This week the country lost another great musician. Blues legend B.B. King (born Riley B. King) died Thursday, May 14, 2015 in Las Vegas. He’d announced that he was in hospice care on May 1st. King was from my home state of Mississippi where he was born September 16, 1925 in Itta Bena, MS near Indianola where he will be laid to rest at his request in the upcoming week or so according to USA Today. They announced that the public would be able to view the body at Palm South Jones Mortuary on Friday, May 22nd from 3-7pm in Las Vegas.
In Mississippi, Blues and Soul music are just as popular as country music is in Nashville, TN. I grew up listening to my granddaddy “Bubba” and my uncles and aunts as they played lots of it around the house. They played such artists as Bobby “Blue” Bland, Bobby Womack, Al Green, The Staple Singers, Bobby Rush, Betty Wright, ZZ Hill, Shirley Brown and so many more. I’d learn the songs and sing along with my step-mother and her friends as we hung out on the porch, and I’d revel in the joy I’d see in their faces that good music brought to them. Unfortunately, as it is with most children, I started rejecting things that the adults were into as I became a teenager and later as a young adult. I didn’t have an appreciation for any of that music at the time although I knew the many, many levels that music can take a person to emotionally even back then.
My cousins and others my age started embracing that same music even more as we all got older and they became to their children who our older adult family members were to us back in the day. I thought that it had everything to do with the fact that they were still in Mississippi, a place that I moved away from about 15 years ago. However, it wasn’t until recently that I opened my ears to music that’s not mainstream and one of the first artists that struck that old familiar feeling in me was Mr. B.B. King himself. The Thrill is Gone will always be one of his most popular and most memorable songs to me. It’s also the title of a blog post on his website requesting his fans to share their thoughts on the man and his music. Mr. King earned the title of “The King of Blues” many years ago and he wore it well up until his recent death. Recent work for Mr. King included his appearance in a commercial in the past several months with his famed guitar Lucille, the movie of his life, The Life of Riley that hit theaters in May 2014, and his steady round of shows on the road up until his health started declining last fall.
Riley B. King made a huge impact on the music of today and he’s touched fans around the world. He will be missed, but his legacy will live on through the music. R.I.P.
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