Riley King
A.K.A. : B. B. King
	Life span: 1925-????
	Style Synopsis: Style is the word that describes the way that B.B. He uses signature tremolo and "T-Bone Walker" influenced jazzy sounding blues riffs. Also, in words of B.B., "I don't do no chords". He can also tell when muted notes are more necessary than full notes.
Biography
	For as long as anyone can remember, B.B. King has reigned as the "King Of Blues." With his Gibson guitar named Lucille, along with his unique vocals, king has put out some of the most down-home sounds in African-American music.
B.B. King, the world's greatest blues singer had- like a lot of people- had some hard times. Born in 1925 in Itta Bena, Mississippi., King lived with his mother until he was nine. When his mother died he lived alone, taking care of himself by working in cotton fields that were owned by the people who had employed his mother, this was the time of the Depression , and the period when he started learning the guitar. He worked as a disc jockey at the Memphis radio station WDIA in 1949, where he picked up the stage name "The Beale Street Blues Boy," He was influenced by jazz guitarist Charlie Christian, as well as countless other blues musicians including T-Bone Walker. Among the many songs he eternalized, "The Thrill Is Gone" is perhaps his most enduring, he aslo won several Grammy's for that song and the albums "There Must Be a Better World Somewhere", "My Guitar Sings The Blues", "Live at San Quentin", "Live at the Apollo", and "Blues Summit". He received along with other numerous awards the Grammy Lifetime Achievments Award in 1987.
Still on the road and recording for MCA, with Lucille , B.B. King is still showing the world the blues is here to stay.
	King started his career as a teenage professional musician on the streets of Memphis during the 1940s. He played gospel and blues on street corners for tips. Concerned in whether or not to play gospel or Blues, he decided to integrate both styles. In 1951, B. B. King had his first hit song ,"3 O'clock Blues.'' The song was so successful, record producers signed the young man from his Memphis, Tenn. home and send him to New York City, where he shortened his stage name from Beale Street Blues Boy to "B.B.''
	Over the past forty years, King has been called the master of blue using his many styles of gospel, jazz, and blues, which has influenced all blues and rock guitarists.
Blues has played an extreme role in todays’ music. The music genre of blues, helps us express ourselves in which you can feel it from the ubiquitous in the jazz to the blues scale and the specific chord progressions. To start off, the blues is musically originated by African Americans in the deep South of the United States. Growing up in a southern household, I was used to listening to a variety music, but blues was always most listened to. Every time I listen to blues, the lyrics often deal with personal adversity, and it goes far beyond pity.
There are many Elvis Tribute Artists throughout the United States. A tribute artist is one of a group of unique people who have dedicated their lives to keeping Elvis’ memory alive. How it all got started, a boy went into Sun Records at the age of 19, to record a special song for his mother’s birthday present; the song was titled My Happiness. One year would pass by, before the owner of the studio would call him back. In 1954, music producer, Sam Phillips discovered the very young and energetic boy that we know as Elvis. Sam Phillips was looking for a sound that was very different and unique. Elvis, Scotty Moore, and Dj Fontana had been working hard all day, and close to the end of the afternoon when they were about ready to give up, while taking a break, Elvis picked up the guitar and started to play around. Sam stuck his head out of the control booth, and asks, “What are you doing and can you do it again?” Elvis answered, “I don’t know and yes”. The rockabilly sound was born. A deejay by the name of, Dewey Phillips at WHBQ Radio in Memphis, Tennessee interviewed Elvis and played his first record “That’s all right mamma. The world was introduced to Elvis Presley and the rockabilly sound. Elvis was the greatest music entertainer of his time, until his death on August 16, 1977, at the age of forty-two years. His sudden death left this world very tearful, he was known as the King-of -Rocking- N-Roll throughout his life and still today, thirty-two years after he died.
As time progressed, music had to continue to evolve to keep up with the ever-changing styles. Blues slowly began to morph into Rock and Roll to engage people of a new era. While many changes occurred in creating Rock and Roll, it continued to carry undertones of the Blues. This can be heard while comparing Son House’s, “Walking Blues” and Elvis Presley’s, “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” These two songs show many similarities, while also having their own identities.
