LinuxMusicians

Sad to hear the passing of a GIANT

Such an influence on so many different kinds of musicians and such an inspiration as a good-will ambassador of such a cherished art form! He will be missed..

If you aren't familiar with his huge body of work, to me the most transcendent example is his version of 'How Blue Can You Get' recorded live at the Cook County Jail in 1971, his band is an amazing study of dynamic interplay and BB's guitar sounds like the voice of God, just writing about it gives me shivers up my spine. I had the opportunity to see him play twice and both shows were absolutely riveting..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l45f28PzfCI

Anyway, a sad day for blues fans as the last member of the 'King Trinity' (Freddie, Albert and now BB) has passed on..

its a sad day for any guitarist fan, even if they don't realize it. Many many guitar greats cite BB as an influence. I wish I could have seen him.

the thrill is gone...but won't be forgotten, ever

i keep saying Rly B(lues) King is his true name.

I wonder if they'll play the Kenny Rogers song "Lucille" at his funeral? (You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille...)

we lost the best!

Like many, he was a huge influence on my playing. I still love to play those long singing notes with vibrato; that's pure BB. I hope that every time we play a little bit of him lives on.

Like the announcer on the Live At The Regal set says in his introduction, "The world's greatest blues singer, the King of the blues, Mister BB King !"

I like his guitar playing - who doesn't - but his singing hits me deepest.

The King is gone, there'll never be another like him. Long live the King !

A favorite track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlK-JxrsM-w

"Like being hit by a falling tree,
Woman, what you do to me !"

dp

Nice to read everyone's comments..

StudioDave wrote:Like the announcer on the Live At The Regal set says in his introduction, "The world's greatest blues singer, the King of the blues, Mister BB King !"

I like his guitar playing - who doesn't - but his singing hits me deepest.

The King is gone, there'll never be another like him. Long live the King !

A favorite track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlK-JxrsM-w

"Like being hit by a falling tree,
Woman, what you do to me !"

dp

Hi Dave,

Enjoyed the link, what a great tune! A real gem from a treasure chest of an album.. his banter with the audience between the songs is a primer in itself on how to put on a show..

You make an excellent point, there are many of the greats whose guitar work obviously took center stage and their vocals were kind of an afterthought out of necessity (ie Albert Collins) but BB had the whole package and as you said was truly a great singer, One of my vocal faves was the later studio cut of Sweet Sixteen, the anguish in those falsettos was real!!

Couldn't find the exact version I wanted by itself, but it is 13:12 into this album link..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxsZwGLMQm8

Rest in peace and be well my blues king.