Last weekend, B.B. King, the King of the Blues, was laid to rest in Indianola at the museum which bears his name. Mississippi's public TV station broadcast the funeral live on Saturday morning, and video of the service can be seen at MPB's YouTube site. A wonderful service, one of the highlights was a magnificent medley of gospel songs from Otis Clay and the Soul Stirrers' Willie Rogers.
I was not able to attend the funeral or any of the other events that accompanied it......I lost a close friend earlier in the week and attended his funeral on Saturday......but our humble correspondent Joe, who is one of the biggest B.B. King fans on record, was able to take part and he filed this report on the events and offers his reflections on the passing of a legend. Check it out below and when you're done, be sure check out Joe's previous posts here and here.
As always, Graham presented a fantastic and thorough tribute
to BB King in his May 22 post. The
videos attached to it are some of BB’s best performances and represent many
phases in his career. The tributes to BB
King have been pouring in from all over the world by people much more important
and articulate than me. I read a lengthy article yesterday diagramming BB’s
technical ability on guitar and it blew me away. The author was able to describe in great
detail why BB just sounded so different from everybody else…
All blues
fans have their own personal connection to BB and his music. For me, my
connection to BB King and love for his music is very personal. Every true blues fan has a particular
artist/album that caused you to suddenly “get it” and become not just a casual
fan of the blues…But, to become passionate about learning all you can of the
history, influences, genres, and true icons of blues music. You want to learn who influenced your
favorite blues artists and their contemporaries.... You’re trying to listen to
every performer connected to particular genres of the blues…One blues performer
leads to another and before you know it, you’re making special trips to find
blues trail markers and searching for a particular headstone in isolated
cemeteries in the MS delta. You are drawn to sit in a field on a ridiculously
hot summer day in Bentonia to hear Jimmy “Duck” Holmes play guitar and you’re
making hotel reservations a year in advance for the Juke Joint Festival in
Clarksdale. Late night pilgrimages to
Ground Zero Blues Club, Red’s, Po’ Monkey’s, F. Jones Corner, The Blue Biscuit,
Club Ebony and Blue Front Café are mandatory. You appreciate these places
because you know they are disappearing and you’re genuinely bothered that you
didn’t get to go to a legendary juke joint like Junior’s Place before it burned
down…. All of this usually starts with one blues performer and a particular
song or album. For me, it happened to be
BB King.
A friend gave me a cassette of BB King’s Blues Summit in 1997 and I was
hooked. It coincided with a job that at
that time required frequent and long trips to the MS Delta. I had the perfect opportunity and view to
begin my blues education, especially when it came to BB King. BB led to Otis Rush, Luther Allison, Son
Seals, Buddy Guy, Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor, JB Hutto, Magic Slim….Blues
fans know the drill. Hill Country blues,
folk blues, blues rock… All the different genres of blues. But, I would always come back to BB. It started with him and there was nothing
that ultimately compared to his voice and the way he played Lucille.
I saw BB in concert 13 times. In Vicksburg, Memphis, twice in Jackson, and
many times at the Club Ebony in Indianola.
I was able to meet him and he posed for a photo with my son when we
attended the 2008 Medgar Evers Homecoming.
I was in the audience at his club in Memphis when BB King Live wasfilmed and recorded in 2006 and I was at the Club Ebony for his duet with Kenny
Wayne Shepherd on "The Thrill Is Gone" in 2004. Every BB concert was special to
me. Some were frankly better than others
(His 2008 show in Vicksburg was full of older songs that had long been retired
from his standard set list. He was
focused and his guitar playing was spot on for his 2006 Memphis club show and
his 2008 Club Ebony show to open the museum was also very special.) Even the shows when he seemed tired or more
interested in interacting with the audience had moments of pure guitar
genius. Either way, you were in the same
room with BB King and that was something to appreciate and celebrate.
Like many other blues fans, I was angry when I heard about
the treatment BB received during his April 2014 show in St. Louis. As Graham said at the time, it’s a matter of respect…. I know it was a small part of the crowd, but you just don’t boo BB
King. I watched a video of the
performance and became just as upset that he was still out on the road
performing night after night on lengthy tours.
