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King Of The Blues
10/22/1999 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Dave DiMartino
Blues legend B.B. King may perform a
music that is steeped in age-old tradition, but he's an artist that
continually looks to the future. This brilliant guitarist--whose famous
ax Lucille has been a mainstay throughout his career--actually
participated in the production of On The Road With B.B. King, a recent
CD-ROM from MCA that details the history of the blues and his
contribution to the genre. King was eager to discuss with LAUNCH
executive editor Dave DiMartino his foray into multimedia and what
brought him to this interactive crossroads. LAUNCH:
How did the
CD-ROM come about? KING:
The making of the CD-ROM? It came about
because I'd done some work and fooled around a bit with the computer. I
was first told by my manager that our record company, MCA, wanted to do
something. They were going to get a company to work with me on this
CD-ROM. This was a little funny to me, because I never heard of B.B.
King being on a CD-ROM...and what do I do? So I finally met the director
and everyone in charge. My manager is a very smart guy; he thought it
would be a pretty good thing to do. And MCA thought it would be a good
thing because it was the first one they'd done on this kind of thing.
LAUNCH:
What did you think of it when it was done? KING:
I couldn't believe it was me and the way they put it together. I'm
sitting on the bus! But it's technology that you can't hide; it's
something that is of the future. And believe me, as long as I live, I
want to be a part of it. LAUNCH:
Can the blues handle the
interactive revolution? KING:
Oh yes, of course. If I can manage
it, I'm sure the blues can. LAUNCH:
How do you describe the
blues? What is it that appeals to you about this music?
KING:
Well, to answer that is sort of like a saying, "I heard that beauty
lies in the eyes of the beholder." So if I answer that, I would say
that blues is many things to many people. For some people, for example,
if I'm blue--very blue--to hear a blue tune picks me up, it don't put me
down at all. Blues is a something, a feeling that has to do with people.
I don't think there's hardly anybody in the world that has not been in
love one way or another, and hardly anyone in the world who hasn't been
in love and thinks they love more than the other person; in other words,
"I put more in it than you do." So I think it has to do with
people, places and things--past, present and the future. I think, again,
there are people that hear the blues and it's like a tonic, it's good
for whatever ails them. LAUNCH:
You mentioned the fact that you
were surprised to see yourself sitting on the bus on the CD-ROM. The bus
factors heavily in the blues legend--you always hear these stories about
musicians on the road. Why don't you just fly? KING:
You can't
always play the places you would like to play by air. Because there are
places you go--there are a lot of people there, but no airplane can take
you there. But the old bus is like a good old workhorse. It takes you
right up to the door. For me, if it's not over 400 miles or so, I'd
rather have the bus than the plane. Because with the bus, from one hotel
to the next one is where you're going. You can sleep on it, have fun on
it, like the guys usually do. Shoot the bull on it. All the things
musicians generally do from one place to another. It's a really good way
to travel. LAUNCH:
That's a good-looking Gibson you've got
there. Is that Lucille? KING:
That's my girl. That's my girl.
The only lady I ever had that didn't argue with me. Give her six strings
and everything's cool. LAUNCH:
You must have a whole bunch of
Lucilles, eh? How long have you had that one? KING:
This one?
Not so long--about seven or eight years. I was just given a new one by
the Gibson guitar company for my 70th birthday. It has my picture on it;
I hope to use that one someday, but people laugh at me sometimes
because, usually, I just set it on the stage--I never play it--never
played it. I've had it in my arms, but never played it. I set it on the
stage when I'm working, and people asking me why and I say, "So it
can learn what Lucille the 16th is doing and maybe it can catch up on
it." LAUNCH:
What kind of advice would you give to a
musician starting out today? KING:
Well, this is what I say to
all young musicians: First learn the rudiments of the music. Everybody
has idols--I have idols, we all have idols--but first learn to play, and
then you choose the category you want to go into. For example, shall we
say, musician No. 1 comes to town and someone wanted a person to play
country music. Now, if you're a good musician and you can play country
music, well then, you've got a job. And if musician No. 1 happens to be
a blues player, and somebody needs you to play the blues, you've got a
job. But musician No. 1 should be jazz, country, pop, rock `n' roll,
whatever that person needs, because if you're a good musician and you
can play, you always have a job. That's much easier than a guy who
specializes. Learn to play the instrument, learn to be a good musician.
The one way to do that is to practice. Somebody said to someone once, I
don't remember whom, but the question was, "How do you get to
Carnegie Hall?" And this smart aleck said, "Practice." So
that's really the truth, that's the way you get there, and that's the
way you get to be a great musician. That's one of the reasons I'm not as
good as I should be because I don't practice as much as I should. At 70,
I still practice. You should always practice. LAUNCH:
Did you
ever think that one day people would want to know what you have to say
about the blues? Did you ever think that you would come to this level of
popularity and longevity? KING:
Well, first, let me say this. I
never started out to be a blues singer, I started out to be a gospel
singer--never to be a blues singer. That was the farthest thing from my
mind. I used to sit on the street corner and play on Saturday evenings
when I got off work from the plantation; sit and play, throw my hat out
there and just play and play and play. People would request songs,
generally, ones that those who would ask me to play a gospel song would
say, "Oh that's great son," pat me on the back, "keep it
up and you'll be great one day. "But they never tipped. But people
that generally asked me to play blues would always tip me, so that
motivated my blues playing. And to answer your question, no, it's beyond
my wildest dreams that I would be sitting here and someone would want to
hear what I have to say about the music I love. I love playing it, and
the advice I give to the kids is that I should have studied and
practiced more. Had I practiced more, to be just an all-around musician,
I would be playing many more things today than I do. LAUNCH:
Does each guitar have a different personality to you? KING:
It's
like, uh, let's say you've got a Ford and I have one--they're the same
models. You kind of know where everything is, how it feels; they're a
little bit different, but you still can get it, it'll make some sense to
you. What I'm trying to say is when you pick it up and put it in your
hand it feels similar to the other one. I could take this one on stage
right now and be comfortable playing it, even though I've never played
it before. [He begins to play the electric guitar, even though it isn't
plugged in.] This is the first time I've had it in my arms. It's got a
pretty good sound. LAUNCH:
What's that you're playing?
KING:
It's nothing. Musicians doodle you know? You put the guitar in
your hands, you know, it's like putting candy in a baby's hands. You
gotta bite on it. [More improvisation] A lot of people think that I have
to have an amplifier to get that sound to come out of there, but you
know now that I don't. LAUNCH:
Well, we understand you've got a
gig to play, and we'll let you prepare. After all these years, do you
still get nervous before you go on? KING:
Yeah, I've gotta do a
show, but this has helped me out. You kind of calmed down me a bit. See
my knees be shaking when I go on stage, so you helped me calm myself
down a bit. I still have that problem before going on stage. I'm a
little nervous always. Sometimes more. I'll tell you what it's like.
It's like meeting your in-laws for the first time!
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