Two days of music, capped by Mr. B.B. King

/ July 9, 2014
An attractive schedule for the M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest.

An attractive schedule for the M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest.

I recall being pretty excited placing the call to a certain Riley King.

Goes by the initials B.B.

Stands for Blues Boy.

And B.B. King comes on the phone, starts talking, and I knew why I liked that job writing about music for the big daily so damn much.

In fact, the American blues legend came through Syracuse and its neighboring venues frequently in the 21 years I previewed and reviewed popular music for The Post-Standard and syracuse.com, so I had opportunity and motive to witness King’s work many times.

I’ll see him play again Saturday night, the closing act at the 32nd edition of the M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest at Onondaga Community College. I won’t be reviewing for a daily this time, watching instead with a blog overview of the two-day event in mind. But I will be observing Mr. B.B. King with as much wonder as ever.

Maybe more.

B.B. King turns 89 on Sept. 25.

I recall that phone call, some 15 years ago, with B.B. King telling me how the women loved him so when he was a young man. How they used to chase him as he traveled the country, when all he really wanted to do was play Lucille — that’s what he calls his famous red guitar — and sing the blues. How they got him in his share of trouble.

I bet.

That’s what I said to B.B. King on my end.

He went on to talk to me for an hour about many other things. A book about his life had just come out. He wanted to share. I wanted to listen.

I want to hear more from B.B. and Lucille on Saturday night.

If you’d like to read my overview about the M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest on waer.org, click the link below.

http://waer.org/post/trombone-shorty-bb-king-headline-mt-jazz-fest-weekend-occ

Who do you consider the most legendary of musical acts you’ve got to witness live, and why? Did they live up to your expectations? What did you feel like your mind was hearing more, the past or the present?

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57 thoughts on “Two days of music, capped by Mr. B.B. King”

  1. Wow! All the stories that you share with us, increase my respect for your life’s experiences, Mark! You went after the best ones in all of musical history! I have not seen B.B.King, but he is scheduled here in Columbus before September. I had lost track of his age, some of the facts you share help fill in the ‘gaps’ in my musical repertoire! Thanks for this one, Mark!

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  2. I think I want to reclaim my guitar Mark. I gave it to my son several years ago when I had surgery on my right shoulder, and now after having left shoulder surgery I keep wondering if I could even hold a chord down, but oh, how I want to try. And Don admitted he stopped taking lessons soon after I gave him the guitar, so I keep wondering if he loosened the strings before hanging it on his wall. I hate to think of my beautiful Martin D 28 being abused like that.

    And as for BB King, I am envying you so much right now. Well, not really envy, just wishing I lived in Syracuse so I could go to that concert also. As for my faves, I guess I will have to say Lynyrd Skynyrd would be close to the top for reasons you already know. I’m not sure if I could actually say I saw the concert because I mostly saw it from the back, but it was kinda exciting. I’ve never regretted my decision to skip the tour though. Those lights are HOT. It’s a great memory though.

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    • Get that guitar back, Angie, so you can hold it and run your fingers over it, at the very least!

      And I wish you could see B.B. with Karen and I.

      Watching Skynyrd from the back would have been a hot concert even without the lights, I’d imagine, with all that singing going on. 🙂

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  4. Great post Mark. Music really does speak to our soul. Having met BB a couple of times I’m not surprised with your experience. BB is a true gentleman and has been an incredible ambassador for blues music. Today’s blues artists owe him for keeping the genre relevant. As far as concerts go Zep at the Nassau Colliseum when we lived on Seabrook Lane was a fabulous moment as a teen. Allman Brothers with Duane Allman at Stony Brook University with Marshall Tucker Band opening was amazing. Sadly Duane would perish 6 weeks later in a motorcycle accident. They recently released a CD of this concert. As far as impromptu gatherings. I went to see Junior Wells at Blueberry Hill in STL. They have a smoke filled basement venue with a 7 1/2 foot ceiling called the Elvis Room. About 30 minutes into the set Chuck Berry shows up and they play for 2 hours. Maybe 150 people tops and it rocked.

    Enjoy BB I saw him recently. He has slowed down considerably. He’s a diabetic and it’s starting to exact it’s toll. BB is a national treasure and should not be missed.

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    • Thanks for adding all of this, MiCa. You caught some great ones during our Seabrook Lane days. Those extra two years of age gave you a couple concerts head start on me, I see. 🙂 And you’ve kept on keeping on. Chuck Berry dropping in for a smoke-filled intimate set. Can’t beat that. And B.B. slow is OK with me.