It was very difficult to see BB struggling as he was that night. Musicians nearly 20 years his junior
(Clapton, McCartney, Van Morrison) have greatly reduced their concert
schedules, why couldn’t BB King? If BB
was going to continue to perform, why couldn’t he just play at the occasional
weekend festival or set up for multi-gig residencies at theaters, such as Tom
Petty or the Allman Brothers? Legitimate
concerns were being raised whether BB’s performance schedule was in his and his
fans’ best interest. BB later issued an
apology for his performance in St. Louis, citing health reasons and some rust
from being off the road. 5 days after St. Louis, he was back on tour performing
8 concerts in 10 days. His ticket prices remained fairly high and he continued
to receive mixed concert reviews.
I skipped his Indianola Homecoming show in 2014. I found many sorry excuses not to go…There
wouldn’t be a late night Club Ebony show, just the performance in the field beside
the museum…No reserved seating meant getting on the road early that morning…It
was hot…I had a lot to do that day and he’ll be back through Jackson or Memphis
for a “real” concert soon…It won’t really be his last Homecoming show as had
been announced…Again, all lame excuses.
Truth is, I was worried about his potential performance. I just didn’t want to see BB possibly
struggle as he did in St. Louis… He
continued to play shows in the summer and early fall of 2014, but things went
terribly wrong on Oct. 5 in Chicago. The
show was ended early and his remaining 8 dates were cancelled. Somehow, you
just knew that we wouldn’t see BB perform again and even future public
appearances were in doubt. I
immediately regretted my decision to not go to his last Homecoming show. I should have been there. Then came the hospital trips, the
announcement he was in hospice care and the statement he had passed away. There was no way I was going to miss BB’s
final Homecoming to Indianola and when the May 29 viewing was announced, I made
plans to go.
I have 2 sons and they were raised on blues music,
especially BB King. We made numerous
trips to Memphis when they were younger for Redbirds and Grizzlies games. We would stay downtown, go to the Peabody
Place mall, listen to Big Jerry play the blues in front of the New Daisy
Theater on Beale and we ALWAYS ate dinner at BB King’s Club. We listened to BB on the way to Memphis and
on the ride home. In fact, most rides
anywhere in my car involved listening to BB King… They are now in law school
and college and have developed their own appreciation for the blues. They have
branched out from BB’s music, just like I did.
For my oldest, it is currently Gary Clark Jr, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert
King, Derek and the Dominos-era Clapton, and the Allman Brothers. For years, my youngest son was all about folk
blues: Son House, Skip James, MS John Hurt and Robert Johnson. That led to Hill Country music by RL and T
Model Ford. He’s now into the Chess era Southside electric sound of Otis Rush,
Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Next week, they may be listening to and
reading about another performer, or era, or genre of the blues. That is the great thing about beginning a
blues education, it never ends.
I sent my sons a text of BB’s final arrangement plans. My job and their class schedules wouldn’t
allow us to go to Memphis on May 27, but we all immediately agreed that we
would be in Indianola on Friday, May 29.
There really wasn’t any discussion whether we would go. We were going. I quickly made hotel reservations for May 29
and we coordinated our trip to Indianola.
Like everybody else, I watched the reports of the memorial
in Memphis. The sight of Rodd Bland
carrying one of BB’s treasured Gibson guitars down Beale Street in front of his
hearse was incredible. People lined Hwy
61 as the hearse made its way to Leland and then east on Hwy 82 to Indianola,
finally arriving on Wednesday.
We got to Indianola late in the afternoon on Friday. The line of cars parked on 2nd
street began shortly after we turned off Hwy 49. The long lines (an estimated 4,000 people
passed by his casket and the lines began at 6:00 am) had dwindled by the time
we arrived, but there were still many visitors
at the museum. The streets were closed
several blocks surrounding the museum and law enforcement directed people to
muddy parking lots around the area. It was very hot and muggy. A storm had passed through shortly before our
arrival and the sun had now come out.
