All language subtitles for eng3

That there may be a
great deal of pain

that went with

a walk of four miles

and not knowing
what might happen.

A night of sleeping
with someone,

or near someone,

and being afraid to
fully go to sleep,

because you might wake up dead,

robbed, or arrested.

So within all of this,

is the life story of survival.

But survival is a word.

This is a story.

Cut, and take your film home.

(crickets chirping)
(heartbeat thumping)

(old-timey blues music)

- [Morgan] The whole
progression of American music

is stemmed from that
initial field holler...

That became the blues.

Blues guys, they weren't
all professionals.

I remember Sunday morning blues
sessions on the back porch,

the guys sitting
with a bottle of gin.

Well, it wasn't a bottle of gin,

it was a jar of white
lightning, singing the blues.

(train whistle blowing)

(harmonica music)
- It's all about feeling.

You can play a
thousand notes a minute

and it just goes straight
across the board,

and there's no feeling,
it doesn't mean anything.

(singing) I love
her in the morning,

I love her at night.

The very next day, you know
I hugged her just right.

I love my baby.

Well the blues, to all
or most of us Black,

it's a feeling.

It come out of suffering.

(singing) I love my baby,

don't care a thing about me

Being denied, denial, refused,

abused, misused, that's
what the blues is.

- See, a lot of times, uh,
the younger people say, uh,

"That's old folks'
music," the blues is.

But wait until they
have a problem.

- There's no music in the
world that cuts emotionally

the way that blues
guitar can cut.

- Sincere, honest, true,
for real and genuine...

Those five things.

If you have those five things,
then you can play the blues.

Otherwise, you gonna
sound like a parakeet

repeating something that
you don't understand.

- He invented the
whole approach that,

that modern electric
blues players use.

He's the only guy, or
musician of any sort,

male or female, that
defines a genre of music.

- The people who follow blues
music and are attracted to it,

recognize the honesty
of the singer's story.

- Well, when you say
blues, you gotta say B.B.,

you know, no doubt.

- He's the master.

- He really is the grand master.

(energetic blues music)

- [Morgan] What makes somebody
great, somebody special?

When you look at a man's
life, can you truly say,

"That man made a difference"?

People say folk
are born that way,

or were blessed
by a higher force.

Others say your
environment makes it so.

In 1925, on a hot,
sticky Wednesday

in the middle of September,
the cries of a newborn baby

rang out from a
sharecropper's cabin

over the cotton fields
of the Mississippi Delta.

(baby crying)

A boy was born that day that
was going to make a difference.

His name: Riley B. King.

(thunder booming)

- I was born,
according to my dad,

between a little place called
Indianola and Itta Bena.

So when I first talked
about it, I said,

"Itta Bena," and that's
been going on ever since.

* I walked my bedroom floor

* Hung down my head and cried

* I didn't exactly
have the blues

* I just wasn't satisfied

* I need my baby, I ain't lyin'

* If I don't hurry
up and find her

* you know I think I'm
going out of my mind *

Mostly cotton is king in here.

Can you imagine being
out there on a tractor,

and you had to go?

Those rows of cotton
look like they're a mile,

a mile and a half long.

(energetic blues music)

(electric guitar solo)
(audience clapping)

From what he said, uh, if I
can understand him correctly,

we're about at the
turn to the road.

Dad, you did all right, so far.

- [Voiceover] He must be
lookin' over us, Bubba.

- Yeah, he's
lookin' over us now.

(applause)

Thank you, thank you!

To be here, where
somebody can truly say,

"B, this is where you were born,

"this is where the world first
knew about you, right here,"

is a high for me 'cause
I feel very good.

My mother was named Nora Ella.

My father was named Albert Lee.

But for a young couple that
hadn't been married too long

and their first kid coming
out, they lived not too far

back over here.

Some of the houses in the
area where I lived at,

houses that we could look out

through the boards of the house

different times of day
and tell what time it was.

(thunder booming)

When it rained, you had
to have several buckets,

'cause the water would
drop through the top.

You have to set a
bucket to keep it

from splashing on the floor.

My mother, I guess,
was like most mothers,

wanna make sure that
all the teaching

and all of the guiding
that they could do for you.

And I believe my
mother loved me,

and I know I loved her.

And everything she tried to
teach me, I tried to learn.

So finally my mother and my
dad, when they were separated,

my mom left and moved to
Kilmichael, Mississippi.

- I think his mother's presence

had a profound influence on him.

He obviously thought
a great deal of her

and was very
impacted by her loss.

- I noticed that my mother had

big spots of blood
clots in her eye.

She died of diabetes,

same as her son have, this one.

* Nobody loves me but my mother

* And she could be jivin' too *

I had been living
with other people

all of my life since my mom.

I think Miss Mima
might have helped

take care of him when
his mother passed.

And then also, I
know Miss Beulah did.

- I had two or
three great-aunts.

One of them was the one that
used to have the phonograph

that I used to go to
her, her name was Jemima.

I used to love to go
to her house for that,

but didn't like
to go to her house

'cause she always kissed me,
and she always dipped snuff,

and I didn't like snuff.

And every time she'd kiss me,
I'd get a taste of that snuff.

So I'd beg my mom, "Don't
take me over there!"

Then I'd think about
her phonograph.

(laughs) "It's okay,
take me on over there."

Kind of fix myself
for that first kiss.

After that, I didn't have
to go through that again.

- He moved from there over on,
uh, Edwayne Henderson place,

and that's when Riley
started staying with him

on the George Bood place.

And he moved over
there to stay with

his Uncle William and
them to tend to the baby.

- My mother's brother
was married to

a sanctified preacher's sister.

This preacher, after church
on a Sunday afternoon,

would visit his sister,
which was my aunt,

and he'd always lay
this guitar on the bed

and I'd go get it soon as
they'd turn their back.

So I think this is really
what started me to fooling

with the guitar,
not by listening

to some of the other people.

They'd go in and eat,
which I loved to see him

because he played guitar, but
I didn't like them going in

and having dinner
before the rest of us

'cause nothing was left
but the chicken feet.

But when I'd hear
him play the guitar,

I thought that was
the nicest thing ever.

And I guess that's about
when I first started

payin' attention to it.

(lighthearted
old-timey instrumental)

The roots, as they
sometimes say,

I think my beginning
was Elkhorn School.

At that time, I had to walk

about five miles
a day to school.

- Four months' school did
not provide much education

on the plantation.

He said, "Them big boys
ought to be in the field,

"not in school."

- Well I was six years
old when I started school,

but, uh, B.B. started
when we was about eight.

From the first grade
through the eighth,

we was all in one room.

- It was fun going to
Elkhorn School because

I didn't know anything else.

I'd never been to any other
school to know about it.

- Oh, he was real
smart, and, uh,

he wasn't too
smart in his books,

but he was smart
in other things.

He was real strong
with his hands.

We used to play games out there.

A game we would say, "Let
Buddy, let Buddy out."

So we all would,
uh, make a circle.

Everybody would hold
one another's hands,

and the one in the middle
would try to break out.

So I'd always make it my
business to hold B.B.'s hand

'cause he could really
hold your hand tight.

- Usually, I try to be
positive in my thinking.

And I owe that to
Professor Luther H. Henson.

He told me things then
that I can still hear him

telling me today.

"Don't smoke.

"Don't drink!

"You got one house, your body.

"Your body is one house.

"You're supposed to
take care of that one

"'cause you're not
gonna get another one."

- I think he did it
because he saw the need

of the Black children
needed to be taught

how to better themselves
and make a better living.

And it could be done if
they would come to school

and get a better education.

- I'll always love him.

I was a regular hand from the
time I was seven years old.

See, they used to didn't
have no child labor laws

and all that, so I
was doing farm work

just like the adults
was, when I was seven.

I started about what we
call from "can to can't."

"Can" means when you can see,
"can't" when you cannot see.

And I think about it,
when I was traveling

with the mule, following
the mule plowing,

doing all that,
you're walking about

30 miles a day and you
do that six days a week.

So you figure it out.

And you do that six days a week.

You do it for six
months out of the year.

So multiply that by 18 years.

I've walked around the world.

* Ooh Lordy, my troubles so hard

* Ooh Lordy, my
troubles so hard *

- Out of that condition,
the blues were born.

Usually one guy would
be plowing by himself.

Or maybe one guy would, um,

take his hoe and chop way out
in front of everybody else.

And usually you would
hear this guy sing.

(guitar strumming)

(singing) Oh, wake
up in the morning

- That's the only time
you'd get a chance

to sing the blues
is out in the field,

because your parents didn't
allow that in the house.

Nothing but spirituals.

So if you picking
cotton you can sing

whatever you want
to sing, you know?

- To play that
music and not invoke

the name of Jesus,
or God, I guess,

then who are you invoking?

The devil.

- People who are religious
did not take kindly to people

playing the blues, which
they thought was not...

Well, like you say, it
was the devil's music.

- I don't know about all
of that, but that's what

they would call it.

They said, "Sellin'
yourself to the devil."

- A lot of people in the church,
they go through this thing

that it's the
Devil's music, but...

The way he plays and
the way he sings,

that is a gift from God.

And if you are at all
religious, you will believe

that he has that gift, and
that he was touched when,

when he was, you
know, in the womb.

(gospel-style singing)

* Somebody calling my name *

- You were John, Jim, Jones,

and nobody all the week long,

but Sunday morning you became
Brother John, Sister Mary,

and Mr. Jim because you were
somebody Sunday morning.

Well, if it had
not been for that,

we would have gone
out like a light.

- My mother was very religious,
very, very religious.

She made me go to church,
whether I wanted to or not.

- When he joined the church,
well, Archie was a preacher.

My brother-in-law
was a preacher.

He preached his church out.

- Reverend Archie
Fair was our pastor,

and the first person I ever
heard play electric guitar.

That's why I wanted
to be like him.

- In the church, this
boy would get a chance

to play on Archie's
guitar a little.

- He was a preacher
and a teacher.

And I think that he
didn't necessarily just

meant for it to be me,
but all of his students.

