One Kind Favor
an interview with
B.B. KING
by Robert Silverstein
Still rockin the blues at 83, B.B. King is a living treasure
of American music history.
Back in 2005, people began owning up to Kings legacy thanks
to an excellent book appropriately called The B.B. King Treasures
(Bulfinch Press). Packed with 116 full color and B&W
illustrations including 12 removable artifacts, plus a 60 minute CD,
this entertaining biography of B.B. King is an essential primer on
his blues history. 2008 opens yet another vital door for the king
of the blues bringing forth a new studio album made with T-Bone Burnett,
entitled One Kind Favor and the September 13, 2008 opening
of the B.B. King museum near his home town in Mississippi. A freshly
recorded set of favorite tracks inspired by B.B.s early years,
One Kind Favor is a studio classic that takes its place among
six decades of classic King music. Calling in from the road for this
July 2008 interview, B.B. spoke about One Kind Favor, the B.B.
King museum, his Lucille guitar and his perpetual influence on generations
of blues and rock guitarists that followed in his footsteps.
{The following interview with B.B. King first appeared as the
cover story interview for the September 2008 issue of 20th Century
Guitar. MWE3.com now presents the complete interview in its entirety}
MWE3: B.B., its Robert Silverstein from 20th Century Guitar
magazine. Im in Queens in New York City. I guess you know the
area.
B.B. : Yes, I know a bit about it.
MWE3: Its really hot here today. I guess its in the mid...
B.B. : Most states today, even in Alaska. (laughter)
MWE3: I hope you can hear me okay.
B.B. : Youre not okay, but I can hear you.
MWE3: Thanks for the opportunity to speak with you for this interview
for 20th Century Guitar magazine. You were on the cover about eight
years ago.
B.B. : I was?
MWE3: Hows the current tour going? I hear youre selling
out every show.
B.B. : Well, not every, but we come pretty close most times.
MWE3: Are you coming back to New York for some shows in the future?
B.B. : Well I hope so!
MWE3: Im from New York originally and my dad had a restaurant
in the same building as your former manager, Sid. I dont know
if you remember going into his old restaurant, the Chambers deli on
6th Avenue.
B.B. : I may have because Sid and I were together 35 years. He was
one of my best friends and my manager.
MWE3: Are you playing tracks from the One Kind Favor album
on the tour?
B.B. : I will be very soon.
MWE3: Are you using another guitarist on tour?
B.B. : Well, Ive been using one all the time. Its never
been when I didnt have one, in the last 20 or 30 years.
MWE3: I guess youre still featuring Charlie Dennis on guitar
in your group.
B.B. : Yeah, Charlie Dennis. Hes been ill over the last couple
of days but hes still with me.
MWE3: How does a second guitarist compliment your sound?
B.B. : Well it helps, of course! Did you ever notice a rock and roll
band, most all of them have two or three guitars. I keep one.
MWE3: Sorry to hear that Charlie isnt well...
B.B. : We were in Oregon yesterday and we had to put him in the hospital
but I talked to the doctor this morning and they say hes doing
good.
MWE3: Charlie uses a Gibson too?
B.B. : Yes he does.
MWE3: Youre famous for your Gibson 355 guitar...
B.B. : Its been so long since I played a 355, itd be hard
for me to tell you if it plays the same. But I can tell you that its
just what I liked.
MWE3: Can you say something about your signature Lucille guitar?
B.B. : Its the same that Ive played. The only difference
is they made one for me to commemorate my 80th birthday and it has
80th on it, and my name and a few things. But the volume and the tone
control, the neck and all thats still the same.
MWE3: Can you compare your Lucille signature to the 335?
B.B. : Its just been so long since I played one, I cant
tell you. But I enjoyed it when I was playing the 335, cause
I played it for a very long time. When I first found out about it,
I got one and I loved it. And I played it for a long time. But I usually
just play one on the road. I carry two guitars, but the second one
is just in case something gets wrong with the one Im playing.
