11/2/04

B. B. King ~ Playing the Blues with relentless passion

BENTON TOWNSHIP, MI - From the very heart of the Mississippi Delta, the reigning king of the blues, the legendary B. B. King and his fabled six-string guitar, Lucille will perform at the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center Mainstage Saturday, December 4, at 8:00 p.m.

For more than a half century B.B. King has defined the blues for a worldwide audience. This is clearly illustrated by his recent award -- The Royal Swedish Academy of Music's "The Polar Music Prize for 2004" for his significant contribution to the art of the blues. In the U.S., King has been named for the sixth straight year as "Entertainer of the Year" by the W. C. Handy Awards.

B.B. King became a national figure in 1951 when his song "Three O'clock Blues" held the number one spot on the Billboard R&B chart for 15 weeks. Between 1951 and 1985, King listed an amazing 74 entries on Billboard's R&B charts, and he was one of the few full-fledged blues artists to score a major pop hit when his 1970 smash "The Thrill Is Gone" crossed over to mainstream success. King's other classics include "Payin' The Cost To Be The Boss," "How Blue Can you Get," and "Everyday I Have The Blues."

As a child, Riley B. King, had sung in amateur gospel groups and later began to play the blues guitar and sing on street corners. In 1946, he left his sharecropping job to head for Memphis where musicians went to fine-tune their craft and to be discovered. King's teacher in the art of the blues was none other than the most celebrated blues performer of his time, Bukka White, who was also King's cousin.

King's first break came in 1948 when he performed on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program on KWEM which led to steady live performances and his own radio show, "King's Spot." Looking for a catchy radio name, he started using Beale Street Blues Boy which was shortened to Blues Boy King and eventually to B.B. King.

But what about Lucille? She got her name while B.B. was performing at a dance in Twist, Arkansas. A fight broke out and knocked over a kerosene stove setting fire to the hall. B.B. raced outdoors to safety with everyone else, then realized that he left his beloved $30 acoustic guitar inside, so he rushed back inside the burning building to retrieve it, narrowly escaping death. When he later learned that the fight had been over a woman named Lucille, he decide to give the name to his guitar to remind him never to do a crazy thing like fight over a woman. Plenty of Lucilles have passed through his hands since; Gibson has even marketed a B.B.-approved guitar model under the name.

His easily recognizable guitar style, integrated precise and complex vocal-like string bends with left hand vibrato, has become indispensable components of rock guitarists from Eric Clapton and George Harrison to Jeff Beck. King has mixed traditional blues, jazz, swing, and mainstream pop into a unique sound. Add his pleading vocal style and the King reigns as the most influential and innovative blues man of this century.

Tickets for the B.B. King performance at the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center Mainstage are available by calling (269) 927-1221. Students (kindergarten through college) and senior adults (60 and over) receive a 10 percent discount off single ticket prices. Special group rates are available to parties of 20 or more. These groups receive 15 percent savings on ticket prices. For further information about group rates and special arrangements, call the Group Coordinator at (269) 927-8109. Lake Michigan Mailers, The Boulevard Inn and WIRX are sponsoring the B.B. King performance.

The 1,505-seat Mendel Center Mainstage Theater offers state-of-the-art acoustics and comfortable seating in elegant surroundings. Other amenities include free, lighted parking; handicap accessibility (inside and out); and array of special services, and friendly ushers and support personnel.

The Mendel Center is located within 30 minutes of Niles and 40 minutes from Kalamazoo or South Bend. Located on the Napier Avenue campus of Lake Michigan College, the Mendel Center is one mile east of I-94 on Napier Avenue (Exit 30) in Benton Township, Michigan.