And I liked him, worshiped him.

And I think that's how
he helped me a whole lot.

- Well, when his grandmother
moved over there,

William decided that
he wanted him to stay

with his grandmother,

so he put him down
there with her.

- And she would work
for my mother and them.

She would cook, and
she'd clean house,

just anything she
needed to do, you know.

And, uh, they probably
worked in the fields, too.

When my grandmother
died, I still stayed

in the little house that
my grandmother and I

had lived in before she died.

* Yes, it had to happen

* I'm not surprised *

And I remember she owed
something like $35, $40,

or something, but we
didn't make much money.

I was making $15 a month, so...

But I paid my
grandmother's bill.

I paid it off myself.

- It's safe to say
that he was traumatized

and probably quite stunned.

After all, he didn't know
where his father was.

His mother'd been
dead some years.

His grandmother just died.

And he lived alone, at age 14.

- I felt deserted.

Nobody but me.

* How I'll survive *

After my daddy got
me and brought me to

Lexington, Mississippi,
and I started

to going to school there,
which was the first

big school I'd ever gone to.

- Well, he see he had some
half-sisters and brothers,

and he said that they
couldn't get along too good.

That's what he told us.

- He had three girls and a boy,

and those was my sisters and
brother, and which I loved,

but I wasn't as close to them
as I think I would have been

had I been raised with
them in the beginning.

My dad never told
me he loved me,

never did.

But I knew when he did.

When he showed love to
me, he called me "Jack."

Now, why in the heck
did he call me Jack?

But anytime he was very
pleased or had that feeling,

he'd call me Jack out
of the clear blue sky.

"Jack, what do you
think about this?"

Or, "What do you
think about that?"

And I'd feel so good
'til I'd almost cry,

'cause I knew what that meant.

But he never, ever,
ever, ever, that I know,

called or said, "Son, I
love you, I love you."

But I tell my kids,
great-grandkids and grandkids,

tell them all when I
go home, "I love you."

(laid-back instrumental music)

- In those days,
it was oppression,

and you'd be depressed
by the oppression

because you had no rights.

Black folk had no rights.

You were not Black then,
you were Negroes or niggers.

- Ku Klux Klan was
thought of, I believe,

in that area at the time.

I never did come face
to face with them,

but I knew a lot of people did.

For you that don't know
it, this citizen council,

white citizen council, began in

Indianola, Mississippi, my home.

- Our place was to work hard

and obey the white man.

- One of my first days of
really experiencing what

segregation was really like,

a mob had killed a
boy, they'd hung him.

It had to do with a white lady.

They had castrated him and
drug him behind the car

to the courthouse in
Lexington, Mississippi,

Lexington.

And I saw it.

And that's something
I've never forgotten.

I guess it's something
like people seeing people

killed in the war,
you don't forget it.

- You were just a thing.

Not a human being,
just a work thing.

It had a slogan:

"If a mule die,
buy another one."

- "Kill a nigger,
hire another one."

And that's the way
I was brought up.

- And it meant you were nobody.

You just about equal to a mule.

You could not say "yes"
or "no" to a white man.

It was "Mister."

And you just didn't
argue with them.

And whatever they paid you,

you accepted that
and went along.

There was no such thing
as Social Security,

no such thing as retirement.

You had no insurance,
only insurance folks had

was burial insurance
when you die,

otherwise, they would
put you in a box.

They had a box,
they'd make a box,

put you in and bury you.

Well, I was there, I know!

It was badder than bad.

- I've always been aware that
I was Black in a white world,

but I also had the feeling that

somehow I would overcome that.

And I think that is
one of the things

that always drove B.B.,

that somehow he had
to overcome that.

We all were a subject of racism,

and bigotry, and
hatred, and denial.

None of us could
get a drink of water

at a public water fountain.

None of, B.B. and none
of the rest of us,

could go and sit in a restaurant
and have a decent meal.

None of us could stay at,
B.B., nor I, no other Negro

could go in the
hotel and get a room.

So yes, he faced the same
thing that all of us faced.

That was racism,
bigotry, and hatred.

But let me add this, though.

Let me say this
to you about B.B.

He never let that turn
him against white people.

- [Morgan] Young Riley King
started dreaming of life

back in the Delta.

The Delta was home.

So late in 1941, 16-year-old
Riley jumped on his bicycle

and began to pedal his way home,

back to where his
heart belonged.

- Well he rode a bicycle from
his daddy's home in Lexington,

and, uh, it's about 50
miles is how far it is.

(laughing)

- He was raggedy when he came
to my house from Lexington.

He didn't have no
clothes and things.

- I finally made
it into Kilmichael,

and believe it or
not, the axle on my

bicycle had worn
out, so it broke.

- So me and John were sitting
on the porch one evening,

and here he come
riding on his bike,

and I said, "Who is that?"

And he said, "I don't know."

And he got up a little closer,
I said "Oh, that's Riley."

But see, all his other
people had left here.

- But there was a few
people, like the Fairs,

Mr. John Fair and
his beautiful wife,

Miss Leslie Fair.

- John told him,
said, "Now, when y'all

get through riding
around and all,

when you get ready
to go to bed,"

said, "just come on
back here at the house."

- John brought him
to my father and uh,

to give him a place to stay.

So he fixed that little
cabin up for him.

And he didn't have any clothes.

All he had was just the, um,

clothes on his back,
and that bicycle.

- I had a good boss.

Mr. Cartledge was
one of those people

that I wish the world
had a lot more of 'em.

He seemed to be one of
them people that was

a fair man.

During those days, in
the 30s, a lot of times

we didn't think a lot of
white people was fair.

We thought a lot of the
white people at that time,

thought only of themselves.

But he wasn't one
of those people.

- B.B. was talented,
he could do a good job.

He could cut wood.

He could plow.

He could do best
anything, pick cotton,

excellent cotton picker.

- The house stood about here,

where B.B. lived
when he lived with

Flake and Zelma Cartledge
and their son, Wayne.

- I do remember that he, uh,

he had always wanted
to play a guitar.

And a fellow, the
name of Denzel Tibble,

had a guitar he wanted
to sell for $15.

And I,

my father went down there
and paid for it for him

and B.B. paid my
father back, you see.

- You may not know that
Wayne wanted his daddy

to buy the guitar for him
and he wouldn't do it.

And B.B. was the one that
ended up with the guitar.

- And I'm still mad about
I didn't get a guitar.

(upbeat old-timey band music)

(old-timey jazz music)

- When I first came to
the Barrett Plantation,

I'd heard a lot
about the plantation

and heard a lot
from a lot of the,

the tenants that lived
on the plantation

about what a nice man
he was to work for.

- B.B. used to be
my tractor driver.

He drove tractor for
Mr. Barrett, B.B. did.

- There was many
big plantations,

and they would have
somebody they call a rider.

Usually it was a white
person on a horse.

This white person
usually carried a gun,

in a lot of cases.

A lot of cases,
he carried a whip.

Mr. Barrett was
very, I don't know,

very thoughtful, I would say.

So what he did, he
hired a Black overseer

named Mr. Baggett,
Booker Baggett,

and we worked like crazy
because we wanted to keep him.

And Mr. Baggett is the one that
taught me to drive tractor.

If there's any such thing
as a superstar in tractors,

I thought I was.

Of course, I thought I was
pretty cute too, at the time.

I'd wake up, and I'm
due at the tractor barn

in about half an hour.

And I lived about a mile
from the tractor barn.

So when I'd wake
up, having about 30,

40 minutes to get
to the tractor barn,

I'd put on my clothes and
was at the tractor barn

by the time everybody
else was ready to fill up.

- (singing) Precious
Lord, take my hand

Lead me on, let me stand.

- My early years,
I sang gospel songs

with various quartets,
and usually I was

the lead singer all the time.

And we did very well.

There was a group called:

- The Famous St.
John Gospel Singers.

- Famous St. John
Gospel Singers.

- The St. John Gospel
Singers were an upbeat.

Brother John was the, uh,
president of the group.

Another brother,
Orwell, the baby brother

was singing with them.

Birkett Davis, who
was the cousin who
was singing with them.

And Riley was the guitar
player, and that set them apart.

Plus the fact that he
had a very good voice.

They had some good
voices in the quartet.

- Had a good time
listening at it.

I get home, I know what to do.

Turn the radio on, sit there
and wait on them to come on.

Sure did.

- Then is the time that I
decided I wanted to get married.

And I got married
to a young lady.

- To Martha King.

In that year, we lived
in the house together.

We lived in a three-room,
shotgun house.

Two doors, one in
front and one in back.

- But Martha and B.B. married,

they never did have no children.

He was singing
gospel songs then.

He didn't stay at
home much with her.

He didn't stay at home,
but he was running around

singing a whole lot.

- On weekends, then
B.B. would just decide

he would go to town and play.

And people'd give him a
great offering in town.

- Saturdays was my day.

Go to town on Saturdays
and have a good time.

* Yeah, if you ever
been down to New Orleans

* Then you can understand
just what I mean

* Now, all through the week *

- [Annie] Some walked to town.

Some would catch a ride.

One person might have a car.

And people used to come
to town then in wagons.

- [David] Everybody threw
their cares to the wind.

Church Street was
Black folks' street.

* It was rockin'

* It was rockin' *

People were in and out,
gambling and doing what little

dancing they were doing.

If you didn't get
on Church Street,

you wouldn't be in Indianola.

- And they would get
after him about it.

Say, "Hey, you can't sing
in St. John Gospel Singers

and sing the blues on the
corner Saturday nights."

(laughing)

- He had one corner
he would play on

early during Saturday afternoon,
and would put his hat out

and people would
throw coins in it.

Later on during that
Saturday evening

when he would move further
down Church Street,

where the real roughnecks
were and the people

who had a real
appreciation for the blues

and didn't mind
people knowing it,

they threw just a little
more coins in the hat

than the earlier crowd, which

probably were the
church-going people.

- Now, he used to play on
what they called, you know,

"juke houses," porches, all
the way down Church Street.

