B.B. King: The Thrill Will Never Be Gone (Archival Interview)

Written by: Ken Sharp

B.B. King is championed by pundits as the quintessential blues guitar player. Since his emergence in the Fifties, King, trusty black Gibson “Lucille” guitar in hand, wowed audiences with his gritty, expressive voice and spectacular blues guitar playing.

He could say more in one note than others could say in a hundred. In recent years received kudos for his high-profile collaborations with rock giants, Eric Clapton (Riding With The King) and U2 (When Love Comes To Town) and continued touring until .  But his legacy is so vast, his influence so unmeasurable that the thrill will never be gone as long as his music is still played.

Below, enjoy an archival interview with King from a few years back as our remembrance:

Rock Cellar Magazine: What was the first music that really affected you?

BB King: When I was a very small boy, my mother used to take me to church, and the pastor in church played the guitar. That made me want to play it, because I wanted to be like him.  I’m not a fast learner. I’m very, very slow. I’m still learning. My first guitar was a little red Stella guitar. It cost me $15, and I was making $15 a month at the time. And my boss bought the guitar for me, and allowed me to pay it off.

Rock Cellar Magazine: Who were your guitar heroes growing up?

BB King: One was a guy called Lonnie Johnson, who played acoustic guitar and sang blues. Another was Lemon Jefferson. I was told Lemon Jefferson was born blind because everyone called him Blind Lemon. Both of those played acoustic guitars and sang blues. Then I heard of a jazz guitarist called Charlie Christian and it was electrical.

And man, did I like that! Another one was a French gypsy, a guy called Django Reinhart; also was playing acoustic guitar, but he had an amplifier through a microphone. And boy, was that good. And one I still have with me on my MP3 today is T-Bone Walker. He played the electric guitar; single-string, mostly blues. Had the big fat chords when you hit them, and I liked that. So those five have been my major influences. I could never play like any of them. I tried many times, but not even today I couldn’t play like them.

Rock Cellar Magazine: What drew you to Memphis?

BB King: I was trying to get into the business. I thought I was good enough as a singer and a player to record. And you know, in Mississippi we didn’t even have music stores, or a music store. But I’d heard that in Memphis they had a recording studio; that was one of the reasons I went. It was called Sam Phillips. But I never recorded for him, I recorded in his studio. But I never did play for him.

Rock Cellar Magazine: You’re known for playing your Gibson Lucille guitar.

BB King: It has a long, thick neck on it. I’ve got big fat hands and I’m a big guy. During the early years, it was hard to get a good guitar. It was really hard.

I hear people talk about today its hard to find a good guitar, but today guitars are like insects to me, there’s so many of them.

At that time, I couldn’t make enough money to buy one. I did try many kinds. Whoever designed the Gibson guitars in the beginning did a really good job. One of the things I like about it is if the neck stops to warp—if I take my hand and my hand is like that (demonstrates), but after awhile it starts to do this—the guitar neck does.

Well, they put a rod in the Gibson guitar. And when it starts to bend a little bit, there’s a little wrench you have that you can tighten it and it straightens it back out again. That’s another thing I like about it. If you notice my fingers, I don’t have big corns on them like some other people ‘cause I keep the action pretty close to the frets.

Rock Cellar Magazine: You’ve never been interested in playing a million notes, simplicity is your raison d’etre.

BB King: I think that comes from having a damaged brain. I can’t play fast like some guys. My practicing never did allow me to do too much of it. Over the years sometime I used to play for speed, but I think its sort of like how they talk about automobiles; usually you have one or the other, speed or luxury. The average speed of fast cars rides like a wagon.

But if you want luxury, soft plush seats and stuff, usually it’s not so economical. Very few people can afford both. I play similar to the way I talk. I’ve never been able to talk fast. I’ve had a speech impediment all my life so to get a point over, I sort of have to take time.

And it’s the same thing with the guitar, whatever I’m trying to say, I can’t say it real fast, so I just do what I can do.

It’s like a story I once heard that I quite often apply to myself. There was a fox passing under a tree. Many animals were up in the tree eating grapes, so the fox yelled at them, “Throw down some grapes, fellows!” And there’s always gonna be some smart aleck someplace, and one of them said, “Well, if you want some grapes, then climb up here and get them!” So the fox thought to himself, “I can’t climb trees.” Then he said, “Oh well, the grapes will probably sour anyway.”

So that’s the way I think about it; I can’t play fast like this guy or like that one, and it probably wouldn’t work out anyway, so I just do what I can do.

BB King: Yeah. In the early years, you’d go into a little juke joint and you’d play. Somebody else would come in who would play better than you, and you don’t come back. They’re finished with you. I really think I’m kind of like that today; I’m never any better than my last concert. And I make mistakes nightly. But the only part that’s pretty good is when you make a mistake and cover it up without anybody else catching you. That’s the smooth part of it.

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