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  5. Poor B.B. I saw him not long ago and he’s really, really old now. He shuffled into the stage and sat in a chair, his band doing most of the heavy lifting. But he’s still out there. You’ve got to give him that.

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  6. When my father was a Disc-Jockey working for KGVL in Greenville Texas, (a town which had the dubious, though common at that time, distinction of having signs in an out of the town which proclaimed to all who could slow down long enough to read: “Welcome To Greenville: The Blackest Land and the Whitest People”)–On Sunday’s when all the ‘Good White Folk’ were in church (He tells the story, not me), he would get requests to play some ‘Bee bay Kang’
    My father, being an atheist (as am I), had no problem playing ‘Bee Bay Kang’ for his Sunday morning listeners. Back in those days, he could be quite accommodating.

    My father later in life became a racist.

    We parted ways and never came to resolution. I went to Egypt, The Navy, Nacogdoches, Iraq, and other shit holes. After 2006 he would not accept my phone calls from London, Paris, Barcelona, Athens, Basra, or from anywhere
    Then one day
    He was dead and cold for thirty days before I knew.

    Not trying for ‘heavy here’ Mark, but the whole BB King thing stuck a memory.
    Great post My Friend

    Oh! almost forgot:
    “Who do you consider the most legendary of musical acts you’ve got to witness live, and why?”

    Kathy Mattea, San Diego, 1989.
    Why? Because she held something real in her voice. (and she is a brunette)
    -L

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  7. I’m not going to answer so that I don’t bring up something Monkees related as you guessed I might. LOL! Just kidding. B.B. King is amazing! What a fun time you’re going to have and what a great memory you have to share! Have a wonderful time! 😀

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  9. What a great time you must have had talking with the magnificent B.B.! As for musical acts I’ve seen, would seeing Luciano Pavarotti count? 😀 I love all sorts of music, and opera ranks up near the top. I used to belong to an opera group, and used to slip backstage and give the tenors a red rose. Alas, I was an opera groupie!

    For a birthday gift, my husband purchased a pair of astronomically expensive tickets for a Pavarotti concert. Pavarotti was at the top of his form at the time, and when he came out on stage and sang ‘Nessun Dorma,’ I began to cry. It was just so damned beautiful. One of my favorite memories.

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    • Yes, Kate, Pavarotti at the top of his form singing ‘Nessun Dorma’ counts. I give your husband an A-plus on that birthday gift, by the way. Thanks for sharing that wonderful, tear-worthy moment.

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  10. I didn’t get to see B.B. King. But I love his “Stand By Me.” He could play Lucille to his heart’s content and I’d just be in heaven. Who did I see perform live that lived up to the hype? That would be Cher. Even though I worked in several rock ‘n’ roll stations, I only went to a few concerts. I saw Cher for free at the State Fair’s Empire Court (probably called something else by now). 😉

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  11. how wonderful that you had the chance to talk to him, and that you’ll have another chance to see him perform, you never know how many more shows he’ll be doing at 89 , but he certainly has the spirit. i’ve never had the chance to see him, but would love to. my legends were etta james, dave brubeck, and the police. all wonderful for their passion and uniques styles of music. enjoy!

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  13. An hour! Amazing. None of us can say the same. You know, it had never even occurred to me to ask what BB stood for. SinceI know what LL Cool J stands for, surely I should have figured out BB. I bet he is relieved the ladies don’t chase him as much now. 😀

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  17. Ah B.B. – gave an amazing show at a very small venue in DC which has since closed – his conversation uncensored, his humor playful and a little off-color (which suits me fine) – but when he put his lovin’ fingers on Lucille – and she loved him back, i defined the emotion in a whole new way. Enjoy seeing him again!

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    • What I love about B.B.’s relationship with Lucille, Mimi, which you describe so well, by the way, is how he doesn’t have to play her fast. He knows that to give his notes space is to allow the listeners to hang on each ringing chime until the next one comes in to take its place.

      The club out of business: The Bayou? I saw many a great band there, included the Bethesda Boogie meister hometown faves themselves, the Nighthawks, with Jimmy Thackery playing out on the front sidewalk to woo the folks waiting to get in for the second set as Mark Weiner ran the harp licks on the stage. Whew! Damn that was one great D.C. night, I’d say summer 1980.

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  18. As usual, this post reminded me of why I enjoy reading a certain Mark Bialczak, so damn much. The legendary people I’ve seen perform include Springsteen (when he was first starting out), the Who, the Moody Blues, Simon and Garfunkel, Sun Ra, and — most amazingly, to me — Mr. Miles Davis. Thanks, Mark!

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