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This is a genuine question: I know nothing of B. B. King, and how does the first picture tell anything about his significance to music?

by NhanH 11y ago

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
rmason 11y ago
Eric Clapton considered him his mentor. So did Jimmy Hendrix. James Brown considered him his equal. For fifty plus years he was a major influence on other artists. That picture of Clapton chauffering him was done for an album the two did together called Riding with the King. Clapton initiated the project. It went 2X multi platinum in the U.S. (rare for a blues album) and won a Grammy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riding_with_the_King_(B.B._King_and_Eric_Clapton_album) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riding_with_the_King_(B.B._King...
- maaaats 11y ago
  My dad got that album for his birthday when I was ~9 years old. For some reason I got really hooked on the music, it made me start taking guitar lessons and has shaped much of my music taste.
- edwhitesell 11y ago
  I came here to specifically mention this album. It is truly stellar. It's available as DVD audio too, mixed as 5.1 surround sound. It's one of the better 5.1 album mixes I've heard. I heard B.B. was in the hospital not too long ago and hoped all would be OK. He was/is truly an enormous influence on the blues genre and will be missed.
  - SloopJon 11y ago
    I just bought Riding with the King last month. Didn't know there was a DVD-Audio version. I was sad to hear that some of his recent performances were poorly received: http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/reviews/b-b-king-at-the-peabody-how-things-just-got/article_59ade8eb-c431-55de-a138-66925bb8de3b.html http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/reviews/b-b-king... http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/music/headlines/20131121-concert-review-b.b.-king-struggles-to-find-a-thrill-in-dallas-concert.ece http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/music/headlines/2013... http://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2014/09/28/bb-king-concert-review-erratic-phoenix/16391877/ http://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2014/09/2... When it comes to aging music icons who still perform, I think of Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones. They're in their early seventies, kids compared to B.B. King, touring in his late eighties. If you ever catch me booing a man like B.B. King for an erratic performance, punch me in the nose. Hard.
    - SloopJon 11y ago
      I opened the liner notes for Riding with the King, which has a great picture of B.B. King and Eric Clapton playing side by side, sitting on Fender amps (not sure if this link will work): http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/blues-guitarist-b-b-king-eric-clapton-and-elvin-bishop-news-photo/73992816 http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/blues-guitarist... Googling a bit, I found out (or maybe I knew at one time) that B.B. King was the cousin of Bukka White, who first sparked my interest in the blues. There's something about that gravely voice and slide guitar.
NickPollard 11y ago
It shows Eric Clapton, widely considered one of the most skilled and successful blues guitarists, chauffeuring B.B. King, implying that Clapton honours and reveres him.
snorkel 11y ago
When you learn to play guitar you learn about the main staple of blues music, the Pentatonic Scale, a simple palette of just 5 notes that you can follow all the way up the guitar neck (or piano, voice, or bass for that matter) B.B. King has a portion of the Pentatonic box patterns for guitar named after him, it's a place on the guitar neck known to guitarists as the "the B.B. King" box. Then you learn how to play a lot of popular rock and pop songs, then you realize the overwhelming majority of guitar rock music over the past 50 years is very derivative of blues riffs, in fact it's all just blues music played really loud, distorted, and to a straight rhythm. It's staggering to think how many great rock musicians have come and gone, and B.B. predated all of them by decades and outlived them for decades more, performing the whole time.

This is a genuine question: I know nothing of B. B. King, and how does the first picture tell anything about his significance to music?

by NhanH 11y ago

This is a genuine question: I know nothing of B. B. King, and how does the first picture tell anything about his significance to music?

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

rmason 11y ago

Eric Clapton considered him his mentor. So did Jimmy Hendrix. James Brown considered him his equal. For fifty plus years he was a major influence on other artists. That picture of Clapton chauffering him was done for an album the two did together called Riding with the King. Clapton initiated the project. It went 2X multi platinum in the U.S. (rare for a blues album) and won a Grammy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riding_with_the_King_(B.B._King_and_Eric_Clapton_album) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riding_with_the_King_(B.B._King...

maaaats 11y ago
My dad got that album for his birthday when I was ~9 years old. For some reason I got really hooked on the music, it made me start taking guitar lessons and has shaped much of my music taste.
edwhitesell 11y ago
I came here to specifically mention this album. It is truly stellar. It's available as DVD audio too, mixed as 5.1 surround sound. It's one of the better 5.1 album mixes I've heard. I heard B.B. was in the hospital not too long ago and hoped all would be OK. He was/is truly an enormous influence on the blues genre and will be missed.
- SloopJon 11y ago
  I just bought Riding with the King last month. Didn't know there was a DVD-Audio version. I was sad to hear that some of his recent performances were poorly received: http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/reviews/b-b-king-at-the-peabody-how-things-just-got/article_59ade8eb-c431-55de-a138-66925bb8de3b.html http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/reviews/b-b-king... http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/music/headlines/20131121-concert-review-b.b.-king-struggles-to-find-a-thrill-in-dallas-concert.ece http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/music/headlines/2013... http://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2014/09/28/bb-king-concert-review-erratic-phoenix/16391877/ http://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2014/09/2... When it comes to aging music icons who still perform, I think of Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones. They're in their early seventies, kids compared to B.B. King, touring in his late eighties. If you ever catch me booing a man like B.B. King for an erratic performance, punch me in the nose. Hard.
  - SloopJon 11y ago
    I opened the liner notes for Riding with the King, which has a great picture of B.B. King and Eric Clapton playing side by side, sitting on Fender amps (not sure if this link will work): http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/blues-guitarist-b-b-king-eric-clapton-and-elvin-bishop-news-photo/73992816 http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/blues-guitarist... Googling a bit, I found out (or maybe I knew at one time) that B.B. King was the cousin of Bukka White, who first sparked my interest in the blues. There's something about that gravely voice and slide guitar.

NickPollard 11y ago

It shows Eric Clapton, widely considered one of the most skilled and successful blues guitarists, chauffeuring B.B. King, implying that Clapton honours and reveres him.

snorkel 11y ago

When you learn to play guitar you learn about the main staple of blues music, the Pentatonic Scale, a simple palette of just 5 notes that you can follow all the way up the guitar neck (or piano, voice, or bass for that matter) B.B. King has a portion of the Pentatonic box patterns for guitar named after him, it's a place on the guitar neck known to guitarists as the "the B.B. King" box. Then you learn how to play a lot of popular rock and pop songs, then you realize the overwhelming majority of guitar rock music over the past 50 years is very derivative of blues riffs, in fact it's all just blues music played really loud, distorted, and to a straight rhythm. It's staggering to think how many great rock musicians have come and gone, and B.B. predated all of them by decades and outlived them for decades more, performing the whole time.