King of the Blues

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An epic life: from sharecropper's son deep in the Mississippi Delta at the height of Jim Crow to musical trailblazer and international ambassador for America's blues tradition. In telling B.B. King's story, Dan de Visé illuminates the birth and rise of the blues. King of the Blues is on a level with the greatest musical biographies and will appeal to readers of Peter Guralnick's two bestselling volumes on Elvis Presley, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love, and to fans of Eric Clapton's bestselling Clapton: The Autobiography. Largely self-taught, B.B. King almost single-handedly invented the modern guitar solo and deeply influenced other legendary artists, from Jim Hendrix and Eric Clapton to Elvin Bishop and Carlos Santana, to Bono and the Edge. "He is without a doubt the most important artist the blues has ever produced."-Eric Clapton B.B. was, literally, the hardest-working musician in history: he performed nearly 20, 000 concerts in 90 countries over more than 60 years, playing well into his 80s. His concerts at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Bill Graham's Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco and Cook County Jail are legendary events to this day. "B.B. King has influenced more rock and blues musicians than anyone else in history."-Bonnie Raitt Dan de Visé has interviewed almost every surviving member of King's inner circle-family, band members, entourage, retainers, managers, and more-and their words and memories enrich the narrative. De Visé has serious music chops. His descriptions of B.B.'s famed performances and analysis of his records will reward blues and music devotees and novices alike. "If it was not for B.B. King, there would be no Clapton, no Harrison, no Beck. There'd be no lead guitar, no rock 'n roll as we know it."-Michael Bloomfield While B.B. did not overtly champion racial justice, he witnessed lynching and deep prejudice first-hand, as de Visé describes, and behind the scenes and in some of his music, B.B. called out prejudice and supported those fighting for civil rights. B.B.'s story reveals the ways record companies took advantage of artists, especially those of color. While B.B. was almost certainly sterile, the result of several accidents in his youth, he was sexually voracious, and over time 15 children claimed him as their father. He accepted and supported all of them, in turn they fought over his will. Includes a comprehensive guide to B.B.'s recordings, a list of all lyrics references in the book, and lists of B.B.'s band members by era, along with a map of Mississippi and a 16-page insert section of photographs.