There is no retirement in the blues music world for sure, but surely at age 84 and 73 – blues guitar greats BB King and Buddy Guy could be excused for laying low and not wanting to put on so many bus miles, yet they continue to amaze with fairly full schedules.
Today we hear about these brilliant blues kings hitting Caesars Atlantic City on February 13th – a must see show for anyone who understands the influence on music these two giants have had.
Just take a look at Buddy’s travel schedule for shows over the next couple of months, whew – not sure I could keep up with this..(he’s even making his way over to Australia for some shows in March!)
All of this after a series of shows Buddy Guy has played at his own “Buddy Guy’s Legends” famous Chicago blues club. Back in September news was released of an impending move of Buddy’s Legends club, it turns out plans are made and within the next few months he will be moving from his latest location.
I have been to Legends 4 times and always make it a point to stop there if I’m in Chicago for any length of time – it is a MUST visit no matter what night of the week. Here’s the Legends website to keep track of things as they wind down their current location and get ready to start another.
We are so lucky to have BB and Buddy still with us, I’m hoping to catch BB later in the Fall of 2010 when he visits Ottawa and the great National Arts Center — something to look forward to for sure!
Filed under bb king, blues guitar by on Jan 31st, 2010. Comment. 
It seems that BB King continues to thrill audiences with his blues guitar playing and singing, but what most impresses me is that he still (as he has always done) puts his fans first.
In this terrific concert review we find King can still electrify and endear himself to audiences as he did in San Bernadino just a few nights ago. Even confined to a chair on stage and spending time in a wheelchair offstage for mobility, the King’s personality and love for his fans transcends any genre of music.
Can you imagine the Stones, Clapton, or any other major artist for that matter taking time to talk with their fans, really connecting with their audience and staying around well after the show to sign autographs and speak with his fans?
Blues music, more than others (though Country and Bluegrass could also be sited here) relies on its connection with the audience – too bad Rock, Rap, R&B and other forms of music have never quite been able to understand this fundamental emotional characteristic of music – and for that I am so happy to be a Blues music fan and part-time player.
So BB King – thank you for being the shining light, for being a living example of what music (ALL MUSIC) is to our spirit and may god be with you as you continue to spread the word through your 15,000 + performances…
What about you – have you ever had the chance to see Mr. King in concert? What did you think? Leave us a comment by clicking on the “Comment” bubble at the top right of this post.
Filed under bb king, Blues Legends by on Nov 26th, 2009. Comment.
Stevie Ray Vaughan had some of his best performances at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, and the amazing clip from the 1988 Jazz Festival featured 3 of the greatest blues guitar legends of all time – Stevie Ray, BB King and Albert Collins.
I love the interaction in this clip between Stevie and BB King on a version of often performed SRV Texas Flood. You can see Stevie tearing into the intro of Texas Flood intending to play all of the inter-verse blues guitar lead as he always did…but at about the 56-second mark you can tell he hears something special in BB’s lead and from that point on gives BB the entire guitar part.
For all of you who are used to seeing BB slow and sweet, this is the “fast and nasty” BB – and man it sounds incredible.
I can tell you right now, I would not want to be the one standing in playing the guitar accompaniment to Texas Flood – that is pure energy, tone and muscle with an does of finesse from Stevie – it often was his signature song of the night – but BB is up to the challenge and perhaps my favorite all-time guitar from the King of the Blues.
What do you guys think?
Filed under bb king, blues guitar, Blues Legends by on Nov 23rd, 2009. Comment.
