Met BB briefly maybe a year or two before his passing. I live in Nashville and was walking by the Ryman Auditorium (Home to the Grand Old Opry till 1973). BB had a gig there this night and I didn't know it. BB's tour bus was parked near the loading dock and the bus door was open with a wheelchair sitting at the opening. I walked up to find out WHO WAS PLAYING, and as I walked up, BB was just coming down the steps being assisted and BB saw me standing there. He smiled at me as he sat in the wheelchair. He asked how I am, and I said I'm good. Then I asked if his woman managed to give him his 7 children back and he started to laugh and shook his head and said "No, she changed her mind", with that, he shook my hand and said "Thanks for the laugh!. As his helper pushed him into the Building. Great memory.
I grew up right there & it was! Little mountain settlement, mostly Mexican folks including my mom’s side of the family. Just outside of Albuquerque New Mexico.
back when people still has taste in great music and grooved...no standing like idiots with a phone in hand...BB King could get an audience up dancing and singing with pure joy!
Probably one of my favorite performances of one of favorite guitarists. The minute I heard about You Tube this was the first thing I looked for. I love the syncopated opening that begins the piece, the vocal medley of How Can you Get/Just A Little Love, the distorted swinging guitar section and the slow blues at end where BB is riffing a call and response with the horns. The performance has such variety and combines all the sophistication of a well thought out arrangement and the spontaneous emotion of jam session. My brother bought the soundtrack to this movie more than 40 years ago and this still inspires me.
I have been a fan for 45 years and yes there are technically better players but NO-ONE connects his heart and soul to the guitar and voice like B.B. . He is THE greatest and most of us will never see the like of him again, it's pure divine creation.
Rest in Peace B.B. we still love you. God keep you. I saw him that year at Civic Stadium in Portland Oregon. I was up on stage right taking photos. It was a dream! Price of admission...$5! Thank for for presenting this. I feel 50 years younger.
People here qualifying BB's greatness with feeling they have to say others had better technique. Oh shut the hell up. BB had incredible technique. Take him at face value.
When I was 12 I heard BB king playing a song called Worried Dream that was my start of being a bluesguitarist,I'm 63 now but still play BB King music in my blues band, thank you BB for all the songs from the heart just awesome stuff you are still the best my old friend, rest in God's arms.
I ALMOST FELL OUT THE BED LAUGHING AT BB WHEN HE PUT HIS HANDS ON HIS HIPS WHAT A GREAT PERFORMER YOU WAS THE BEST AND ALL WAYS WILL BE NUMBER ONE IN MY BOOK RIP MR BB KING
Until the spring of 1973 I had never heard BB King, but someone across the lawn played Why I sing The Blues through an open window and that was it! Ever since I’ve loved his blues and Lucille…
Several variations of the same of not an extremely similar chord progression. Listen to 'Guess Who', 'Night Life', 'There Must Be A Better World Somewhere' etc.
In all reality its probably “Darlling you know that I love you” one of his first songs he recorded. I say it’s that song because he has had a few live albums where he recorded that song with out any vocals. And if you listen to the guitar melody he plays in this video,it sounds pretty close to the original recoding
Can't believe this is 40 years ago. I was born 20 years later after this performance, too late. There will NEVER be a time like this again when the real shit was played by true musicians like BB King.
This jam was in Placitas NM 1971 held on Ramaldo’s diary farm. I was 22 years old and lived just up the road. Hollywood paid me to make sure no one went to the bathroom in or near the creek. Cool times
Yeah I remember the day. Hog farm and wavy Garvey Bus was traveling with Hollywood getting footage for films. BB Kong. Came in on a Helicopter. Hollywood supplied the weed and beer and there was some wicked LSD floating around. I lived up the creek at a place called Tawapa. Hollywood paid us as security and clean up crew. They asked if we needed anything, they ended up buying us a truck load of organic food. That night after the concert we partied at the Thunderbird bar in Placitas NM. Got to dance with all these young and beautiful wanna be starlits that Hollywood was hauling around. Hollywood was planing on staging these concerts all the way to NYC and then cross the Atlantic. And finish up in London. Never happened because the caravan got in a real bad accident back east somewhere and they canceled the whole thing. I remember it just like yesterday, still a hippie at heart. Love and peace as BB would say!
@johnnyguitar335 Holy cow - I never heard BB king like this. Mind you I don't really know his music but his kicks butt over the duets and the recent stuff. At the end, right after the chord progression, where he does his final lick, you know why he's the KING of blues.
BackToTheBlues ... He actually plays chords quite a bit here, and frequently threw them into his solos. The problem was he had a fondness for ninth and sixth chords that weren't necessarily appropriate for the arrangement but fit at that moment. There's a tutorial here in which he talks at length about his chord technique: watch it a few times and you'll notice he plays them on almost every song.
I had just dropped out of High School in Albuquerque when this concert was filmed and was totally clueless about the blues . . . seeing what I missed makes me want to cry.
