PUBLISHED IN THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR, Wednesday, January 21, 1998
BY NICK KREWEN
TORONTO --
The undisputed King Of The Blues calls meeting POPE JOHN PAUL II "the highlight of my life," but says he didn't offer him any lessons after giving him a replica of his prized guitar Lucille.
"No, I did not," chuckled RILEY "B.B." KING, who recalled his December 18 visit to the Vatican during a rare press conference yesterday afternoon as he held court prior to a concert at Toronto's Massey Hall last night.
Known for such classics as "The Thrill Is Gone," "Caledonia" and "Nobody Loves Me But My Mother," the 72-year-young King said he was practically speechless during the brief meeting.
"I was so -- I don't know the word to use -- but I was so excited," said King, his eyes widening as he sat impeccably dressed in a grey suit, leaning forward on a chair cushion.
"It was the highlight of my life. I'm surprised I was able to say something. I remember saying, `Holy Father, I have a gift for you.' And he looked at me and said `Thank you.' I gave him the guitar and he said, `Thank you' again. Then he said `Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones,' and it seemed like I passed out. I don't remember anything else."
"I'm not Catholic, but I love it."
Reminded that the Pope himself is a musician who has released a few albums, King was asked how he'd feel if Lucille was utilized by His Holiness for a Papal recording session.
"I just hope that he'd be pleased and get some pleasure out of just having it, "King replied. "That's what I hope."
King mentioned he was ribbed afterward by some of his associates who attended the event with him.
"Some of my guys were telling me that as they were leaving, they heard him play `The Thrill Is Gone' in the back room. I know they were lying," he smiled.
Meeting the Holy Father is just the latest honor in a distinguished career for the affable bluesman, a calling that includes a truckload of "Lifetime Achievement" awards, Kennedy Center Honors, a Presidential Medal Of The Arts, eight Grammies, and membership in the Blues Foundation and Rock and Roll Halls Of Fame.
Ironically, another award had eluded him for 48 years and 58 albums until he was presented it yesterday -- a gold album for his latest project, Deuces Wild, a star-studded duet disc that pairs the blues master with such pop legends as VAN MORRISON, ERIC CLAPTON and BONNIE RAITT as well as relative newcomers HEAVY D., TRACY CHAPMAN and SIMPLY RED'S MICK HUCKNALL.
"I can't really believe it," exclaimed a grateful and humbled King as he posed for cameras and photographers. "This has never happened before. I'm really honored."
There isn't an entertainer alive who questions the role B.B. King has played in promoting the blues to the level of mainstream attention it enjoys today. FRANK SINATRA and ELVIS PRESLEY adored his music, and THE ROLLING STONES thought so highly of King that they hired him as the opening act of their 1969 world tour, catapulting him into rock audience sightlines and instant demand for TV appearances.
Then in 1987, Irish rockers U2 recorded "When Love Comes To Town" as a duet with King for its album and movie, Rattle And Hum -- thus presenting him to a whole new generation.
Yet King stops short of calling himself a blues ambassador.
"I don't think of myself of an ambassador," says King, who resides in Las Vegas and averages 250 concerts a year.
Born Riley B. King in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on September 16, 1925, his parents separated when he was four, forcing B.B. to live with his grandparents in nearby Kilmichael. His mother died five years later, and B.B. ended up moving in with his father for a few years and working on a plantation near Indianola, Mississippi until he was 20.
"I was a superstar of the tractor," he says proudly of the old days.
In 1946, he decided music was his future and headed to Memphis, tracking down cousin and renowned bluesman BUKKA WHITE. In 1948, King was hired by Memphis blues station WDIA for a 15-minute live radio spot where he performed and hawked a health tonic called Pep-Ti-Kon.
He recorded a couple of sides for Bullet Records a year later, switched to SAM PHILLIPS' RPM label in 1950-51, and recorded "Three O' Clock Blues" at the black YMCA as his first #1 R&B hit. By 1955, King forfeited his job at WDIA and hit the road as a full-time entertainer.