I never play it, I mean carry it for any other reason. I love the
way it fingers. Im a pretty big guy and fits well with my big
old tummy. And it sounds good to me, to my ears. So, I cant
tell you much more about it. Its just my cup of tea.
MWE3: So your signature Lucille guitar is a Gibson 355.
B.B. : Thats what Im saying yeah, the 355.
MWE3: How did you hook up with T-Bone Burnett and what was it like
working with him for the One Kind Favor album?
B.B. : Ill answer the last part first. I enjoyed working with
him. Hes a very good producer and I enjoyed working with him.
He was helpful but he never tried to change me from being myself.
He sometimes had some ideas that he would give and when he did that...you
know, it was helpful. The first part, you asked me how did I meet
him? My manager that I have now, introduced me to him. Floyd Lieberman
introduced me to him. And we met in Atlantic City, New Jersey. And
had a talk. I enjoyed meeting him and enjoyed having a meeting with
him and we went from there.
MWE3: What kind of a vibe or ideas were you were going for during
the making of the One Kind Favor album?
B.B. : Yes, that too. But I think he had talked with our company Geffen
Records prior to talking to me. And I think he had their go-ahead
on it if I said okay. And yes, he did have some ideas. He wanted to
try and recreate some of the sounds and the things we did in the early
years of my career. Which I knew that would be very hard to do because
my voice is not as good, and probably cant play as well. But
we didnt just sit by and try to do it note for note but I think
we did a pretty good job when I listen to it. And I have listened
to it lately and it seemed like we did a pretty good job on it.
MWE3: What guitars are you playing on the album? Did you bring
out any rare guitars?
B.B. : No I told you! I only play one guitar. (laughter) Only one
sir. Only one. Im like a good husband. Im a one woman
man. Only one. The only reason I would play another one is if they
had some idea for something. So I might would have played another
one, but I generally dont. I generally wont play nothing
but my own guitar.
MWE3: Thats your signature Lucille guitar?
B.B. : Well not necessarily the signature from that one guitar. I
could get the sound, Im sure, from any guitar I pick up. But
its just that Im comfortable playing that one. And when
youre comfortable with something, why get uncomfortable?
MWE3: Theres a lot of other players accompanying you on One
Kind Favor, including guitarist Johnny Lee Schell. Was
he playing rhythm guitar?
B.B. : Let me try to clear something. Everybody on that session was
a professional musician and I like them all. Every one of them. They
were terrific, they were professional, they were helpful. And half
of them I knew very well. And the rest of them I enjoyed completely.
So it was like an old time jam session. We all got together and we
all decided what we were going to do and how we wanted to do it. It
was straight ahead from there on.
MWE3: I heard you were sad when the album was finished.
B.B. : I was, yes. And another thing Id like to mention. You
know, even though its in my name, but everybody put their two
cents in and they was welcome to do so cause I enjoyed it. In
other words, I asked the opinion of everybody that worked on certain
things we wanted to do. And they gave their opinions freely. And I
enjoyed that too.
MWE3: I heard theres some additional tracks from the One
Kind Favor sessions. Will those ever come out?
B.B. : Youll have to ask the producer on that one sir. Ive
been making records all my...well for 60 years. I started in 1949.
And its never been that I hardly went in the studio and just did what
we planned to do. Theres always some...I believe on TV they
call them outtakes. (laughter) So theres always been some outtakes.
A few times here, in my life, long after I left the company, I hear
a few on them. What can I tell you? I have no idea. So much because
they dont usually pay for them.
MWE3: From One Kind Favor, Get These Blues Off Of Me
is truly haunting. Thats the T Bone Walker track.
B.B. : Yes, I think it is. To be honest with you, right now, today,
I dont have it near me and I couldnt tell you whos
song is what. But one, See That My Grave Is Kept Clean,
stays with me all the time cause that was a Blind Lemon song.
That one stays with me. I dont know why they chose to make it
the name of the CD, but Im glad they did because its a
song that Ive been hearing since I was a boy. I never thought
Id ever try to do it though.
