. His job as a disk jockey led to his first recordings being released as singles on the record label Bullet and was tagged for performances outside of Memphis. He was then discovered by a talent scout for the record label Modern Records by the name of Ike Turner and in the process made a hit, “3 O’clock Blues,” which was on the top of the charts for fifteen weeks. He stayed on the label until 1962 until he left for ABC Records on which he stayed for 35 years. King’s success grew continually and he toured frequently. At many points of his career he performed over 275 shows a year. He sustained the ebbing and flow of people’s interest in the blues as the “King of the Blues,” arguably the most important blues musicians of all time. His career really took off in the 1960s when he hired a new manager from New York Sidney A. Seidenberg and he began getting national attention by performing on the Ed Sullivan show and many universities, Following that he maintained steady popularity and was recognized with a number of Grammy Awards, a lifetime achievement award and a Presidential Medal of Freedom for his many contributions through music. His journey to become nationally recognized started when he released his biggest hit, “The Thrill is Gone.” King released records prolifically and describes the blues on the notable track, “Why I Sing the Blues,” The song, “Why I Sing the Blues,” by B.B King, released in 1969 is a classic example of a brutally honest song that showcases a classic 12-bar blues and invokes all of King’s feelings about a multitude of griefs. The song goes through chronologically the hardships that people of African-American ethnicity have gone throughout history. In the line, “They brought me over on a ship, and men were standing over me, and a lot more with a whip,” describes the journey undertook by many slaves on the way to America in the past. The mention of a whip invokes painful imagery and the brutality of slave-owners. The blues is honest and King is explaining why it’s important to remember the past. He makes a point to ensure people understand the blues better and realize at the same time the history behind it. “Why I Sing the Blues,” serves as a lens into his ancestry and a common thread that can be analyzed by the audience. The struggle of being poor and being unemployed is a common theme that is explored throughout the song. The instrumentation of the BB has much of the characteristics of a BB King song with lots of guitar soloing and his trademark licks are apparent throughout the song.
There is a guitar, a bass, a piano and percussion in the song. The licks on King’s guitar produces a very sharp timbre. The feeling I get from the song is that he is playing is very relaxed and he is not rushing to finish the piece. His technical skill is very apparent from listening to any of his songs. However he also utilizes his voice as much as he does the guitar. His guitar solos are unmatched by most blues musicians and can be recognized by the BB Box, a technique that his characterized by simple solos, with less notes, but still convey much feeling. His playing style inspired many blues musicians who did not need to have technical ability but instead only needed to have the will, the feeling and the articulation to play the blues. His guitar is one of the more distinctive sounds in the blues and one can clearly detect much feeling that emanates from listening to
it. BB King’s longevity is also something to be commended for due to his sustained success and how long he kept performing even at an advanced age, The “King of the Blues,” he consistently kept up his commitments and his durability is one of the many testaments to his greatness. His influence on the blues is clear with his mastery of the guitar and the deep meaning he expressed through his music. He stayed true to the blues by making his lyrics honest and maintaining his own unique style of guitar playing. King’s prime was in an era where African Americans faced discrimination and he was involved in many automobile accidents yet barely missed any of his shows. BB King serves as one of the most important musicians to play the blues and was one of its most beloved ambassadors. King’s playing style influenced a generation of blues musicians and left an expansive discography when he passed away. The feeling he invokes through his songs are something special and his recordings capture only a bit of his larger than life personality. Works Cited "B. B. King." Notable Black American Men, Book II. Ed. Jessie Carney Smith. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in Context. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. Ferris, William R. "'Everything leads me back to the feeling of the blues.' B.B. King, 1974." Southern Cultures 12.4 (2006): 5+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. Klinkowitz, Jon. "King, B. B. (1925—)." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 3. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 26-28. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. Weiner, Tim. "B. B. King, Defining Bluesman for Generations, Dies at 89."The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 May 2015. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. "B.B. King – Why I Sing the Blues." Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. "B.B. King Dies: Generations of Guitarists Used 'B.B. Box' to Learn How to Play." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.
While listening to “Walking Blues” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky” similar instruments can be heard in the background. Both of these songs feature guitars. Son House, while singing, is playing his guitar with bent notes. He also used his notable slide technique to create a unique sound. In “Blue Moon of Kentucky” Presley featured Scotty Moore on the Electric Guitar and Bill Black on the Bass. The instrumentals in this song helped create an upbeat tempo that would lead to sucess. While there are many similarities there are also a number of
Presley grew up in an era where racism was strong; his music brought all races together. His music had Caucasians singing black R&B despite the racism. Teenage girls all over the world would go hysterical over Elvis and his crude moves. Elvis received one of his nicknames “Elvis the Pelvis” with his sexual moves that could not be recorded on television. 1955 and 1956 was when Presley exploded in his musical careers with his single “Heartbreak Hotel” which sold over one million copies. As I listened to this single that sold so many copies I can hear the different genres and the way his voice was so different compared to other artist in this era. The main instrument being played in this single is a guitar. There is actually a hotel named after Elvis’s first hit single. It is located in Memphis, Tennessee. Unfortunately, the hit song was inspired behind a suicide note that one of Pre...