King's next round of mass exposure comes with the February release of the movie Blues Brothers 2000. He has a small speaking role as a used car dealer and fronts a band that includes Eric Clapton, BO DIDDLEY, TRAVIS TRITT, but says he'd like a bigger role.
"I would like to have something in the future that goes just a little longer, a few more lines," he says with a twinkle in his eye. "I think I did pretty well with the ones I had. I didn't forget them."
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DISCOGRAPHY
1956 -- Singin' The Blues
1960 -- Blues
1960 -- The Great B.B. King
1960 -- B.B. King Wails
1960 -- Sing Spirituals
1961 -- My Kind Of Blues
1961 -- More
1962 -- Blues In My Heart
1962 -- I Love You So
1962 -- Twist With B.B. King
1962 -- Blues For Me
1962 -- Easy Listening Blues
1962 -- Heart Full Of Blues
1962 -- R&B Soul
1963 -- Mr. Blues -- ABC
1963 -- Swing Low Sweet Chariot
1964 -- Rock Me Baby
1965 -- Boss Of The Blues
1965 -- Confessin' The Blues
1965 -- Let Me Love You
1965 -- Live! B.B. King On Stage
1965 -- Live At The Regal
1966 -- Original Sweet Sixteen
1966 -- The Soul Of B.B. King
1966 -- Turn On To B.B. King
1966 -- 9 x 9.5
1967 -- The Jungle
1967 -- Blues Is King -- Bluesway
1968 -- His Best -- The Electric B.B. King
1968 -- Blues On Top Of Blues
1968 -- Lucille
1969 -- Live & Well
1969 -- Completely Well
1969 -- The Feeling They Call The Blues
1969 -- The Feeling They Call The Blues Vol. 2
1970 -- Indianola Mississippi Seeds -- ABC
1970 -- The Incredible Soul Of B.B. King
1970 -- Take A Swing With Me
1971 -- Live In Cook County Jail
1971 -- Live In Japan (Japan only)
1971 -- B.B. King In London
1972 -- L.A. Midnight
1972 -- From The Beginning
1972 -- Guess Who
1973 -- To Know You Is To Love You
1973 -- Back In The Alley
1973 -- The Best Of B.B. King
1974 -- Friends
1974 -- Bobby Bland & B.B. King Together For The First Time...Live (with Bobby Bland)
1975 -- Lucille Talks Back
1976 -- Bobby Bland & B.B. King Together Again...Live (with Bobby Bland) ABC Impulse
1977 -- King Size
1978 -- Midnight Believer (with The Crusaders)
1979 -- Take It Home -- MCA
1980 -- Live 'Now Appearing' At Ole Miss
1981 -- There Must Be A Better World Somewhere
1981 -- Great Moments With B.B. King
1982 -- Love Me Tender
1983 -- Blues 'N Jazz
1985 -- Six Silver Strings
1987 -- Best Of B.B. King
1988 -- The B.B. King Story
1989 -- The B.B. King Story Volume 2
1990 -- Live At San Quentin
1991 -- There Is Always One More Time
1991 -- Best Of., Volume 1
1992 -- Best Of., Volume 2
1992 -- King Of The Blues
1993 -- Blues Summit
1993 -- My Sweet Little Angel
1994 -- B.B. King And Friends
1994 -- Why I Sing The Blues
1995 -- Catfish Blues
1996 -- On The Road With B.B. King: An Interactive Autobiography (CD-ROM)
1996 -- Classics
1997 -- Deuces Wild
1997 -- How Blue Can You Get -- Classic Live 1964-94
1998 -- Blues On The Bayou
1998 -- The King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents...
