How the church gave B.B. King the blues

[cbayer]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/15/how-the-church-gave-b-b-king-the-blues/

By Daniel Silliman May 15 at 9:55 AM


B.B. King in 2011. (Valentin Flauraud/Reuters)

B.B. King first learned music from the African American churches of the Mississippi Delta.

“Church was not only a warm spiritual experience,” the legendary bluesman once said, reflecting on his religious childhood. “It was exciting entertainment. It was where I could sit next to a pretty girl and mostly it was where the music got all over my body and made me wanna jump.”

King died on Thursday at age 89. In his long career, he had a profound influence on generations of rock and blues guitarists, as Terence McArdle reported for the Washington Post. King was considered by many to be the world’s best blues singer and came to be known as “King of the Blues.”

In interviews over the years, King talked about how his first experiences with music were connected to church. He also talked about how his relationship to church was deeply conflicted.

more at link

[Fumesucker]

1. Interesting article..

King, at the same time, was growing frustrated with religious audiences for his own reasons. When he played for church people, they would say “God bless you,” but wouldn’t give him any money. He noticed non-religious audiences were different while playing on the corner of Church and Second Street in Indianola, at the intersection of the black and white parts of town.

“People that would request a gospel song would always be very polite to me,” King recalled in 1999. “And they’d say, ‘Son, you’re mighty good. Keep it up. You’re going to be great one day.’ But they never put anything in the hat.”

When he played the blues, though, people would give him a little money or beer. On at least one occasion King recalled singing a spiritual song, changing the word “my Lord” to “my baby,” and getting a tip and a free beer.

“Now you know why I’m a blues singer,” King said.

[cbayer]

2. What a character.

I first saw him play in Chicago when I was still a teenager, and then many times after that, mainly in New Orleans.

I loved the small venues when he would love to talk and tell stories like the one here.

[rug]

3. .

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[cbayer]

4. Live at the Cook County Jail

[kwassa]

5. Most African-American popular music is strongly linked to the black church experience.

It is mostly just a change of lyrics.