Blues Boy: The Life and Music of B.B. King

Literature & Fiction

Danchin, Sebastian

Essays & Correspondence

Univ Pr of Mississippi

B B. King has never let up in his fight to become the living personification of the best of the blues for the whole world. He was indeed the first to introduce blues to Japanese, Russian, and Chinese audiences. Although he was born in the days of swing and big bands, his music has blossomed and prospered even as rhythm &amp; blues, rock'n'roll, soul, funk, and rap have taken a turn at becoming the height of music fashion. 
 "I don't think there is a better blues guitarist in the world than B. B. King." This statement by Eric Clapton could have been made also by Buddy Guy, the Rolling Stones, or Ireland's U2. All of them, and many others, have said recurrently that the man they nickname "King of the Blues" was their true mentor. 
 By exploring all aspects of King's life and career, this book like none other before provides an objective description of the man and his music. A revision of the edition published in France in 1993 by `editions du Limon, it supplements B. B. King's moving autobiography Blues All Around Me. Whereas King's is a book of memories, this is an objective story with careful historical perspective and observations from key witnesses. It draws on many printed sources, from King's published interviews, and from the author's recurring encounters with King and his manager since 1977. 
 It shows how in some ways B. B. King's life has conformed to the commonly adopted image of the blues singer's early years of poverty and hardship in the American South, a backdrop of cottonfields and muddy waters of the Mississippi River, a musical apprenticeship in the big city (Memphis), and a career that reaches its peak under the spotlights of Las Vegas. 
 B. B. King's success is shown here as the result of his uncommon doggedness, of his constant attention to fashion and to African-American culture, and of his respect for his audiences and his roots. By exploring all aspects of blues music's leading figure, this book conveys a portrait of a creative genius who also is just a man.
 B B. King has never let up in his fight to become the living personification of the best of the blues for the whole world. He was indeed the first to introduce blues to Japanese, Russian, and Chinese audiences. Although he was born in the days of swing and big bands, his music has blossomed and prospered even as rhythm &amp; blues, rock'n'roll, soul, funk, and rap have taken a turn at becoming the height of music fashion. 
 "I don't think there is a better blues guitarist in the world than B. B. King." This statement by Eric Clapton could have been made also by Buddy Guy, the Rolling Stones, or Ireland's U2. All of them, and many others, have said recurrently that the man they nickname "King of the Blues" was their true mentor. 
 By exploring all aspects of King's life and career, this book like none other before provides an objective description of the man and his music. A revision of the edition published in France in 1993 by `editions du Limon, it supplements B. B. King's moving autobiography Blues All Around Me. Whereas King's is a book of memories, this is an objective story with careful historical perspective and observations from key witnesses. It draws on many printed sources, from King's published interviews, and from the author's recurring encounters with King and his manager since 1977. 
 It shows how in some ways B. B. King's life has conformed to the commonly adopted image of the blues singer's early years of poverty and hardship in the American South, a backdrop of cottonfields and muddy waters of the Mississippi River, a musical apprenticeship in the big city (Memphis), and a career that reaches its peak under the spotlights of Las Vegas. 
 B. B. King's success is shown here as the result of his uncommon doggedness, of his constant attention to fashion and to African-American culture, and of his respect for his audiences and his roots. By exploring all aspects of blues music's leading figure, this book conveys a portrait of a creative genius who also is just a man.

Blues Boy: The Life and Music of B. B. King (American Made Music Series)

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

UNIVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPPI

Jimi Hendrix called Earl Hooker "the master of the wah-wah pedal." Buddy Guy slept with one of Hooker's slides beneath his pillow hoping to tap some of the elder bluesman's power. And B. B. King has said repeatedly that, for his money, Hooker was the best guitar player he ever met. Tragically, Earl Hooker died of tuberculosis in 1970 when he was on the verge of international success just as the Blues Revival of the late sixties and early seventies was reaching full volume.Second cousin to now-famous bluesman John Lee Hooker, Earl Hooker was born in Mississippi in 1929, and reared in black South Side Chicago where his parents settled in 1930. From the late 1940s on, he was recognized as the most creative electric blues guitarist of his generation. He was a "musician's musician," defining the art of blues slide guitar and playing in sessions and shows with blues greats Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, and B. B. King. A favorite of black club and neighborhood bar audiences in the Midwest, and a seasoned entertainer in the rural states of the Deep South, Hooker spent over twenty-five years of his short existence burning up U.S. highways, making brilliant appearances wherever he played.Until the last year of his life, Hooker had only a few singles on obscure labels to show for all the hard work. The situation changed in his last few months when his following expanded dramatically. Droves of young whites were seeking American blues tunes and causing a blues album boom. When he died, his star's rise was extinguished. Known primarily as a guitarist rather than a vocalist, Hooker did not leave a songbook for his biographer to mine. Only his peers remained to praise his talent and pass on his legend. "Earl Hooker's life may tell us a lot about the blues," biographer Sebastian Danchin says, "but it also tells us a great deal about his milieu. This book documents the culture of the ghetto through the example of a central character, someone who is to be regarded as a catalyst of the characteristic traits of his community."  Like the tales of so many other unheralded talents among bluesmen, Earl Hooker, Blues Master, Hooker's life story, has all the elements of a great blues song--late nights, long roads, poverty, trouble, and a soul-felt pining for what could have been.

Earl Hooker, Blues Master (American Made Music Series)

2020 Blues Hall of Fame Classic of Blues Literature Jimi Hendrix called Earl Hooker “the master of the wah-wah pedal.” Buddy Guy slept with one of Hooker's slides beneath his pillow hoping to tap some of the elder bluesman's power. And B. B. King has said repeatedly that, for his money, Hooker was the best guitar player he ever met. Tragically, Earl Hooker died of tuberculosis in 1970 when he was on the verge of international success just as the Blues Revival of the late sixties and early seventies was reaching full volume. Second cousin to now-famous bluesman John Lee Hooker, Earl Hooker was born in Mississippi in 1929, and reared in black South Side Chicago where his parents settled in 1930. From the late 1940s on, he was recognized as the most creative electric blues guitarist of his generation. He was a “musician's musician,” defining the art of blues slide guitar and playing in sessions and shows with blues greats Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, and B. B. King. A favorite of black club and neighborhood bar audiences in the Midwest, and a seasoned entertainer in the rural states of the Deep South, Hooker spent over twenty-five years of his short existence burning up U.S. highways, making brilliant appearances wherever he played. Until the last year of his life, Hooker had only a few singles on obscure labels to show for all the hard work. The situation changed in his last few months when his following expanded dramatically. Droves of young whites were seeking American blues tunes and causing a blues album boom. When he died, his star's rise was extinguished. Known primarily as a guitarist rather than a vocalist, Hooker did not leave a songbook for his biographer to mine. Only his peers remained to praise his talent and pass on his legend. “Earl Hooker's life may tell us a lot about the blues,” biographer Sebastian Danchin says, “but it also tells us a great deal about his milieu. This book documents the culture of the ghetto through the example of a central character, someone who is to be regarded as a catalyst of the characteristic traits of his community.” Like the tales of so many other unheralded talents among bluesmen, Earl Hooker, Blues Master, Hooker's life story, has all the elements of a great blues song―late nights, long roads, poverty, trouble, and a soul-felt pining for what could have been.

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