That's what used to be,
I reckon you would call,

wouldn't call them night
clubs, but juke joints would be

that time of year then.

(lively band music)

- Indianola, Mississippi
on a Saturday night

on Church Street...

You would remember
it forever (laughs).

I came in, in a
hurry, on my way to go

to a church to sing that night.

I'd been plowing,
plowing, plowing.

And then it happened.

We got off that evening.

I cut this ignition
off of the tractor.

And I jumped down and
start running to get ready

to go out, and it
started up again.

And when the tractor
started up again,

it went forward.

And all of this broke off.

Scared me half to death.

I never did stop running,
and that's the first time

I went to Memphis.

* And now I'm walking

* walking and crying

* You don't love me no more

*Well, I did it all for you

* Did all I could

* All I did, darling *

Memphis was the city,

I would say it was like heaven.

(laughing)

All them guitars, and
guys could play them?

Oh, what a feeling it was.

- Beale Street had many
musicians that was interested in

trying to help you if
you wanted to learn.

And they had musicians

that would just meet
up on Beale Street,

like, on the weekends,
and trade ideas.

- I came to Memphis
and started hearing

all those other guys play.

I found out I wasn't
nothing, not much.

I'm still like that today.

* And there's two little women,

* boys, I ain't never seen

* Pretty two little
pretty women,

* they's from New Orleans

- [Morgan] Once in
Memphis, B.B. King sought

and found his cousin,

the great bluesman Bukka White.

- Bukka was born up around
West Point, Mississippi.

And a lot of people say
he taught me to play,

but that's not true.

But he did teach me quite a
bit about being a blues player.

Bukka White used to tell me
that to be a blues singer,

you should always dress
like you was trying to go

to the bank to borrow
money, which mean you dress,

well, a word musicians use,
kind of "sharp," you know.

Even if you was
casual, you look clean,

not like you slept under
the Mississippi Bridge

last night.

But this is the kind of
guitar that he played.

And he used to play with
a slide on his finger.

And I could never get that.

Well, I've got stupid fingers,
they just wouldn't work.

So in order to get somewhat

the type sound that he had,

I would trill my hand.

(guitar twangs)
Like that.

And I think over the years
I've done pretty good with it.

(guitar twangs)
Still don't have it right.

- I asked B.B., one
time, how he got his

guitar to sound that
way and he said,

"I was trying to make
it sound like a steel."

So who would have thought?

(lively band music)

- [B.B.] Beale Street Amateurs.

I hosted the show for
11 consecutive years.

- At first, you used to
have a $5, $3, and $2 prize.

But then it got so that
it was just everybody

that came on stage got a dollar.

- Get on the Amateur Show
and you could win $5,

if you had the best song, or
the best voice, or whatever.

- Now, I remember going
on that show many times.

And thank God for Rufus
Thomas, because (laughs)

Rufus Thomas was the emcee.

I guess I looked so
bad, and so pitiful,

and was so broke (laughs),

Rufus Thomas, when he
would see me, he'd say,

"You know you was on last week."

I'd say, "Yeah."

"Well, why you back this week?"

"I need to go on again
'cause I need that dollar."

- That dollar that he got, with
the bus fare being a nickel,

it could last him just
about a whole week.

- A lot of times he would
put me back on again,

and he did that many times.

So, Rufus, thank you.

I stayed up there for
about six or eight months.

And then I called some of
my family back and I said,

"Tell Mr. Barrett I'm sorry,

"and I would like to
work and pay it off."

- So he got back in
with Mr. Johnson Barrett

and came back and worked by
the day driving tractors.

- Mr. Barrett said, "It's okay.

"I'm not angry with
you, come on in."

Well, with wobbly
legs, I came back.

And I think it cost,
like, $500 or $600,

and I paid it off.

And the next time I
left to go to Memphis

and start my career, I
started it correctly.

* Whoa, Lord, what
a beautiful city

* Oh, what a beautiful
city, God knows

When we left Mississippi
going to Memphis,

we expected many,
many things to happen,

and it did.

The late Sonny Boy, the
second Sonny Boy Williamson,

well, he was on the radio
in West Memphis, Arkansas.

I decided I wanted to
go and see him one day.

And one day I did.

And when I went over to see him,

I begged him to
let me sing a song.

So he made me
audition and I did,

and he liked it, and he put
me on his show that day.

And that night, he
had two jobs to play.

One of them he
didn't want because

it didn't pay much money.

So he called the lady,
and he asked the lady

that he was supposed to play for

did she hear the program?

And she said, "Yes."

So he called her and he said,

"Miss Annie, did
you hear the boy?"

And she said, "Yeah."

He said, "Well, I'm
gon' send him down

to work for me tonight."

So I went over there,
man, and they paid me $12,

12 American dollars.

That's a lot of bread, you know,

for a guy that'd been
making, you know,

like, 35 cent a hundred
picking cotton, you know?

She said, "If you can
get a job on the radio,

like Sonny Boy has,
I'll give you this job,

and you can play
six nights a week."

And I thought about
that, and said,

"God, I hope I can get
me a job on the radio."

Well I'm just a blues singer,

tractor driver, truck driver.

I was a disc jockey for a while.

Why I sing the blues
is because I lived it.

You probably wonder, "That guy,

"the way you talk,
you're a disc jockey?"

Trust me, I was, for
about five years.

The only way to do it is
say it loud and clear.

Make sure that
everyone will hear.

It's the truth the way it is.

And I enjoyed it so much
that the call letters

of the radio station

I can remember today
like it was yesterday.

This is B.B. King
making a statement

and a natural fact.

WDIA.

Everybody wanna know
why I sing the blues.

The first all-Black operated
station in the mid-South.

In fact, I think in the nation.

(radio dial tuning)

- Greetings and salutations!

Ooh-boopy-doo,
and how do you do?

It's a good, good morning to
you on an all-blues Saturday,

here on WDIA with
your Rufus Thomas.

- This new radio station
was being opened in Memphis.

So when the red light
went off the air,

I went to the window
and I knocked.

(knocking)

So he came to the door and said,

"What can I do for
you, young fella?"

And I said, "Well, I
wanna make a record,

"and I want to go on the radio."

And he laughed.

Mr. Ferguson said, "Well,
we don't make records."

And then he had this deep
look, thought look in his face.

And then he said to
Mr. William, he said,

"You know, we got
this new product."

Said, "Maybe he would
he would be good

"for this new product."

So he went and got me a bottle.

And he held it up like this.

He said, "This is Pep-ti-kon.

"Do you think you could
write a jingle for it?"

I started to thinking about it.

I say, "Yes, sir, I
can write a jingle."

So it went like this:

(clapping)

(singing) Pep-ti-kon
sure is good

Pep-ti-kon sure is good

Pep-ti-kon sure is good,
you can get it anywhere

in your neighborhood.

He said, "You're hired."

(laughing)

(electric guitar solo)

- [Voiceover] "Blues Boy" King.

Blues Boy, who, did
your dad name you that?

- No, I used to be a
disc jockey in Memphis.

And, uh, they called me
"The Boy from Beale Street,

"the Blues Boy."

So people, instead of
saying "Blues Boy,"

they just started
using the word "B.B.,"

which meant "Blues Boy".

And my real name
is Riley B. King.

Now most times if someone
would come up and say,

"Hi, Riley", I would wonder
who they're talking about.

If I was gonna think
about hiring a musician,

I usually think of
it in terms of this:

About 75% man first,
you know, gentleman,

and 25% musician, because
I feel that in time

if you get to be 50/50,
then this is good.

But if you're just a good guy,

I can tolerate the other part.

- I taught him the best I could.

A lot of times he
didn't understand

what I was telling him.

But when I put him with a group,

that put pressure on
him and he had to learn.

You can't work with nobody
without you knowing.

You see where the bass
player is right now?

When you see B.B. playing,

the bass player is
right behind him.

That's what he listens to.

Now he know.

- In fact, it's like I've
usually told the band

like I have today, "You
know a lot more than I do.

"And you play better than I do.

"But I'm the bandleader."

- B.B. was just
learning how to play.

But he always could sing,

and he finally
learned how to play.

(record loading)

(B.B. King guitar music)

- [Morgan] Having learned
from those around him,

the young and confident
Riley King was ready

to cut his first sides.

- B.B. King first recorded
for Bullet Records

in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jim Bullet owned the company.

I think he had
four sides he did.

- He did a thing for his
first wife, Martha King.

In fact, the song was
recorded "Martha King."

- I thought I was
really making it,

at that time, as a musician
'cause I was recording!

* I ain't afraid
to call her name *

- We operated jukeboxes
in Los Angeles

on Central Avenue,
primarily, which was

the Black area of Los Angeles.

We were really short
of blues records,

so that's when we started,
got the idea that we'll just

have to make something
for our jukeboxes.

- I made a few recordings
with him, I was on piano,

at the old Sun Studio
with Sam Phillips.

- Sam Phillips had
a contract with us.

I'm talking about
"us," Modern Records,

where we would get first
choice of anything he recorded.

He'd send us out a dub of it,

and if we wanted it,
we'd pay him for it.

When Chess Records
got "Rocket 88"

by Ike Turner and
Jackie Brenston,

it was not sent to us for,

even though we
had first refusal.

That's when we severed our
contract with Sam Phillips,

and I decided to come
in and record B.B.

(guitar solo music)

* Now here it is three
o'clock in the morning' *

- The first session that I
did with B.B. in Memphis,

where "Three O'Clock
Blues" was his hit

record that came out of there.

It was just put the
musicians together and do it.

- I said, how big was
that amplifier you had

when you made Three
O'Clock in the Morning?

He said, "About like that."

And that's when you had
that real, natural tone.

It wasn't nothing fictitious
about it, you know.

That's exactly, what you played

is what the amplifier
gave you back.

- We recorded in the
Black YMCA in Memphis.

And what I had to do was
put furniture blankets

over the windows because
the noise from the cars

would be a little bit
too noisy to record.

When I got back to California,

I listened to it and I knew
we had a hit record then.