1999 -- Everyday I Have The Blues
1999 -- Let The Good Times Roll: The Music Of Louis Jourdan
UNDATED COMPILATIONS
16 Original Big Hits
B.B. King
The Great B.B. King (B.B. King and His Orchestra)
Doing My Thing, Lord
Favorite Gospel Hymns
The Fabulous B.B. King
Got My Mojo Working
A Night of Red Hot Blues
Collection
A Blues Night
B.B. King in Africa
Do the Boogie! B.B. King's Early '50s Classics
B.B. Boogie
Memphis Masters
Across the Tracks
King of the Blues Guitar
Ambassador of the Blues
Introducing B.B. King
One Nighter Blues
Rarest B.B. King
Lucille Had a Baby
Early Blues Boy Years, Vol. 1: 1949-51
Live at Newport
Early Blues Boy Years, Vol. 2: 1952-54
Treasures from the Vault
Lucille & Friends
Mr. Blues
Lonely Nights
Blues Collection
Greatest Hits (1951-1960)
How Blue: Best of B.B. King
Original Blues Masters
Door to Door
A Classic Revisited
Unexpected: Just Guitar
Better Than Ever
Back 2 Back
I Just Sing the Blues
You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now
COLLABORATIONS
1968 -- Various Artists, For The Love Of Ivy -- ABC
1979 -- Various Artists, The Blues Brothers
1985 -- Various Artists, Into The Night -- MCA
1987 -- U2, Rattle & Hum -- Island
1988 -- Various Artists, Stormy Monday
1988 -- Various Artists, The Blues Is Alright - Greatest Hits -- Malaco
1990 -- Various Artists, Air America -- MCA
1992 -- Gary Moore, After Hours -- Virgin
1994 -- Various Artists, A Tribute To Curtis Mayfield
1994 -- Various Artists, Rhythm, Country & Blues (with George Jones)
1995 -- Various Artists, Casino
1995 -- Various Artists, Til The Night Is Gone -- A Tribute To Doc Pomus
1996 -- Various Artists, A Tribute To Stevie Ray Vaughan -- Columbia
1998 -- Various Artists, Blues Brothers 2000
1998 -- Various Artists, Soundtrack -- The Mighty (with Zucchero)
2000 -- Various Artists, Play It To The Bone (with Joe Cocker)
AS AUTHOR
1996 -- Blues All Around Me (with David Ritz, Avon)
AS ACTOR
Blues Brothers 2000
Spies Like Us
Heart & Souls
The Bluesman
Run Of Hearts
AWARDS
1970 -- Grammy, Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance, Male -- "The Thrill Is Gone"
1981 -- Grammy, Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording -- There Must Be A Better World Somewhere
1983 -- Grammy, Best Traditional Blues Recording -- Blues 'N Jazz
1983 -- W.C. Handy Award, Hall Of Fame Classics Of Blues Recordings, Live At The Regal
1984 -- Blues Foundation Hall Of Fame
1985 -- Grammy, Best Traditional Blues Recording -- "My Guitar Sings The Blues"
1985 -- W.C. Handy Award, Hall Of Fame Classics Of Blues Recordings, "The Thrill Is Gone"
1987 -- Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
1987 -- Induction, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
1987 -- W.C. Handy Award, Keeping The Blues Alive (Radio) -- The B.B. King Radio Hour
1988 -- W.C. Handy Award, Keeping The Blues Alive (Radio) -- The B.B. King Radio Hour
1990 -- Presidential Medal Of The Arts
1990 -- Grammy, Best Traditional Blues Recording -- Live At San Quentin
1990 -- Songwriter's Hall Of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award
1991 -- National Heritage Fellowship for the National Endowment Of the Arts
1991 -- Grammy, Best Traditional Blues Album -- Live At The Apollo
1991 -- W.C. Handy Award, Blues Band Of The Year -- The B.B. King Orchestra
1991 -- Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award
1991 -- Hollywood Walk Of Fame
1991 -- Opened B.B. King's Blues Club on Beale Street in Memphis
1993 -- Grammy, Best Traditional Blues Album -- Blues Summit
1995 -- Kennedy Center Honors
1996 -- Grammy, Best Rock Instrumental Performance -- "SRV Shuffle" (with Jimmy Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Dr. John, Art Neville)
1997 -- Blues Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award
THANKS: Cori Ferguson, Sue McCallum, Doug Foley
©1998, 1999 Nick Krewen, Octopus Media Ink