He starts of the song with the lyrics “Cold empty bed, springs hard as lead” this describes how Armstrong is living in a bad condition. This is an everyday lifestyle for Armstrong he sings “Feel like Old Ned, wish I was dead.” “All my life through, I’ve been so black and blue.” Old Ned is the slang term for the devil, which just like Armstrong is living in hell, but this has been they why he lived his whole life. This song may seem odd to his white audience because he was always seen as a happy Black person who can play jazz. The song continues, but it touches on the racism he has to deal with, because he is black.” My only sin...is in my skin” like African Americans today being black is considered something negative despite your behavior. The only bad act that Louis has ever did wrong is having black skin, which cannot be changed and is given to him from birth. The last stanza in the song is interesting because he says “How would it end...I aint got a friend …My only sin...is in my skin…What did I do...to be so black and blue?” This notes that oppression has Armstrong feeling helpless, and wondering how will this misery end. Louis Armstrong like many African Americans today live with the psychological and depression caused by racism in
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 on April 27, 1927 in Heiberger, Alabama. Heiberger was a small segregated town. Coretta’s parents were Obadiah and Bernice Scott. She has an older sister named Edythe and a younger brother, Obie. Coretta was named after her grandmother Cora Scott. Her family was hard working and devoted Christians. Coretta had a strong temper, feared no one and stood up for herself.
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
Growing up on the Mississippi River among six siblings, Mahalia Jackson knew what it was like to be racially secluded. She was reared by her father who was a minister and was singing in his choir at the age of five. In her early teen years she worked as a launderer and also as a housekeeper, but she dreamed of one day becoming a nurse ("New" 1). Mahalia began traveling throughout the Midwest to sing at different Baptist Churches. Her popularity began to soar, and she signed a record deal to become "the only Negro whom Negroes have made famous," as the African American press described her ("New" 2). She was inspired by Bessie Smith. When she worked as a servant, she said "when the old people weren’t home and I’d be scrubbin’ the floor, I’d turn on a Bessie Smith record to make the work go faster" ("New" 1). Mahalia would not stop at just being a famous gospel singer. She had her own radio program and television show that aired on CBS. She went on to manage several businesses and become involved in real estate. She preceded Dr. Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement before he gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech.
If we look more closer, the Blues Aesthetic is not only a musical genre or works of art. The Blues Aesthetic is much more, it is a psychological procedure of expressing hardships through African-American art works in order to state liberation and “justice for all”. Just like Langston Hughes once said, negro artist are not just “artist,” but they are colored artist because the art that is portrayed by the African-Americans is a cultural statement. The musical art from B.B. King and the visual art from Aaron Douglas both are part of the Blues Aesthetic because they both make a cultural statement through their individual works of art.
For Stanley, the blues tell the stories of the African-American community. Some of the stories talk about the harshness of their lives, but they also talk about the good times they had. [People] play the blues to get rid of the blues not to get them." (Lamb, 1). When people play or even listen to the blues, they are letting all of their worries go. They are not worrying about their job, the bills, or their kids. They are just trying to enjoy the moment when the blues are playing. The blues are some people's release from the stresses of their lives.
The Godfather of Soul Introduction We will look into the life of James Brown. He is known for his music. In his life, he had to face many obstacles, but through determination, he changed his life cycle. We will touch on the influences in his life, developmental stage and theories that best fit his personality. James Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in South Carolina.
Riley B. King better known as B.B. King was born on September 16th 1925 to a family of sharecropping farmers near a small town named Itta Bena in the Mississippi Delta. King's parents Albert and Nora Ella King separated when he was five years old and shortly after his mother moved to Kilmicheal Mississippi where Riley spent most of his time living with is grandmother. By age seven King was now working the field like a grown man. A couple of years later at the age of nine his mother died. King continued to live with his grandmother after his mother had past away. His grandmother was very religious and he attended church services with her. It was in the church where King begins to take an interest in music. He had dreams of becoming a gospel singer and learned how to play basic notes on the guitar from his preacher. In 1940 King's grandmother died and he had trouble making ends meet and eventually went to live with his father. (The King of Blues)
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."
Coretta Scott King was born Coretta Scott on April 27th, 1927 in Marion, Alabama to her parents Obadiah and Bernice Scott. She had two siblings. They were a boy named Obadiah and a girl named Edythe and lived on a farm owned by her family. Her education as a little girl included attending a one room elementary school and a bigger high school, that was further away from her home because of the racial segregation in her community, named Lincoln Normal School. Coretta graduated in 1945 and headed off to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. There she studied music and got into clubs pertaining to politics dealing with race such as the NAACP chapter of her school. She graduated from Antioch with a Bachelor’s Degree in music and education and shortly afterwards achieved a full scholarship to attend the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston to study concert singing. This is where she met her f...
Early Life in Georgia. The "Godfather of Soul," James Brown, was born James Joe Brown Jr. on May 3, 1933, in a one-room shack in the woods of Barnwell, South Carolina, a few miles east of the Georgia border. When James was a little kid he was a hard working little kid that do anything to help this family. When he was at the age of six year old he was send to live with is Aunt Honey. James find Music when he was little kid. This mother left him when he was four year old, she left with another man, and while Aunt Honey would play something of a maternal role for James, the fact that she ran a brothel and sold moonshine for a living made for anything but a traditional upbringing. It was a lot of people who wanted to play music and learn at the same time they when to