* Well, my baby can't be found

* Well, if I don't
find my baby *

- When he recorded
"Three O'Clock Blues,"

that's when things really
began to happen for him.

- He said, "I'd like
to have a new guitar,"

before we went in the studio.

I said, I'll buy
you two of them.

I bought him two guitars.

That's when he
called them Lucille.

And he says, "I'll make you
two hit records," which he did.

- I've always wanted
to meet Helen.

- Helen? Who's Helen?

- Helen, Helen, your guitar.

You know, you, when you start--

- Oh, you're talking
about Lucille.

This is Lucille, this my baby.

(kissing noises)
(audience laughter)

- That's not the guitar I
saw you with last night, B.B.

(audience laughter)

- The first one that
was named Lucille was

because of a fight in
a little night club.

And we'd play there
in the winter.

Had something like
that big garbage can,

just like that
one, just like it,

but a little larger than that.

And they would half-fill the can

with kerosene, light that fuel

and that's what we had for heat.

So this particular night,
two guys start to fighting,

and one of them
knocked the other one

over on this container.

And the fuel, you know,
spilled on the floor,

and it was already burning, so
as they tried to put it out,

it seemed to burn more.

Everybody in the
little club was dancing

started to run
outside, including me.

But when I got on the outside,
I remembered that I had

ran off and left my guitar.

So I started back for
it, and the fellas

that were working with me
said, "No, don't do it,"

but I went anyway,
and I got my guitar,

but I was almost burned to
death trying to save it.

So the next morning,
we found that

two men had gotten burned,

got trapped in the building,
got burned to death.

And we also found
that these two guys

was fighting about a lady.

The lady's name was Lucille.

I named my guitar
Lucille to remind me

not to do a thing like
that again, and I haven't.

(laughing)

* Now, darling

* Know I love you *

- [Morgan] Beale Street
entrepreneur Robert Henry

started to look after the
interests of B.B. King.

This resulted in a national tour

of the main Black
theaters and clubs,

known as "the Chitlin' Circuit."

The road was no
place for a marriage.

The road was B.B.
King's new home.

And he told me, he say,
"'Cille," I say, "Yes?"

He say, "Martha done left me."

I say, "Girl, why
you leave him?"

And she say, "'Cause
he won't stay at home.

"He playing and
going everywhere."

I said, "Martha, B.B. can't like

"all them womens liking him."

I say, "He playing."

I say, "Girl, you crazy.

"You should stay
with your husband."

But she didn't.

- This business is a
very difficult business.

But I couldn't live without it,

and I don't think he can
live without it either.

* Oh, now left me,

* baby, for someone else *

(lively big-band-style music)

- B.B. was appearing with
the Bill Harvey Band,

and Bill Harvey's
band backed B.B.

- Harvey wrote and arranged

for everybody who was anybody.

- Sunbeam introduced B.B.
to Bill Harvey, right?

- Well, in a sense,
Robert Henry,

because Robert Henry was his
day-to-day man on Beale Street.

- When Bill Harvey
signed on to B.B.,

Bill Harvey, I think,
Bill Harvey had about 11.

Yeah, he had an 11-piece.

And he stayed with
B.B. for 14 years.

- Every record that B.B. put
out after Harvey got with him,

the first one was
"Woke Up this Morning,"

was a hit, hit, hit.

- A little bit later on after
I had been touring for a while,

then I turned the disc
jockey loose and just toured.

And I'm still doing that.

- At the time when
B.B. got his first bus,

there was excitement because
coming out of a station wagon

into a big Continental
Trailways bus

was just a marvelous
feat for the group.

And it was something that

none of the other
groups had either,

'cause he was among the
first people with a big bus.

- I'd seen Duke Ellington,
Count Basie, Cab Calloway,

Gene Krupa, many others

that had big band,

I was learning from listening
to them, from time to time,

getting a chance to
hear 'em sometime.

And that made me very proud.

So some of them had
buses, and I wanted a bus.

And I bought it.

(bus engine starting)

- This is the original
picture of the B.B. King Band

on Beale Street in 1955.

Beale and Hernando, between
Hernando and 3rd Street.

- I think everybody
knows this band

as the B.B. King Band.

This the B.B. King Band.

No matter how many
bands he goes through,

this will always be
the B.B. King Band.

- We were bad.
(laughter)

Yeah, we were good.

Under your seat, you would have

a box of food,

like pork and beans, and
sardines and crackers,

and that kind of stuff,
because a lot of times,

you wouldn't have time to eat at

a restaurant or cafe, per se,

and it was very difficult,
'cause a lot of the places

you couldn't go in anyway.

- And I've seen
the Promised Land.

I may not get there with you,
but I want you to know tonight

that we as a people will
get to the Promised Land.

- Desegregation of America
didn't start until the '60s.

And B.B. had been on the road

for a good 10, 12
years before that.

You couldn't live.

It was just a Chitlin' Circuit.

That's what they called it.

Negro baseball played it.

The big Black bands played

the Chitlin' circles
all over America.

That's what they called
the Black community,

the Chitlin' Circuit.

- But y'all didn't
think y'all was

the Chitlin' Circuit, did you?

- Well, there wasn't
nothing bad about it,

that was just the title.

- But I mean, y'all
didn't realize

that it was quote unquote,
"The Chitlin' Circuit."

- Everybody knew that the
Black section of America

was the Chitlin' Circuit.

- [Cato] But Ernest, hold on--
- We didn't refer to it as--

- You have to understand--
- [Cato] I'm sayin' they didn't

refer to it as the
Chitlin' Circuit.

- [Ernest] Yes, they did!

If you get any books
out of that period,

you'll know that that period
was the Chitlin' Circuit.

- The musicians accepted
the word "Chitlin' Circuit."

- That's where Negroes played.

- They accepted that because
you were playing Black clubs.

You were playing
Black ballrooms.

- It wasn't no sign up.

It was just verbiage.

- "Chitlin' Circuit"?
- [Voiceover] Yeah.

- (laughing) I don't
know what that is.

- You couldn't go to
the best of hotels,

so you stayed in
motels, Black motels,

and flop houses, or
in people's homes.

The '60s in the marches, I
was in Birmingham, Alabama,

and we stayed at a motel
called Gaston's Motel.

And they was trying
to kill Dr. King.

So, Dr. King was
like, I'm in, maybe 7,

and he's in room,
maybe like, 10.

So they blew up the
room between us,

thinking we was in there.

They blew up the
rooms of the motel.

I think that's as
close a time as I come

to getting killed, like that.

- You know, you would
go through hell with

gasoline drawers on to be able
to play the music, you know?

So whatever, whatever it took.

And they gave him
a place to play,

whether it was segregated
or what, you know?

- We just played
everywhere, Apollo Theater

to the honky-tonk joints,
all over the country.

- He was working.

That was his whole essence.

His essence was to
work to pay his band.

- B. was always on the road.

He's the only I guy, I think,
I think he had a record

that he played
365 days one year.

And I tell him all the time,
"I don't want that record.

"You can keep that one."

You know?

- I used to work
like, 320 days a year.

B.B. worked more gigs.

- I don't know where he
gets the energy from.

I mean, this man works
more than anybody,

because the road is his home.

(blues music)

- No night off, 365 days a year.

Some days, we didn't even
get a chance to go to sleep.

* I've got a sweet little angel

* I love the way she
spreads her wings *

- He told me he wasn't gonna
ask my mom to get married

because he felt that
she would say no,

and he didn't want that.

So he said, "We'll just have
to wait until you get 18."

So I said, "Okay."

And that's what we did.

And he was in
Detroit at the time.

Actually, I was 18 in March,
but he wanted to put off

getting married until June,
when we were in Detroit,

because he wanted
Reverend Franklin,

who's Aretha Franklin's
father, to marry us.

So we waited until we got
to Detroit, got the license,

and Reverend
Franklin married us.

- All I know is
he'd be a hard man

to have a relationship with,

because he's moving so fast.

I mean, the dude sits
down when he's playing.

But he is running
through the year.

- After we got married,
we got in a car

and went to Cleveland,
and went to work,

and just kept going after that.

Just one day led into another.

* Yes, all right now *

In the early days, we'd
love to go fishing.

Any time he had the opportunity,
he would go fishing.

So one day he told me
he was going fishing

and he went out to
the car, and I said,

"You're going fishing
in your suit?"

He says, "That's all I have."

He says, "I don't have
any other clothes,

so I have to go
fishing in a suit."

And it was a silk suit.

So, he went fishing
in a silk suit.

And it just shows you
whatever he wanted to do

and however he
felt like doing it,

he would do it, no matter what.

(lively blues music)

- ABC Paramount offered him,
I don't know, it was $25,000,

and Jules wouldn't renew
the contract for $25,000.

- I have a friend
name Fats Domino.

Fats Domino was with ABC.

At that time, it looked
like everything he touched

was a hit record, so
that's when he told me

that I was with
the wrong people.

- B.B. would have
stayed with us if Jules

would have given him
the $25,000, upfront.

(guitar solo music)

- First, I wanna say,
when I try to play,

I try to play not
just for myself.

I try to play for people.

I want them to laugh.

I want them to smile.

- If you want to
see what love is,

just go to a B.B. King concert.

And it doesn't make any
difference where it's at

or how big the joint is,
'cause whatever size it is,

it's gonna be packed.

- The blues becomes a living
thing when he's playing it.

It's not just somebody
trying to play the blues.

It becomes a palpable
presence on stage.

(B.B. guitar solo)

- B.B. King is gone
when he's playing.

B.B. King's been gone in
the world of the blues,

just living in that,
that ether for so long

that he belongs to it.

- I looked over, I heard
this sound of, like,

a 747 taking off,
which is his voice.

And I noticed as he stepped
back from the microphone,

his voice got louder, and I,

then I realized, as
they say in New Orleans,

this is some other kind of shit.

This is some other
kind of shit (laughs)

I don't know.

There's some shamanism involved.

- I think when I was 15, I
went and saw B.B. in concert,

and it completely
changed my life.

