Well, Riley B King has
moved on. I think we can safely assume that he and Lucille are up
there, with a few good friends and a stack of Mr Marshall's best
kit, jammin' the fuck out of some sunlit, standing-room-only, beautiful green
pasture or other. It will all be cool and he will be happy and
trouble free and doing what he does. No time for tears.
Now, inevitably of course, the whole wide world will get to hear of his amazing career, his history and his
phenomenal discography. A million words will be written this week
about B.B. Most of them will not get anywhere near describing the
effect his music had. The reason for that is simple. All of us got
him, in our own way, Direct and Personal.
There will be a million
personal reminiscences, talking heads, photographs and anecdotes, from the famous,
the not so famous and anyone who had the fortune, like The Hat, to brush against his
vibe sometime in their life - whether in real live performance or
reaching out through the stereo speakers. You did not need to be
introduced. You knew it was him as soon as he and his guitar spoke to
you. Perhaps, that is exactly how it should be, because somehow the
man and his music managed to put his hand on us as individuals
whether he was playing huge concerts or crowded back bars.
His unique talent was
undeniable but BB worked incredibly hard at his craft from an early
age. For the first twenty years, (he used to say he 'never suffered
racism in the early days because he only played to black audiences' - on the chitlin
circuit) he gigged, recorded and gigged – he didn't have his first record success until 1949/50. It wasn't until the fifties that his rare and distinctive sound started to be heard across a wider audience around the world and much much later until his thousands of white blues fans and musicians finally got him to play in Europe in 1969.
Here was a Mississippi cotton plantation child who went on for five, six, seven decades seldom playing less
than 200 gigs a year – indeed in 1956 he was recorded as playing an
extraordinary 342 live gigs across the US. There are precious few top
flight blues musicians who have that prodigious work ethic to go
alongside their talent.
By all accounts, B.B
was a humble and unassuming man who always had a kind word for
others. He spent time with fans, shared with other musicians and gave
stage space to the young and talented. The queue of talent that
wanted to share a stage with him stretched from Madison Square Garden
to Montreux and The Hat is sure that he could have made twenty more versions of the wonderful
'Deuces Wild' guest album without repeating himself once. Above all,
he was a man who not only loved and enjoyed his art but really loved
and enjoyed the idea that other people shared that joy. It is
impossible to look at any film of him playing and not smile and share that
tangible sense of warmth, pleasure and joy.
I particularly like the quote from Martin Mull, actor, painter, musician, who famously said “To play guitar with BB King would be like discussing
religion with Jesus”.... Well, I guess those that had the chance would doubtless
confirm that...but, hey, we all get where he was coming from...
So now he is gone - but
you and I know that he is still in the room. He ain't really gone
nowhere. He's just down the road, with Lucille, sweet talking,
sticking it to the man, chuckling and growling, nestling in our
hearts and making us smile our thanks.
So, thank you B.B. Rest assured - The Thrill Will Never Be Gone.
Pip Pip!
The Blues Man in The Hat