MWE3: Its got that real haunting quality to it.
B.B. : Well, I dont know about all that. All I know is its
me and the band. And we did the best we could do on all of them.
MWE3: Another One Kind Favor highlight, How Many More
Years is a real swinging cover of Howlin Wolf. Was that
your idea or T-Bones idea?
B.B. : I never wanted to be like Howlin Wolf. I think he was
a great, great blues singer but Ive never wanted to be like
him or play like him.
MWE3: The Haunted House song is another great song.
B.B. : Oh, the Lonnie Johnson. I think that was Lonnie Johnson, another
one of my idols.
MWE3: I think youre going to reach out to a whole new market
with the One Kind Favor album.
B.B. : Well Ill tell you what. Im glad to hear that because
we need all the help we can get.
MWE3: I guess its never to late to learn more about the history
of the blues.
B.B. : Well, were hoping that the ones that havent learned,
theyre going to open the museum up in Mississppi, in my home
town. Itll be open on September the 13th. And for the ones that
want to learn more about it, theyll have an opportunity because
we will have whole lessons about the origins of it and the many, many
blues singers from Mississppi and around the world.
MWE3: Its going to be a big draw. Youll be down there
for the opening?
B.B. : Oh course! If Im alive. (laughter)
MWE3: I didnt mean to ask a stupid question.
B.B. : I didnt mean it...I didnt try to answer that like
it was stupid sir. Im 82 years old so... The 82 year olds are
dropping like flies now. I just saw where a couple of the great news
people died. And some other people died, thats near my age.
A couple of them were older but...we never know!
MWE3: After one listen to the One Kind Favor album, its
clear your still alive and well.
B.B. : Well...I am, except Im a diabetic and Ive been
that for 25 to 30 years. But other than that, yes Im pretty
good for an 82 year old.
MWE3: The B.B. King Museum opens on September 13, 2008, in just a
couple months. Will it be completed or is it coming about in phases?
B.B. : Completed according to what they tell me. Itll be completed
by September the 13th, which is a few days before my birthday. And
so it will be officially opened by my birthday, the 16th of September.
But they will open it on the 13th of September.
MWE3: Can you say something about how and when the B.B. King clubs
started?
B.B. : They mainly use my name. Ive got a little money in some
of them. But I dont own them. But yes, Id be glad to talk
about them. We just opened a new one in Orlando about five or six
months ago. Its the newest one. We started with one in Memphis,
one in Nashville, one in Connecticut at the big Native American place.
And then we have one on 42nd and 8th Avenue in New York. Weve
got one in Universal City, in California, near Hollywood. And we just
opened the sixth, I think it is in Orlando, Florida.
MWE3: The 42nd Street club is the hottest spot in Manhattan these
days.
B.B. : Well, Im glad to hear it. We need all the business we
can get.
MWE3: Live At The Apollo was just reissued by Universal.
Thats got to be one of your greatest live albums.
B.B. : Well, you writers and critics know better than I do. Each time
that I do a CD, of whatever Im doing musically, I do the best
I can do at the time. But I tell you true. A lot of times my best
is not like as good as I wished it could be. But I think we did pretty
good on that CD.
MWE3: Kenny Burrell played on Live At The Apollo too.
B.B. : Oh yes, he was with the big band. Yes, of course. One of the
best.
MWE3: Any memories of Erics Crossroads festival?
B.B. : Of course I remember. Im 82, Im not senile. A great
person. I love to call him a friend, and not only that. In my opinion
hes number one as a rock and roll guitarist. Nobody plays better
to me than he does. And I think he plays blues as well as most of
us and better than a lot of us. And not only that. Hes a good
man. A real gentleman. A great man.
MWE3: Looking back, 40 years ago, were you amazed by the number of
great British blues players in the 60s?
B.B. : No, I wasnt surprised. I was surprised that a lot of
them were so young but I wasnt surprised that there were a lot
of good players cause Id been hearing about them. So,
no I wasnt surprised.