- It's not about
technique at all.

- The first thing that
inspired me that, you know,

that I got from B.B. King--

- He's concerned
with telling a story.

- Was the direct...

Speaking to one, you know.

- He's concerned
with moving people.

And I have, all of my career,

with my writing and my playing,

I have tried to maintain
my focus on that.

- B.B. King's tone was
the first sound that,

I now call it S-O-C-C.

It means "the Sound of
Collective Consciousness."

(B.B. soloing on guitar)

- That's what music is,
you're taking your life

and the hardest moments
or the highest moments,

and you're putting it
to words and melody,

and you're making
people feel it.

That's what you're
supposed to be doing.

It's not paint by numbers.

- You can write a song
and bullshit with it,

but you can't, If
you don't sell it,

what the hell did
you cut it for?

B.B. knew how to sell it.

He was great at this.

- [Voiceover] How about a
nice, warm round of applause

to welcome the world's
greatest blues singer,

the king of the
blues, B.B. King!

(applause)
(cheering)

- When B.B. would
come to Chicago,

he'd play a lot of
different venues.

He'd play clubs, dances
and places like that.

And he also played
the Regal Theater.

- Jimi Hendrix gave me my first
copy of "Live at the Regal."

- For me, that's just
like the ultimate live

B.B. King blues album.

- "Live at the Regal" was the
first record that I played

every day, probably
20 to 25 times a day.

I would listen to
that every day.

- Recordings like
"Live at the Regal"

and "Live at Cook County
Jail" are two of my favorite

live albums of all time.

I think the fire and the passion
in which he was performing

on those two recordings
is, I think it's hard

to come close to matching that.

(B.B. playing guitar)

- And "Live at the
Regal" was this pivotal

musical watershed, that
took me away from the...

The British blues temporarily,

where I had just discovered
the American blues

for the very first time
after listening to Clapton

and Peter Green, and, you know,

Paul Kossoff and the band Free,

and The Jeff Beck Group,
you know, every incarnation

of John Mayall and
the Bluesbreakers.

- One of the things that
B.B. has is a great rapport

with the audience,
you know, I mean,

he did that song...

(singing) I bought
you a brand new Ford

And you wanted a Cadillac

* I bought you a $10 dinner

* You said thanks for the snack

- (singing) I let you
stay in my penthouse

And you said it was just a shack

I gave you seven children

And now you wanna give 'em back

* And now you
wanna give 'em back

* Yeah, I've been
downhearted, baby

- You wanna hear B.B. King
at the crème de la crème,

like Dexter Gordon would
say, listen to Live at Regal,

and every note, every
word, every song,

everything is a perfect,
flawless diamond, you know?

And that's where Peter
Green got his tone.

When you hear Peter Green,
he sounds like B.B. King,

Live at Regal.

- I remember, he had the
big, thick notes, so,

(mimics guitar notes)

(mumbles) big, thick notes.

Not tangy or twangy, he
starts off from there

and goes through the
tones of the guitar.

- All of us in this
genre, or all of us in

any kind of, um, roots music,

we take what came before us.

- The people I think that
influenced me the most

was Lowell Fulson, Elmore James.

I was crazy about
Charlie Christian.

And I also liked...

One of my favorites, real
favorites, was Django Reinhardt.

(old-timey blues music)

I was crazy about Blind
Lemon and Lonnie Johnson.

Just the sound that they
had made me, I don't know,

tingle inside or somethin'

- The last two or
three generations are
all students of B.B.

Everybody from B.B.'s generation
are all students of T-Bone.

I mean, he really was "the guy."

- Well just before I went in
the Army, about '42, I think,

I heard of a guy
called T-Bone Walker.

* I'm in love with a woman

* But she's not
in love with me *

- T-Bone really was a dancer.

And you know, he had
such a beautiful style.

And even when he played,
you know, he danced.

There's something about
that and something

about the simplicity of
the melodies, you know?

He would play over a
minor blues or whatnot,

I think, I definitely
hear, there's what I call

"the B.B. house," when
you're sit, you know,

playing in a certain key,
and then you move up,

basically, like,
four frets or so,

and there's this
little area that I call

"the B.B. King house."

And I think some of
that I remember hearing

in T-Bone's playing
as well but then,

B.B. really made it his own.

- T-Bone Walker I thought
was the best ever at doing

what he did and how he did it.

I loved him, still do.

And I imagine today if
you listen to my playing,

you'll hear a little
bit of all of them.

I'm telling my secret.

But I think a little bit of
all of those people I liked

with my own ideas, I created

the B.B. King twangy
guitar sound, maybe.

(laid-back blues instrumental)

- It's tough because usually
divorces come because

of cheating, or you
fall out of love,

or you have money problems.

And we've had all those
things, and we've survived 'em.

But the love always stayed.

And you know, it's...

You just have to do it.

- If you're gonna be
a traveling musician,

marriage should be a something
you wouldn't want to do

until you're not
traveling a lot,

because it's very few
traveling musicians that I know

that have been able and
successful in marriage life.

- It's very difficult to have
a family life with someone

who's working on the
road 365 days a year.

And, the...

We did have somewhat
of an agreement that

that he would cut back some

on his work, but that
was very unrealistic

for me to expect.

And you get to a
point that you realize

that it's unrealistic.

'Cause the nice thing
is when you are married,

terrible thing when
you're being divorced.

It's awful.

- If I had to do
it all over again,

would I, at this stage?

Yes, I would.

* Oh, I guess it's the
chains that bind me

* I can't shake loose
these chains and things

- [Voiceover] He came to
me, I didn't come to him.

- [Voiceover] Right.

- [Voiceover] Now he was
brought to me because he had

financial problems, big time.

And he couldn't do
anything, you know?

And he had to understand,
and he had to listen

to the rules, and he did.

- Sid helped me
out, helped me to

get out of trouble
with the government,

a few other things, so I said,
well, look, you're my CPA,

but you've been doing everything
that my manager should do.

Well, why don't
you be my manager?

In fact, I asked him,
he didn't ask me.

- [Voiceover] I set up a
master plan where we would

be able to expose B.B. out
of the Chitlin' Circuit,

and get over into
the crossover area

so he could make some money.

He wasn't making any money
to speak of, you know?

Sid absolutely was sort of
a gateway to B.B.'s career.

And everything after that
time period, it was kind of,

sort of, you know, it
was already in place.

(old-timey blues instrumental)

(upbeat, modern
blues instrumental)

- I didn't really
become aware of

blues, in general, until...

The English guitar players
started talking about it.

- They're serious blues
hounds, the English.

The Rolling Stones and The
Beatles, all those guys.

- You know, growing up,

I loved the blues,
in my teenage years.

I mean, Lightnin'
Hopkins is my hero,

so besides everyone else,

of course, I heard
of B.B. King then.

- [Voiceover] I mean, I'm
really very embarrassed about

my guitar playing in one way

because it's very
poor, you know?

I can never move.

But I can make a guitar speak.

See, one part of me says,
"Yes, of course I can play

because I can make a rock move.

But the other part of me
says, "Well, I wish I could

"just do it like B.B. King."

If you put me with B.B.,
I would feel silly.

- Whatever he was saying,

he was an incredible
guitarist, John.

Even his attempts at soloing

were just so wild
and aggressive.

I loved his playing

But, you know, B.B.
is a guitarist.

You know what I mean, you can,

you have to admire how that
man is and how he plays.

- By the time I'd done
most of my homework,

which was during my mid-20s,
I was very fortunate to get

invited to play by John Mayall.

- I would say that Eric
was most influenced

by Freddie King's playing.

Mick Taylor was most
influenced by Albert King.

And Peter Green was most
definitely a B.B. King devotee.

- When I first met Jimi Hendrix,
he talked about B.B. King.

Said, "Now he comes
out and plays just

"a couple of notes,
you know, sort of."

Yeah, I know what you're saying.

What you could say
with a lot of notes,

you could say with,
B.B. King would say

with a couple of
notes, you know?

(impersonating guitar)

- The wonderful thing
about the three Kings...

Is we all learned
to play from them.

- The English Invasion, I
think that really introduced

a lot of of Americans,
including me, to Howlin' Wolf,

and Slim Harpo,
and Muddy Waters.

I probably got more exposed
to that kind of Chicago blues,

and B.B. King through
that axis of the

English blues guys and
Eric Clapton, those.

It was a great gift
the Brits gave us.

- When Cream did Strange Brew,
I hated the song so much.

The only thing I could do
to give it some stability

or justify doing it,

was to quote Albert
King in the guitar solo.

That was the first thing that
Jimi remarked on when we met.

You know, he said, "Oh,
you know about that?"

And I would do the same thing.

I would dangle carrots in
front of the other musicians.

We did that to one another.

- So the British blues
for me was more immediate

and it was more
exciting, it was louder,

it tended to be a Les Paul
guitar and a Marshall amp.

It was more rock.

(rock-style blues music)

- We do it better.

That was the thing.

We do it better.

But it seemed to have
had that elevation,

that difference
when the white boys

start to singing the blues.

And they really put it on a
different kind of a scale.

- All the great blues
musicians, initially,

did only play to
Black audiences.

And that's why that when
they came over to Europe

to find that they were
revered like gods,

it was like a big
surprise to most of them.

- We didn't know how to
play for any white audience.

Every once in a while,
I'd have Eric Clapton,

and I'm laughing right now.

It was Eric Clapton,
Paul Butterfield,

Michael Bloomfield, when
they started showing up

in clubs in Chicago, we
wasn't making enough money

to buy a bottle of whiskey,
so we'd go to next door

to get the bottle of wine
out the liquor store,

which was cheaper.

And every time I saw
a white face, I said,

look out, man, there's a
cop in the house, you know?

And that was these kids
coming in picking up

on the type of blues that
Muddy and we all was playing.

- When I was 17 at a club in
Beaumont called The Raven,

I had a fake ID and got in.

- We were playin',

and I saw these four
white people come in,

and one was extra
white, Johnny Winter.

- I kept sending the band
members up to ask him

if it was okay if I played,

and he didn't even know
if I could play at all.

