Riley takes childhood lessons with him

By Chet Williamson

The show is billed as "The 60th Anniversary Celebration." That's B.B. King — "The King of the Blues" — on the road, as a touring act for six decades. And that's not even counting the juke joints and blues bars of Memphis, where he spent his developing years.

Back in 1948, he started up and down the "Chitlin' Circuit," playing in places like Twist, Arkansas, that legendary whistle stop where his guitar adopted the name Lucille.

At 82, he's still out there paying dues and sounding better than ever, but let's just say the venues have improved right along with him. "The King" holds court at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts this Friday night.

There's been an ocean of ink spilled on the man and his music. What is consistently said is how gracious and generous a performer he continues to be. Reaching back over the years, King says he learned lessons as a child that he carries with him through life and has translated on stage.

Born Riley B. King in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on September 16, 1925, "B.B." is a nickname he picked up in Memphis. Working on Beale Street as a youngster, he acquired the moniker "Beale Street Blues Boy," later shortened to B.B.

His mother died when he was nine years old and in her parting words she told young Riley that he should always be kind to others because kindness will always return to him.

"My mom was a good mom," King says. "She taught me to be a person that loves people. She taught me basic things that are still good today."

Charles Sawyer, one of King's biographers, stated that people who know the guitarist note that he has lived his life so as to be a son his mother would be proud of. "He still says that not a day goes by in which he doesn't think of her," Sawyer wrote.

King first learned to play the guitar and sing in the Sanctified Church. As Sawyer put it, that's where he learned to help people "throw off their earthly cares."

"The purging of trouble-in-mind is the deep purpose of B.B.'s blues performances even today, and on his best nights the deliverance is mutual. It is at the heart of his performance craft — among the best in show business," Sawyer wrote.

When asked about that, King says, "Well, I don't know. I'm not a psychologist. My motto is: Try to entertain the people. I'm a blues singer, yes, but I think entertainment can be found in many styles of music. My thought about entertainment is to make people feel good, make them laugh and smile."

As the venue hype states: "B.B. King is the definitive blues musician. With more than 50 albums, an astonishing 18 Grammy Awards and an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, B.B. King is clearly one of the greatest performers of our time."

When asked what's next for the King of Blues, he laughs heartily and restates the question, "What do you mean, what's next?" He then facetiously proclaims, "Death!"

Collecting his composure, King adds, "No, we have a new CD that will be out later on and my producer named it after one of the tunes."

The name of that tune?

"See That My Grave is Kept Clean."

Is the King trying to tell us something?

Speaking by phone on the road in Clearwater, Florida, where the band played last week, King was staying in a hotel under an alias.

Why the cover, Mr. King?

"That's because people give me a hard time sometimes," he says. "They know that I am at a hotel and they call and say, ‘Is B.B. King there?' ‘Yes, this is B.B.' ‘Oh, you ain't no B.B. King. Sing the ‘Thrill is Gone.'"

The thrill is still on. Catch him Friday night. o