Back in 1951, a young blues guitarist named Riley King had his first hit song titled "3 O’clock Blues.'' The song was so great, promoters whisked the young man from his Memphis, Tennessee home to the big top of New York City, where he shortened his stage name from Beale Street Blues Boy to "B.B.''
...ey cannot deny that the Blues has influenced different genres from the cotton fields to the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame.
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)
	On February 15, 1965 the music world lost one of its greats. By the time his life was over, he was already a legend, having influenced the likes of Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal. Nat had performed with some of the best including Duke Ellington and performed for some of the best, including the Queen¨, he was even friends with John F. Kennedy. Though he is often remembered today as a great singer, he was also one of history’s greatest jazz pianists. It is said that as a pianist, he developed the intricate right-hand style of initiated by Hines and the sparse left-hand of Count Basiel. His records have been released and re-released and even to this day they are still popular. Through the marvels of modern technology, Nat and his daughter, Natalie (who is also a well-known artist) were reunited for a rendition of the classic, "Unforgettable", which he certainly is.
He shows a lot of authority in the way he writes and speaks. King is trying to show everyone that he is well-educated and well-cultured. He shows strong leadership and well guidance to his fellow followers. “Some have asked, ‘Why didn’t you give the new administration time to act?’ The only answer that I can give inquiry is that new administration must be prodded about as much as the ongoing one before it acts. We will be sadly mistaken if we fed that election of Mr. Boutwell will bring the millennium to Birmingham.” (King 2) As King says “we will sadly be mistaken” he clarifies that he is speaking for all his followers and believers (King 2). King speaks on behave of his follow friends, group members, and believers. Also when King says, “The only answer that I can give inquiry is…” he shows hegemony because he is saying I. By him saying I can give inquiry, it shows that he does know what he is taking about and how he is well aware of the situation. Therefore, he can be trusted by others. “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntary given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” (King 2). In this statement, King allows us to understand and visualize the way it was for him and all African Americans. King takes matters into his own hands and deliberates the real way of life for them. He explains how most felt and how most had to gain respect for themselves. He explains that they have
Speaking about are and dance style, when Brown went on with his career, he transitioned away from the traditional dancing and singing styles of the time, and helped build the style we now know as “funk”. He had a unique blend ...
Even though he was a great popular singer , he was well respected as a jazz singer . The
Through Elvis Presley, rock ‘n’ roll changed the face of American music, and influenced a whole generation’s political philosophy. Composer Leonard Berstein once said, “He introduced the beat to everything and changed everything-music, language, clothes; it’s a whole new social revolution-the 60s come from it” (Wattenberg 6B). To his credit, Elvis embraced rhythm and blues not as a from to be imitated, but as a form to honored and interprete... ...
Upon his induction in 1988, Motown’s founder was given the following tribute: “Gordy endeavored to reach across the racial divide with music that could touch all people, regardless of the color of their skin. Under this tutelage, Motown became a model of black capitalism, pride and self expression and a repository for some of the greatest talent ever assembled at one company. Motown’s stable of singers, songwriters, and musicians took the concept of simple, catchy pop songs to a intensity. After Motown, black popular music would never again be dismissed as a minority taste. Aesthetically no less than commercially, Motown’s achievements will likely remain unrivaled and unstoppable”.
B.B. King’s first musical influence came from his church, Church of God in Christ. He was forbidden to play blues at home. Instead, he sang in spiritual groups like the Elkhorn Singers and Saint John’s Gospel Singers. A relative of B.B. showed him his first chords on the instrument. According to B.B. King, King of the Blues Worldwide (n.d.), as a teenager, he played on street corners for dimes, and would sometimes play in as many as four towns a night. When he started making more money playing in one night than he would in a week on the farm, he headed to Memphis. At that time, Memphis was where every style of African American musicians of the South gravitated. B.B. stayed with his cousin, Bukka white, a blues performer, who schooled him further in the art of the blues.
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.
You may know him as "the King of Rock n´ Roll", but who is the man behind the famous title?