MWE3: I think players like Peter Green and Kim Simmonds and Eric sounded
greatly influenced by your sound.
B.B. : I hear people saying that but Ive never heard them say
it.
MWE3: Maybe your didnt get the right amount of respect back
then.
B.B. : Well may I say something to you? B.B. King dont get records
played like Peter Green or Eric Clapton or any of the people do. You
dont hear blues on radio every day, about B.B. King. And not
a lot of the young good guitarists, blues guitarists. You dont
hear them. They dont play it. Theres only two stations,
theres two satellite stations that you can hear blues everyday.
Those are the only two in the United States. Ive travelled from
city to city to city and you hear most everybody you mentioned but
you dont hear blues players, not even Stevie Ray Vaughn. Robert
Cray. You dont hear any blues players, hardly. I do hear a bit
now and then of John Mayer. Not Mayall. Mayer. But hes about
the only one and hes not considered by many, and I think even
himself, to be a blues player. Hes a rock and roll player that
plays blues. But most of the blues players. Jonny Laing, Kenny Wayne
Shepherd, many of them! Cory Harris. Keb Mo. A lot of em,
you just dont hear them played on radio. I dont know where
you live. But if they play them where you live at, and you hear them
daily if you want to, youre different than most of us. So how
can we ever be known? Advertisement...all that is one of the reasons
people know about things. But if youre not played, for whatever
reason that might be, you cant expect us to be known as well.
And had it not been for a lot of those British musicians that mentioned
they listened to myself, Howlin Wolf and many others, you wouldnt
hear as much about or we wouldnt be known as well as we are!
Theyre the ones that helped us. So naturally, when you talked
to me, you were telling about all the people you listened to, I can
understand! (laughter) I only had one record to be played like others,
unless I was with some of the superstars. When I made The Thrill
Is Gone they played it like they did others, but other than
that, these many years Ive been out here, they dont play
my records. There was a time during the 50s, early 60s
that we got quite a few plays but after that and before that, no.
We monitor the music industry, maybe like you do. But look in the
Billboard. I looked in the Billboard about a month ago and got shocked!
(laughter) At one time we were considered rhythm and blues. Then after
a while, I guess we lost the rhythm. Were just blues players.
And theyre kind of like...when you look at the Billboard, youll
see one little spot that says blues. And everything else is just rap,
rock and roll. Country still holds its own pretty good. But blues
is sort of like the step child, they put him way in the back of the
store. (laughter) So if you look at a Billboard youll see what
Im talking about. Let it be known. Whats the question?
MWE3: I guess Eric was the guy who opened the flood gates of the blues
and made it more accessible for the baby boomers.
B.B. : What about people that were around at that time before him.
What about their music? Bobby Bland, Little Milton, Muddy Waters and
many others. What about them? The Rolling Stones even named their
group after the Rolling Stone tune that Muddy Waters did.
What about those guys?
MWE3: We have go back and rediscover our own music heritage.
B.B. : I dont think we have to.
MWE3: I guess thats why the museum will be so vital.
B.B. : I hope so. But you cant blame the young kids! They hear
what they hear. I dont blame em at all.
MWE3: I heard John Lennon said you were such a big influence. Were
you surprised about that?
B.B. : Yes, I think you probably read about that. But yes, I was very
surprised. The most well known group in the world was The Beatles
and for one of them to like me I was shocked.
MWE3: I played your song Ghetto Woman, that you made in
1971 with Ringo and Klaus Voorman. What was it like playing with Ringo?
B.B. : Oh, you mean the drummer? Yes, of course. Live In London
was what it was called. Live In London was where he played
the drums.
MWE3: Speaking of Lennon, I thought he took some of your stuff and
reworked it.
B.B. : Well I never heard that. I think John Lennon was John Lennon.
MWE3: Any memories of working on Martin Scorceses film on the
blues?