This was the steamy MS delta where BB lived alone as a child, raising
his own cotton crop after his mother and grandmother died. His Homecoming shows were always in the
summer and I can remember many times sitting in a warm, packed Club Ebony
waiting on his arrival. It was fitting
that it would be a hot and muggy day for BB’s memorial. People were lined up to pose for pictures by
Lucille’s statue and by the sign for the museum. The mood was frankly a little odd…. Many
people had somber expressions and were well dressed. For others, their mood was also serious, but
they were dressed in shorts and t-shirts.
Some people were acting rather festive and t-shirts honoring the weekend
were being sold by vendors on many of the streets. BB’s
music was everywhere. It was playing in
many of the cars lined up to turn off of 2nd street to park and also
outside the museum. Appropriately, the
Gibson Guitar Bus was there and parked across the street from the museum at the
Blue Biscuit.
There were two lines as you approached the museum. An officer would periodically shout, “Museum
to the left, viewing to the right…” At that time, most of the crowd had already
passed through the viewing line and were now waiting their turn for the
museum. There was a long line just to
buy tickets for the museum and even longer wait for people to then enter the
theater room for the start of the tour.
They didn’t seem to mind, many had travelled long distances to be there
and they may not have another opportunity to visit the museum. There was even a
long line just to get in the gift shop.
We got in the viewing line to the right and made our way
into the museum’s entrance. I learned
later that Buddy Guy had been through earlier in the afternoon… I recognized
several well-dressed MS legislators immediately in front of us as the line
turned to the right, proceeding through the museum’s lobby into the restored
1920s cotton gin connected to the museum’s lobby. We hadn’t said much as we got in the line for
the viewing, but when we started up the steps to the cotton gin room, I
mentioned that BB worked in this gin when he was a young man. The significance of the moment really began
to hit me. I couldn’t help but tell my
sons that they would one day tell their grandchildren about this….
The line continued through the room and you could see the
flowers and Gibson guitars on each side of the bronze coffin. Law enforcement was all along the line,
keeping a close eye on everyone as we approached the casket. The Mississippi Highway Patrol color guard
officers on each side of the casket were VERY impressive, providing almost a
head of state feel to the scene. The
mood was very somber as we approached and then stood in front of the
casket. BB was dressed in a purple shirt
and colorful tuxedo jacket and was wearing the Presidential Medal of Freedom
given to him in 2006 by Pres. Bush. We
slowly made our way past the coffin and out the doors of the cotton gin.
We didn’t say much as we walked through the
muggy delta heat to downtown Indianola.
We went to BB’s blues trail marker downtown and took pictures by his
hand imprints in the cement on the street corner where he performed as a 17
year old tractor driver. We walked to
the Club Ebony and took pictures at the blues trail marker, talking to several
locals along the way. We then drove to
Holly Ridge to visit Charley Patton and Willie Foster’s graves. BB was our soundtrack as we made our way
through the hot delta. You can’t help
but picture him as you ride through these fields… Playing guitar on the
weekends and sharecropping during the day.
A young man, married to Miss Martha, just trying to survive. Knowing he had a desire and possibly even the
ability to stake a bigger claim…
That evening we had dinner at the Blue Biscuit. If you haven’t been, I encourage you to
go. The Biscuit has a real deal delta
juke joint atmosphere. Great music and
they slow cook their pulled pork for 72 hours!
We had BBQ, catfish and enjoyed talking with owners Trish Berry and her
husband Stan. I met them many years
earlier at my first Homecoming. Their
parties before BB’s show at the park and Club Ebony were pretty legendary and
it was always a part of my Homecoming experience.
The next morning, I was able to meet Ruby Wilson, the Queen
of Beale Street, in the hotel breakfast area.
Ms. Ruby, several more of BB’s friends, and even some of his nieces and
cousins began telling stories about BB and his life-long friend Norman
Matthews. I enjoyed every minute of it…. We arrived home just in time to watch
the funeral service on MPB. Kudos to
Ronnie Agnew, Executive Director of MPB, and his staff for their hard work
preparing for and broadcasting the service.
The world was able to see a beautiful delta tribute to BB King.
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