- Can he play?

He said, "Yes."

And he said, "Will
you let him play?"

I said, I don't know, I'll let
you know in a little while.

- We were the only white
people in the club.

And he'd been
having tax problems,

and he thought we were
from the IRS coming

to bust him for his taxes.

- So I was so
shocked and surprised

that it wasn't about the IRS,

'til it took me a little
while to kind of get

my feet back on the
ground, you know.

He kept saying, "Well,
we have arrangements."

And I said, "I've
heard all your records.

"I know all of
your arrangements"

He asked to see my union card.

Yeah, he really checked me out.

- I let him sit in,
and he was good.

I'll tell you, he was good.

'Cause I tried him.

I went through three or four

different keys
that a lot of guys

are not too familiar with.

And I was enjoying it.

(laughing)

But he was a genuine guy.

- He's a saint.

He's a blues saint.

- [Voiceover] Many of these
young players coming along today

have been really turned on by
the way you play the guitar,

people like Mike Bloomfield.

- Oh, he's wonderful.

- [Voiceover] Do you
hear yourself coming back

from those bands?

Well...

Yes, I believe I do.

I don't want to stick my neck
out there, but I think so.

But I'm grateful that some
of them seem to like me.

I'm grateful because,

to me, it seemed to
open a few doors for us

that seemed like they was
never gonna be opened.

* Oh, because I

* I need your love so bad

* Need a soft voice

* to talk to me at night *

- The first chance to play
in front of a white audience

it's just like, who are
these people and, you know.

- I sent my road manager in
there, and he told them to go

and tell Bill I was there,

but I thought it was the wrong
place, so we was gonna leave.

So, Bill came back out
with the road manager,

and came on the
bus and sat down.

He said, "No, you're
at the right place."

- I happened to be there.

The opening act was Otis Rush

and Steve Miller, and B.B. King.

- And he said, "Ladies
and gentlemen."

And would you believe
that when he said that,

you could hear a pin drop?

He said, "I bring you
the Chairman of the
Board, B.B. King."

I've never been introduced
like that before or since.

When he mentioned my
name, they all stood up.

And for about three or
four tunes after that,

they would stand up
after every tune.

And I was so touched till
I cried standing up there.

- You know, it's like
watching a chandelier.

All I could see was his
tears and the diamond ring

that he had to wipe his tears.

And I was still washing
dishes at the time.

I was living with my mom.

And when I saw B.B. receive
that kind of adulation,

that kind of honor...

I said, "This is what I want."

- So I felt weird.

I felt real weird.

But I did it.

And after that I cried
back up the stairway.

- It's like when Nat
King Cole broke through

and they accepted him,
so we kept doing that

after the initial '68 period,

working the Fillmore,
working colleges,

and then all of sudden
we were able to book B.B.

into these rock and roll clubs,

and other venues that never
had Black entertainers before.

- He shifted a gear from
playing in Black clubs.

All of a sudden, he was
playing for white audiences.

And it shifted a couple
of gears right there.

And then B.B. could do whatever
the hell he wanted to do.

- In their early days, including
mine, you didn't get paid.

You played well and you
got drunk, if you drank.

And if you played well enough,
you got a good-looking woman.

So this was your pay.

- Women just scream,
"B.B, B.B., B.B., B.B!"

- [B.B] Wait a
minute now, Solomon.

- How you sell BBs?
- [B.B.] Solomon, you are--

- How you sell BBs to women?

Tell them, "This is
B.B. King's BBs."

- Oh, yeah, I've been
called a womanizer.

I've been called many
things pertaining to women.

Most of them are true,
and I love women.

- But you know there was
one woman that loved you,

and she had the bank.

I remember her name,
Carrie Cunningham.

- Oh, yes, yes, yes.

- And she said, "I'd
die for a B.B. King.

"If he'd just come up
in this hotel one night,

"I'll rape him, eat
him, and cook him."

(laughter)

- I ain't never met a woman
yet that I didn't like.

But not to sleep with
them all, but I like 'em.

I think they're the
angels of the Earth.

I don't think that most women

would want me now, at my age.

Oh, a few might cause they
might think I've saved

a dollar or two, here and there.

Well, maybe a couple.

* The thrill is gone

* The thrill is gone away

* Oh, the thrill is gone, baby

* The thrill is gone away

- I had been there about eight
months, and in the interim,

I'd obviously looked
at the artist roster

that was there, and I
was, been a B.B. fan

since I was a kid, literally.

And I kept buggin' 'em, I
wanna produce B.B. King.

I wanna produce B.B,
"Well, you can't do that."

Well, why not?

"Well, you're white,
and you're too young."

* You know you
done me wrong, baby

* And you're gonna
be sorry someday

- I figured if I could
take some different players

and put 'em around B.B.,

that something
good would happen.

So I pitched him on the idea,

and he said, he was interested,

but he said, "I don't want
to really commit to this

"for a full album."

So I said well, how
about we do half of it

live with your band,

and then half of it with
my band in the studio?

And he said, "Okay,
we'll do it that way."

So thusly, Live & Well.

Very shortly after, I
think it was only like

eight months later,

we were scheduled to do
another album, and I said,

I'd like to do it all
with my band, he said,

"Sure, let's do
it all that way."

And that was, and the
big success that resulted

out of the second album
was The Thrill is Gone.

* The thrill is gone

* The thrill is gone away *

- We recorded that maybe at
around 10, 11 o'clock at night,

and I'm listening back to it
at around two in the morning

you know, going
through everything that

we'd recorded that day.

And I had the idea
to put strings on it.

And I think that's
probably the best idea

I've ever had in
my career (laughs).

Because I think that's what
took it to the pop charts.

- John actually brought
in The Thrill is Gone

and played it to all of us.

I have that great
memory of that.

- And I think that song
might have been one of the

biggest blues songs of all
time, The Thrill is Gone.

- I thought it was
a great use of,

you know, strings and the blues.

And it was like, you know,
it was blues-y, but pop.

It was really a cool song.

- Nobody in the blues
had strings, no one.

They never thought
of a blues player

having strings behind him.

That was just not common.

So when it did happen,

it changed the
recording industry.

It changed it.

- Well, I'm forever
in his debt for

allowing me to produce him,

and then bring a new
idea to him, you know,

which really did establish
my career as a producer.

- B.B. had a really, a
million-selling record then.

And that really
put B.B. King into

a different category completely.

* I am the little red rooster

* Too lazy to crow *

- Sid was a big proponent
of exposing B.B.

to other audiences.

So, sometimes, he
took dates that were

not as lucrative financially,
in order to bring him to

other audiences that
were not exposed to him.

Uh, somehow or another, my
manger had talked with, uh,

some of the people connected
with the Stones and asked them,

or presented my name to them,

that if they needed a kind of a,

you might say, a warm-up group
or something of that sort,

that I was available.

- We never saw B.B., or had
anything to do with B.B. until

uh, '69, when we
took him on tour.

* Hounds begin to howl *

- We had Ike and
Tina Turner, and uh,

B.B. King, and uh, Terry Reid.

- We used to go in the
wings when he was playing.

It was just a
revelation, just seeing

what he could do with dynamics.

He took it to a completely
different level with his

going from a whisper.

He'd take the band
right down to a whisper.

And it was amazing.

You'd just hear the...
(mimicking guitar playing)

with the little guitar like
this, and then he'd build,

and build, and build
into this massive,

sort of sound with the band.

(soft blues music)

I'd never heard
dynamics like that.

I've never heard them since.

I don't think anybody else has
ever managed to achieve that

kind of thing that he did.

- In a way, I think it
was an interesting time

for Black blues musician,
because it was probably one

of the few times they
got to play in stadiums

to a white, predominately
white audience.

- Yeah, it would of, um,
exposed him because we,

that was a fantastic tour.

That was like the best
tour we'd ever done.

- The many people that I
hadn't played, you know, to,

or hadn't heard of me,
started to, I think,

listen to me, or pay attention
to me from that tour.

* Please, drive him home *

- The kids always asked us
where we got the songs from.

America.

They said, "Where can we
hear this kind of music?"

And we said, "Just go across
the river and there it is."

They would ask us,
people from Chicago,

but they weren't allowed to go
across the river at that time

because of racial problems,
and it was very dangerous.

We'd jump in a taxi and say,

"Take us to the South
Side to a record."

And the guy would say,
"You shouldn't go there,

"you shouldn't go there you
don't want to go there."

We said, "Just take us to
a record store," you know.

And so, he'd take us
to a record store,

and we'd rush in and look
at the singles and all that,

and grab a handful,
say, "How much?"

"Twenty dollars," pay it,

jump back in the taxi and
tear back to the safe side.

- They themselves will be
the first ones to admit

that they started
out as a blues band.

They were always very good
at playing homage to the, um,

the blues artists
that influenced them.

- We went to record at the
legendary Chess Studios,

which is on South
Michigan Avenue.

When we're in the studio,
we met everyone that

was recording there.

You know, we met
all our favorites,

like Muddy Waters, Chuck
Berry, Willie Dixon.

And I just want to, just
was thinking about it.

I was remembering how generous
they were to us, you know,

because we must
have, we must have,

they must have thought we were
like from Mars or something,

you know, like.
(audience laughs)

- They wanted to know,
like, how we would do it,

and why we wanted to do it.

You know what I mean?

"Why you wanna play like me."

And we're, "It happens
to be very good stuff."

You know (laughs).

And one day, I might get there.

- They were very,
very generous to us.

And they passed on all the
tips, and gave us all the help.

And they were very, very kind.

And I want to salute those guys.

Most of them are
not with us anymore.

Of course, one is
B.B. King, who I...

(audience applause)

(laid-back blues music)

- The only tune
I ever brought in

that I just asked B.B. to do,

and that was Hummingbird,
the Leon Russell song.

And, um, to get Leon to come
and play with B.B., you know.

Getting people to come play
with B.B. was never a problem.

- I played on, on a
song called Hummingbird,

that, uh, Leon Russell wrote.