B.B. : You keep talking as if you think Im really senile and
I cant remember anything. (laughter) Youve asked me several
times do I remember. Of course I remember! He never did bother us.
He just let us play! He wanted people to know what we had. And he
didnt try to be a teacher or instructor or anything of the sort.
I think he did that mostly like hed do movies. If he saw a flaw
or saw where something could be changed or something like that, you
know the producer would tell us. But other than that, they just let
us do what we do best.
MWE3: Anything else youd like to say about the new album. Closing
thoughts?
B.B. : No, no more than I enjoyed doing it and I thank the people
for helping me and thank T-Bone and everybody for making it possible.
I use the word, better late than never. Im being discovered
60 years late. Thank God.
MWE3: One last question. Are you still collecting CDs?
B.B. : Yes, I still do. More than youd dare to count. (laughter)
MWE3: Ive been enjoying rediscovering your music. I thought
I heard everything and I guess I didnt.
B.B. : You listened to what you heard. I dont blame you either.
I say to my band and other people sometimes, Jesus Christ could
be coming to town tomorrow. If nobody knew it, there wouldnt
be many people there.
MWE3: You may have been overlooked back in the 60s with all
the rock and roll...
B.B. : How can you put that may have been overlooked?
MWE3: Definitely overlooked.
B.B. : (laughter)
MWE3: I would just tell anybody who missed it the first time, if you
grew up listening to the Beatles, the Stones and Cream...
B.B. : I wouldnt stop em from listening to them cause
they was great. But I would beg the radio stations, the people that
got the power to play them, to play some of them. To mix it up. I
was taught when I first used to hear about radio, that radios were
communications for the area. One of the things about the USA, is we
cant go to war without fighting some of our people. So if thats
the case...weve got so many different ethnic groups in the U.S.
So why cant something be played for all of them. But then I
think about it. Everybody in the business, whatever business theyre
in, theyre in it to make money. So they try to make money and
they play or do whatever they think they can do to make money. Cant
blame em for that.
MWE3: But a lot of the younger players are bringing the torch forward
so to speak. Like you said, John Mayer. And Joe Bonamassa...
B.B. : But if they didnt play em! Are you listening? If they
didnt play him, nobody would know it. Joe Bonamassa and I have
worked together on many shows. But if he wasnt heard, how would
people know how to pick up the records? What would they know? And
just like yourself. If you didnt hear B.B. King or Muddy Waters
or some of the others, naturally you would listen to what you could
hear. Thats easy to recognize. And I dont blame anybody
for it. Cause I dont own the radio stations. I use the
word better late than never. Im being discovered 60 years late.
(laughter) So, thank God.
MWE3: Its great to bring the history into the now.
B.B. : I personally think that its better late than never, but
why?
MWE3: I hope to see you at B.B. Kings in New York.
B.B. : I hope youll say hello when ever Im near you.
MWE3: Just keep bringing the music out and telling people where it
all came from.
B.B. : Well, I thank you but, weve been doing that all the time.
I never stopped. I remember reading where, some of the superstars,
they said they werent going to play blues because nothing was
happening but we that played blues were playing them long before they
were born! And we're still playing em today. Its just
a matter of getting them on the air or where people can hear them.
And let the people make up their own decision.
MWE3: Its going to be great to feature the museum, the new album
and where so many of the younger players got some of their best ideas...
B.B. : Well, let me thank you for what youre doing. Im
not bitter about this. And Im glad for the young people because
they come along at a time when they are being heard. We just wasnt.
And Im not the only one. Theres many of them. I hear people
talk about Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf you mentioned earlier,
and many of the great, great blues singers. Why cant they be
heard as well? Im not blaming people. Im just saying why?
So, its nice talking with you. All the best to you. Bye.
Thanks to B.B. King @ www.BBKing.com
and www.BBKingmuseum.org
- Sujata Murthy @ Universal Music - Jerry Brown @
SoltersPR.com - www.bulfinchpress.com
and to Arnie Goodman @ www.Bluestormmusic.com