Analysis over a Recording of a Jazz Artist: B.B. King

B.B. King is without any doubts one of the greatest and well-known blues musicians of his generation, and his talent became symbolic for many generations. He died at the age of 89 and remained the representation of jazz music forever. Certainly most of his music was associated with blues, however King proved to be an open-minded and versatile musician and he managed to utilize his talent in a number of various settings, creating a unique combinations of cultural and musical skills and approaches. His real name was Riley B. King and “was an American blues singer, electric guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. King introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that influenced many later electric blues guitarists.” (Komara 2006). He was considered to become one of the most influential blues musicians and received a nickname “The King of the Blues”. In addition King proved to be a tireless performer, who managed to give up to 300 concerts annually. He made a great contribution into development of innovations in blues via creating his own music styles. He made blues different, made it better and impacted a lot of other musicians from all over the world, making them participate in creation of new genres, reaching the depth of blues. He was definitely different from other blues artists and stood out of the rest. His vocals were unique and he was without any doubts an expert guitar player, all these factors contributed to creating of songs with unique touch. The blues is considered to be one of the oldest forms of music in America. It started its development from the southern regions of the country, dating back to the period of slavery. The South was dominated by a lot of farm plantations during that historical period. Mostly the hard labor in the fields was performed by African-American slaves, and their lives were very difficult and challenging for generations. The only way out for their pain was their singing. Their spiritual and religious songs soon transformed into a new blend of music genres, leading to creation of blues in 1870s and 1900s. B. B. King was definitely one of the brightest and influential figures in blues; thanks to his unique style of music he left a great trace in the history of music.

Riley B. King was born in 1925 in a cotton plantation of Berclair, which was situated not far from the town of Itta Bena, Mississippi. He was the son of sharecroppers Albert ad Nora Ella King. (Rees, Crampton 1991). The city of Indianola, Mississippi turned into his native place for him. When the boy was four, his mother left his father for the sake of another man and King was raised actually by his grandmother – Elnora Farr. “While young, King sang in the gospel choir at Elkhorn Baptist Church in Kilmichael. King was attracted to the Pentecostal Church of God in Christ because of its music. The local minister led worship with a Sears Roebuck Silvertone guitar. The minister taught King his first three chords.” (Silliman 2015). Different sources provide different information about the source, which supplied him with his first guitar, he is said to have purchased it at the age of 12 for $15.00 (Troupe 1958 ).  Other sources state that he received it from Bukka White, the first cousin of his mother. (Kostelanetz, Reiswig 2005). “In November 1941 “King Biscuit Time” first aired, broadcasting on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. It was a radio show featuring the Mississippi Delta blues. King listened to it while on break at a plantation. A self-taught guitarist, he then wanted to become a radio musician.” (Weiner 2015). From the year 1943 King started to work as a tractor driver and played guitar with the Famous St. John’s Quartet of Inverness. Three years later he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, following Bukka White. There he spent around ten months and then came back to Mississippi in order to prepare for his next visit to Memphis in 1948. He participated in Sonny Boy Williamson’s radio program on KWEM in West Memphis and this were the first moments, when he started to gain the appreciation from his audience. “King’s appearances led to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis and later to a ten-minute spot on the Memphis radio station WDIA.” (Rees, Crampton 1991). Apart of working as a singer at WDIA, he was also a disc jockey, bearing the nickname of Beale Street Blues Boy. Later his used this name in short form and became known as Blues Boy or B.B. The meeting with T-Bone was important for King, as he realized that he wanted to have an electric guitar himself. The following decades of his life were devoted fully to his artistic activities: he made the records and participated in tours. He worked with musicians from different backgrounds, including rock, pop and country. In 2009 B.B. King received his 15th Grammy Award. King died in 2015.