- He plays those little
obligatos when he sings,

he plays a lick, and sings,

and plays another lick.

Turns out, he does that
when he talks, too.

So, he was talking to me and,

"You know, and one time, I
was down in Tuscaloosa and..."

(mimicking guitar)

And I listened to it
a couple of times,

then I started playing
the background to it.

And they're not all the same.

They're not in the same keys.

They're not the same
groove or anything.

And so, he'd...

Finish it, would finished the
song, whatever, in what key,

whatever it was,
played the ending.

He didn't say anything.

And he started talking
about something else,

then he played something else,
and I'd play that background.

We got into about the third
one, and B.B. started crying.

He says, uh, he said, "I've
never had that before."

So, uh, it was very
touching to me.

Uh, I was such a student of his,

I knew what he meant when

he said those things
on the guitar.

So it was the
greatest compliment.

(gospel-style singing)

(upbeat, energetic blues music)

- [Morgan] In 1971,
B.B. King flew the nest

and ventured on his
first overseas tour.

This culminated in a
collaborative album called

B.B. King in London.

* And I love her just the same *

- Okay, we're starting
again from the top.

So you get a feel of
what I'm talking about.

Not the top of the, the
top of the last one.

Okay?

* Fast moving baby

* I can't do nothing
to slow you down

* Your speed is supersonic, mama

* And you're faster than sound

* Now, now *

- [Voiceover] I don't know.

- You don't belong
to the union, man!

(laughter)

- When B.B. came to
London to make that album,

B.B. in London,

uh, I was invited to play.

It was just incredible.

We're playing away, and
B.B. sort of looks at me.

And I thought, "Oh, he
wants to end the song."

So, I...

(mimicking percussion)

And he goes, "Too good to lose."

And we came right in again.

It was like, oh my
God, It was so great!

We just kicked it in again.

And, uh, he did pay me a huge
compliment in those sessions,

'cause he called me,

"Hey, Ringo, you were just like

"a clock, tick-tock, tick-tock."

- He just had everything,

everything that you'd want
out of performer, you know?

He had the energy, the
charisma, you know.

He's handsome, he's
got beautiful tone.

Everything had a meaning.

Every note just like a punch.

(cheering)

- In 1974, I
produced a big event.

I stepped out of my usual life
and produced this big event,

in Zaire in 1974, that
surrounded the fight between

George Foreman and Muhammad Ali.

And I brought B.B. over.

B.B came without a band,
and, uh, was backed

by The Crusaders, who
I was producing then.

So B.B. was knocked
out with how that went.

A few years later, I got a
call from B.B. saying that

he really needed to
make a record, and uh,

would I be interested?

So we sat down with, um, Joe
Sample from The Crusaders,

who was the piano player,
and I put him together

with a great lyricist,
a young lyricist

named Will Jennings,
at the time.

We made our first
record with B.B.

The magic of recording is
the danger in recording.

When someone's played something
for three years, and they

come up, they walk into a studio
and play it, they know it.

They've been through
it so many times.

But when they're engaging
it for the first time,

and if you can
capture that moment,

you got yourself
something special.

* You know I'm having
so much trouble, people

* Oh, I wonder

* Yes, I wonder

* Baby, I wonder

* Oh, what in the world
is gonna happen to me *

(cheering)
(applause)

* Turn out the light,
sleep won't come *

- Could have been with someone
like Bill Szymczyk, a genius.

Take you in the studio,
"What you gon' do?

"One, two, three, four, five,
which one you gonna do?"

Five.

He'd let you do it.

And that's the way I think
a good producer should be.

* Hold on

* I feel our love is changing

* Hold on *

- The end of that first album,
he said, "I made a mistake,

"I left Sid, I wish I hadn't
done it, It was a mistake.

"And uh, I don't know
if Sid would ever--"

I said, "What are you
trying to say, B.?"

He says, "Well, I think
we got a winner here,

"and I need somebody
to help me navigate it.

"You know what I mean?"

So I said, well, why don't
I make a call to Sid.

You want me to do that?

And I said, Sid, I think we
got a hit album with B.B.

He wants you to come back.

He said, "Did he say that?"

I said, not in that many
words, but I think you

should come out, man.

He says, "I'll
take the red eye."

So the next day, he
showed up at the studio,

and they were there
till the day Sid died.

* I'm nothing without you here *

- There was a time when he was
doing 300-plus days a year.

And I'm talking about
back in the late '70s,

and all through the '80s,

and the first part of the '90s.

- [Morgan] Many people tend
to slow down in their 60s.

Not B.B. King.

His next collaboration with
a young band from Ireland

was about to propel B.B.
to a whole new audience.

- [Voiceover] Well, you
tour with Rolling Stones.

And then you go with the
popular group of the now,

and that's with Bono and U2.

Huh?

- [B.B.] (laughing)
My number one.

(upbeat rock music)

- Keith Richards played
blues records to us, um,

and it began this kind of
journey to discover, um,

who were the greats.

And, you know, B.B.
King's not just,

you know, great.

He's like, great!

(applause)
(cheering)

Believe it or not, B.B. King
came to Dublin, Ireland.

And he was playing in this
club in Dublin, Ireland,

and we wrote this song for him.

This is called "When
Love Comes to Town."

- I had went to listen to the
tape, and I was able to, uh,

kind of get some of it together.

- I hope you like the song.

- I love the song.

I think the lyrics is
really, real heavy lyrics.

You're mighty young to
write such heavy lyrics.

(laughing)

* Ay, yeah, yeah, yeah

* Ay, yeah, yeah, yeah

* I was a sailor,
I was lost at sea *

- You know, I felt, we were
pretty popular at the time,

Number-one records,

um, on the cover
of Time magazine.

Uh, I gave it my absolute...

You know, everything
I had in that howl,

um, at the start of the song.

And then B.B. King
opened up his mouth,

and I felt like a girl.

* I stand accused of
the things I've said

* Love comes to town,
I'm gonna jump that train

* When love comes to town,
I'm gonna catch that flame

* Maybe I was wrong
to ever let you down

* But I did what I did
before love came to town *

We had learned.

We'd absorbed.

But the more we tried
to be like B.B.,

the less convincing we were.

- I'm no good with
chords, so, uh,

what we do is get somebody
else to play chords.

Sure, well, Edge will do that.

There's not much
chords in this song.

I think there's only two.

I'm horrible with chords.

(B.B. soloing on guitar)

- When we were working on
"When Love Comes to Town,"

we were sitting around,

and we were showing
him the chords.

And he said, "Gentlemen.

"Gentlemen.

"I don't do chords.

"I do this."

- I don't know what to do there.

I'll just turn the...

(bluesy guitar notes)

- There's a lesson in that.

He is as Keith Richards,
um, describes...

Um, a specialist.

* I was a sailor,
I was lost at sea

* I was under the waves,
before love rescued me

* I was a fighter, I
could turn on a thread

* Now I stand accused of
the things I've said *

But there was this great sense
of camaraderie in his band.

And it was a joy, just a joy,

to share a stage with B.B. King.

A rich, brassy sound
they had behind them

with the horn section, and then,

his grace, you know?

He's, he's a lesson in grace.

* But I did what I did
before love came to town *

- We did Japan, Australia, and
New Zealand, and uh, Europe.

But we did a four-month tour.

And, uh, that was some
of the biggest audiences

I've ever seen, uh,

70,000, 80,000 people, as
far as the eye could see.

It was something different.

- I think our audience
really took to him.

And, uh, and I would
like to think that

whatever town he turns up in,

there's some U2 fans
there, even now.

(energetic music)

All right.

Might as well go for it.

- [B.B.] A lot of
emotion right there.

That's all right, young man.

That's all right.

- The debt is very much,
um, in his direction.

(slow guitar solo music)

The character of any
great musician is usually

identifiable by the
individuality of the vibrato.

Most players are recognizable
by that particular facet

of their playing.

And that's how I would
know B.B.'s playing.

And I can tell B.B.
from one note, you know?

Most of us can, I think.

- I'd say that's true.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, his sound is
completely unique to him.

- If you can just play one note
and somebody else can, say,

"Recognize who that is."

- From one note, you know
that's him and Lucille.

- He can take one note
and make it so sexy.

- One note, you know,
is all it takes.

- The note with the vibrato.

- One note.

- One note.

- One note.

(guitar solo music)

- He tried to show
me how to do it.

He sat with me with
his guitar, Lucille,

and showed me how to do it.

And I'm buggered
if I could do it.

I tried everything.

I tried all of that,
and all of this.

Nothing.

I said, it don't happen for me!

That's probably why
I am a bass player.

- That note is not in the
amplifier, and it's not,

it's not even on his fingers.

It's coming from the
center of his heart.

You know, I can hear B.B. King
with the sound off on the TV

just by looking at his face.

- I remember Eric
Clapton was on CNN,

and they asked him who
he had never played with.

And B.B, evidently, was
watching it, because I was.

And he said, "B.B. King."

- The first time I met him,
I sat and played with him.

I mean, I've seen, there are
pictures of me and him playing,

sitting on amplifiers.

It was a long time ago.

It's '66, '67.

And that was it for me, for
having my dreams come true.

* I dreamed I had a good
job, and I got well paid

* I blew it all at
the penny arcade *

- The CD he did with me
called Riding with The King,

he named it, I didn't!

He had the ideas, most
of the ideas for it.

He had them, I didn't.

And it was my CD.

But I had told him
when we started,

because his ideas I respect.

- "Next year, don't do
anything during that period,

"and we'll do it."

And he stuck to it, you know.

He kept, It was a
commitment we both kept.

- When I'm going in the
studio to do what I do,

I don't need you,
Eric, nobody else,

to show me what I wanna do.

But I'll listen to ideas.

And I listened to
a lot of his ideas,

and he had a lot of good ones
for Riding with The King.

- So I thought, well the best
thing to do is, I'll just,

we'll just go into the
room with a couple of

acoustic guitars and
see what comes out.

- Whatever you think
is good, we'll try it.

And we did.

And they were good.

Everything.

