RIP BB King: the last of the greats

My son is part of today’s Hip Hop generation: The heavy bass, the fast beat, and at times the even faster rap. When Micklemore’s ‘Can’t hold us’, comes on the radio, my son like many of his age go into a frenzy imitating every detail of the hurricane rap.

But the other day he asked me when a slow ‘easy listening’ track came on the radio, ‘Dad is that the blues? ‘No son’ I replied, ‘Its just ‘nice music. The blues, however, ‘ I explained, ‘is what they played way back in the day. It was usually one Black man and his guitar playing with a feeling that made your heart bleed. When we get home son , I’ll play you some blues.

I rushed back enthusiastically to pull out and play my dusty ‘Lightening Hopkins, Big Bronzy and BB King albums. It would be another music lesson for my son. The last time we did this it was James Brown, and now he loves him. In the end I couldn’t get the record player to work. So I had to be content with showing him the album covers with the words, ‘these men played the blues son’. ‘Okay Dad’, he replied rolling his eyes before speeding off.

Today one of the last of the very greats died peacefully in his sleep aged 89. BB King, affectionately known as the ‘King of the Blues’, had a 70 year career and mentored and inspired a generation of great musicians who themselves would go on to rule their worlds including; Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix and Keith Richards. They all wanted to be him; to play and sing as though your very being came from the earth’s core. For the listener if you couldn’t feel the music of BB King then you simply couldn’t feel.

I was one of the lucky ones to see BB King at the fitting venue, The Royal Albert hall. Interestingly when King performed he never played his beloved guitar and sung at the same time. It was either one or the other.

The audience, none the less, loved him as he loved us too. And when Eric Clapton came on the stage to play with him, it was almost like a pupil wanting to please his teacher. The master nodded approvingly.

For sure, this weekend I’m going to fix my record player and play some blues, BB King style. And who knows, my son might even like it too.

Rest in peace, big man. But as you slumber your beautiful music plays on.

Simon Woolley