King’s self realization as blues musician had to go through several periods, related to his personal life and life circumstances. Thus initially he was not allowed to sing the blues, because in the southern black communities of the 1930s and 1940s this type of music was considered to be “devil’s music”. King sang in churches and made his attempts to perform professionally with other groups, one of them was Famous St. John Gospel Singers. Later in his interviews King mentioned that in order not to show lack of respect towards his father and stepmother, he had never played blues in his own house. This fact, however, did not change his personal attitude to this kind of music, and he was convinced that he did not do any wrong things, when he played blues. He hoped that his close people were able to understand him and were even proud of him before their death.

His first hit appeared in 1952, it was dramatic rearrangement of Lowell Fulson’s Three O’clock Blues and it occupied the top positions in the R&B chart for 15 weeks. The initial success was later supported by Please Love Me, You Upset Me Baby, Sweet Sixteen and Sweet Little Angel. King issued dozens of recordings, mostly these were his own compositions. His experience and innovative approach allowed him to develop new direction in blues history. In his interview for Guitar Player magazine he said “I’ve tried my best to get that sound,” “I came pretty close, but never quite got it. “ (Rees, Crampton 1991). He acknowledged that the strongest impact he experienced from T-Bone Walker and even commented that if he had been a woman, he would have asked him to marry. Other blues guitarists, whose work became meaningful for creating of his unique style, were Lonnie Johnson, Charlie Christian and Blind Lemon Jefferson. “Disarmingly, he once explained that his guitar technique was partly based on his lack of skill: “I started to bend notes because I could never play in the bottleneck style, like Elmore James and Booker White. I loved that sound but just couldn’t do it.” (Rees, Crampton 1991).

During the 1950s King was the leading blues artist in the black-patronized clubs and theatres. He had up to 300 engagements per year. Thus King took the decision to change this working pattern similar to Ray Charles and signed the contract with ABC. The very first records within the frames of this contract represented the attempts to turn him into a pop singer and most of his audience and admires were not satisfied. Only when in 1965 he issued his album Live at the Regal, King was able to prove the strength of his major blues repertoire and have strong impact upon a number of young musicians. This was the period, when his How Blue Can You Get?, Don’t Answer the Door and Paying the Cost to Be the Boss and other hits appeared. The greatest success came with The Thrill Is Gone. Detailed analysis of this song could be helpful for overall understanding of the blues music, its roots and meanings, its lyrics and dynamics. The very beginning of this story, when the phrase “the thrill is gone away” is repeated several times, is the reference towards the hardships of slavery. The dynamics are forte and the loud music is intended to make the audience experience the rough feelings, similar to the pain of slaves. The instruments create the crescendo at the moment and also the keyboard is playing at depressive tone. The middle part of the song is devoted to the major dream of all slaves – to regain their freedom. The slight crescendo in the middle lines is used to underline the meaning of this dream to all slaves. Finally, the ending verse is devoted to the concept of freedom. The dynamics provide decrescendo here and this supports the impression of something gentle and smooth. This is the state of people, who are free and who do not have to be afraid of their masters and experience physical and moral pain.

Overall, the blues music has occupied its important place in the history of America and the name of B. B. King is strongly associated with its development and transformation. B.B. King fully corresponded to the historical conditions of his times, at the same time his talent and ambition led him to the top of musical career. His popularity for several generations could be explained by his unique ability to earn credibility by his audience and readiness for innovation.

Works cited:

Komara, Edward M. Encyclopedia of the Blues, Routledge, 2006

Kostelanetz, Richard; Reiswig, Jesse. The B.B. King Reader: 6 Decades of Commentary (2nd ed.). Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard, 2005

Rees, Dafydd, Crampton, Luke. Rock Movers and Shakers. Billboard Books, 1991

Silliman, Daniel. “How the church gave B.B. King the blues”. The Washington Post, 2015

Troupe, Quincy. “B.B. King: American Blues Musician, b. 1925”. Jazzandbluesmasters.com, 1958

Weiner, Tim. “B. B. King, Defining Bluesman for Generations, Dies at 89”. The New York Times, 2015

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

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"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
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[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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