Except trying to make
me play acoustic guitar.

I didn't like that.

(laughing)

I had been cut all to pieces

by a guy called Alexis Korner.

Alexis Korner said, "B.,
I got two modern guitars,

"acoustic guitars.

"And I got an idea for something
I call 'Alexis Boogie,'

"so let's try it."

But, boy, when we
started to recording,

he just cut me to pieces.

I said, "Ha!

"I will never play another
one as long as you're alive."

(laughing)

And I didn't.

I promised I
wouldn't do it again,

but Alexis is dead
now, so I'll try it.

And he did the same thing,

cut me to pieces.

So, I won't do it again.

- (laughing) You're kidding!

He has ears, um, that
you wouldn't believe.

So, you know, we all
do, to a certain extent,

but he is, you know,
beyond anything,

so if you, if you mimic him,

if he throws out
a phrase and you,

you manage to articulate
it back at him,

he will take that
and then modify.

I mean, he's always, you know.

From day one with
B.B. from that day

at the Cafe au Go Go until now,

you know, we just sit down and
play, and have a few laughs

along the way,
it's very relaxed.

- B.B. was doing something
no one has ever done.

And all your rock guitar
players and whatever

you wanna call it right now,
if you take the big amplifiers

away from 'em,

and the all the special
effects, you hear B.B. King.

- I mean, I don't think I pick
up the guitar without playing

at least one or two B.B.
King licks, like within

the first five minutes that
I'm playing the guitar.

- He has got a
certain melodic sense

that is unique to himself.

And it really has a
personal thing for my own

personal tastes that I
really identify with.

- He's paving the way.

And it gives me great
hopes for the future.

Every time I start
thinking, well, geez,

I'm officially not young
anymore, there's B.B.

Well, I don't need to worry.

Look at him.

- He's a grand, majestic spirit,

that when he plays,
it commands respect.

- 'Cause these youngsters
are playing so good.

I hear them and say
to myself, oh, God.

I might as well quit.

And then the other mind
says, "How you gon' eat?"

(laughing)

So, that's one of the
reasons that I haven't quit.

- I think that he's
gonna keep on doing

what he's been doing.

At the moment, um, we work

three weeks on and
three weeks off.

And B.B. used the expression,

"That's gonna be
carved in stone."

(cheering)

- When you mention
the name B.B. King,

everybody can identify
with his hometown,

and many of them
began to know that,

that hometown is
Indianola, Mississippi.

(laid-back blues music)

- The Medgar Evers Homecoming is

originally started by B.B. King.

Every year I go down there
for what we call Homecoming.

B.B. came up, and the
state of Mississippi was ,

sweltering hate, and
racism and bigotry.

And anyone who had the nerve
and fortitude to go out

and fight to change
that, B.B. supported.

And Medgar was the one who
chose to do that in Mississippi,

and the first to
lead us into that.

- [Morgan] In 2008, Indianola
showed its gratitude

and opened the B.B. King Museum.

Every year, tens of
thousands of people visit

from all over the world to
this little town in Mississippi

to share one of the
greatest journeys ever told.

(energetic instrumental music)

- All right, put your hands
over her head, please.

(cheering)

Okay, one more time.

(fireworks popping)

- He's one of the
most, if not the most,

beloved artists on the
planet Earth today.

- He's great in every way.

Just the girth of
the man is great.

His big laugh is great.

His big voice is great.

He is.

You know, the only person who
doesn't think B.B.'s great

is probably B.B..

- People call me
"King of the Blues."

I've heard it many, many times.

Do you think I think that?

No, I do not.

I think it's a lot of people
can do exactly what I do,

and a lot of them
can do it better.

They're just not me.

* Did you ever hear
a church bell tone

* Ever hear a church bell tone

* Did you ever hear
a church bell tone

* Then you know that old
B. is dead and gone *

- He never forgets
his old friends.

If he's aware of a situation
with one, or an old band member

who he considers them all
family, current and past.

- He cares about people.

He loves people.

- And I think he's
the most easiest-going

person I ever seen.

- He wanted to share his talent
and his soul with the world.

And that's what he did.

- He's a one of a kind.

- I mean, he's just
like, you know?

Unbelievable.

- Infinitely, he's the
most producible artist

I've ever worked with.

- He's a master.

Who wouldn't want to
work with a master?

- There's only one B.B.

- Well, he's an icon.

I mean, he's absolutely
an American blues icon,

and, uh, he might
be one of the last

of the really great ones.

- Friedrich Nietzsche,
uh, Nietzsche, um,

said, "For true
greatness to take place,

"there requires a long obedience
in the same direction."

- I can't tell anybody what I
want to hear, but I have a...

I hear it myself,
but I can't play it.

(laughing) I don't know how
to really get it myself.

I think sometimes,
the sound that I hear

has never been the sound
that I want to hear,

if I make sense.

It is a little sound
there that I hear,

but I can't tell
anybody about it.

When I hear what I would
like to hear, if ever,

I think I'd have to stop,
because it probably won't sound

as good as I'm thinking it will.

(laughing)

- I think that as a,
as a lesson in living,

you can look at B.B. and also
learn what it's like to be

a man, and get through all
those difficult times he had,

and come through with the
heart that he still has.

It's no mean accomplishment.

- I don't think I've done the
best that I could have done.

I thought I had.

I thought that I did
everything the best I could,

but when I look back, I
see there's some slacks.

You can do better.

- I've never told him,
but I sometimes call him

"father of us all,"

because that's
the way I see him.

It's very difficult
to find words to say.

Excuse me.

- He sang the blues and
did a great job of it,

and rose to a greater height
where even invited by kings

and potentates, all
from where he was.

- I've never met a king
before, so I'm a bit nervous,

but also grateful.

So grateful.

Thank you.

(praying in foreign language)

I said, Holy Father, I know
you're always doing things

for others, so I want to
do something for you, sir.

I said, I'd like to
offer my guitar to you.

He took it himself.

He stepped and took it from
the guy, and he smiled again.

Then he said, "Happy holidays
to you and your family, B.B."

I said, oh my God,
he said "B.B."

(laughing)

* Through the night

* Lead me on, Lord

* To the light

* Take my hand *

- Some nights when you wanna
go out and just take a walk,

clear your head,

or jump into a car just to
take a drive, you can't do it.

Secret Service won't let
you, and that's frustrating.

Uh, but then, uh, there are
other nights where B.B. King

and Mick Jagger come
over to your house

to play for a concert.
(audience laughs)

(applause)

* Come on

* Baby, don't you wanna go

* Same ole' place

* Sweet home, Chicago *

(applause)

- Now, it's my honor as Governor
of the state of Mississippi

to proclaim February 15th,
2005, as B.B. King Day

for the entire state
of Mississippi.

And I urge all citizens to
join me and the Legislature

in celebrating and honoring

this great Mississippian.

(applause)

- Only God knows how I feel.

I am so happy, thank you.

(applause)

(slow, sad music)

- Well, the only thing about
the blues, when B.B.'s gone,

like everything else,
the world goes on.

It's not gon' stop
because B.B. King leave,

but it'll never be the same.

But I'm here to tell you, B.B.
is leaving a legend that's

gon' be hard to be beat.

- We just got a B.B.
King in our life.

And ain't nothing else like him.

- I'm hoping, though, that...

When I start to sounding
as bad as I think I will

when I get a certain age,

I hope that, you know, that
a little bell will ring

in my head that says,
"It's time to stop."

But other than that, I'll wait
till the great one upstairs

take me away, 'cause
I don't feel bad.

Feel pretty good at 85, so...

Here I am.

That's the best I can answer.

Today at the Homecoming, I
saw a little boy in the choir

that remind me so much
of little Riley King, me,

you know, moi.

And I almost cried thinking
that here he is today.

He didn't have to go
through what I went through.

What is it that I could have
told him, or could tell you,

that would make the life
better for that little guy

that looked like a
little Riley King?

Then I smile and think,
the sky is the limit.

* Ever, ever, ever,
ever, and ever

* I cross my heart *

- [Voiceover] What do you
want to do with your music

and with your singing?

- Play the best that I can.

Reach as many people as
I can, as many countries.

Otherwords,

I'd like the whole world to
be able to hear B.B. King sing

and play the blues.

* I swear by stars above

* I'll keep my word

* My love

* You sitting there
lookin' proud and thinking

* you so fine

* You're trying to run
around with each and every

* friend of mine

* You're thinking
you're so smart, baby,

* and think that I'm a fool

* But baby let me tell you,
you'd better play it cool

* 'Cause I'm tired of your jive

* Yes, baby, I'm
tired of your jive

* Yes, I refuse to
be your fool, woman

* Baby, I'm tired of your jive

* You think that I don't see

* what you do behind my back

* You think that I
should love you, woman

* in spite of what you lack

* You'd better pay
attention, baby,

* or you might not be around

* You wake up early
one morning, baby

* and I'll be done put you down

* 'Cause I'm tired of your jive

* Yes, woman, I'm
tired of your jive

* I refuse to be
your fool, baby,

* 'cause I'm tired of your jive

* You're sitting
there just a-smiling

* and thinking nothing's wrong

* I don't intend to
pull your coat, baby,

* you'll know it when I'm gone

* You'll never miss
your water, baby,

* till the well runs dry

* Well now, baby, I'm
gonna tell you by and by

* I'm tired of your jive, baby

* Yes, you know, I'm
tired of your jive

* I say I refuse to
be your fool, baby

* I'm tired of your jive

* Lord, I wonder, yes, I wonder

* Do my baby think of me

* Oh, I wonder, Lord, I wonder

* Do my baby think of me

* Now, I wonder, Lord, I wonder

* Will my babe come back to me

* Yeah, she been gone so long,

* just can't stand it no more

* Oh, she been gone so long

* just can't stand it no more

* Now I ain't got nobody

* And no place to go

* Yeah I think when she left me

* Yeah she went to somebody else

* Oh, I think when she left me

* Yeah she went to somebody else

* Now if she don't
come back to me soon

* think I'm gonna leave myself