Perhaps no guitar in the world is more famous than “Lucille”, the name B.B. King has bestowed upon each of his guitars since the late 1940s. In nearly every picture of B.B. King that exists, his beloved instrument is either in his hands or close by his side. The iconic images, paintings, and sketches of B.B. all have Lucille close to his heart, and the two have been together for so long that one is nearly synonymous with the other.

Perhaps the most interesting way that B.B. has ever told the story about how Lucille got her famous name was, fittingly, in song, with Lucille dutifully playing accompaniment. In the track “Lucille”, off of B.B. King’s 1968 album of the same name, King plays nearly ten minutes worth of soul-stirring guitar licks while talking, just as a loving grandfather tells a story to wide eyed children at his feet, about the instrument that took him from the plantation and brought him fame.

“I was over in Twist, Arkansas”, says King, “And one night, the guys started a ball over there, started brawling… and the guy that was mad with his old lady, when she fell over this gas tank that was burning for heat, the gas ran all over the floor. The building caught on fire and almost burned me up trying to save Lucille.” He catches himself drifting into a story and snaps back to the topic while a saxaphone plays a Jazzy lick. ”Oh! I imagine you’re still wondering why I call it ‘Lucille’. The lady that started that brawl that night was named Lucille… And that’s been Lucille ever since to me. ” Indeed, B.B.’s iconic Lucille has been named such since 1949.

Lucille is almost always a Gibson ES-355, almost always manufactured by the Gibson Guitar plant in Memphis, Tennessee. The plant is just a short block off of Beale Street, where as a young man, B.B. King began his iconic career. In 1980, Gibson embraced B.B.’s legacy and created a B.B. King signature “Lucille” guitar, a modified ES-355 with a maple neck, a beautifully inlayed “Lucille” or “B.B. King” on the headstock, and several other technical modifications such as a varitone switch and a lack of F-holes (the holes on either side of the strings that open to the hollow body) to reduce feedback, as per B.B.’s request. The guitar remains a popular signature model to this day. When walking into the Gibson plant, visitors are greeted by a giant, flat three story replica of King’s guitar plastered against the wall, and Gibson has continuously shown B.B. the rich support he deserves, by presenting him with lavish “Lucille”s, possibly the most famous one with B.B.’s own signature inlayed in pearl straight into the fretboard.

On Riding With The King, Eric Clapton’s duet album with B.B., the king of the blues earnestly states on the first track that “I’m gonna play this thing until the day I die,” and he most certainly means it. While it’s been said that B.B. is married to the road, often with an astounding 300-date touring schedule every year, his true marriage is almost certainly to his pride and joy, his world famous Gibson Lucille.

It's difficult to imagine that B.B. King has anything left to accomplish.

The legendary vocalist-guitarist has played more than 15,000 concerts. A Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame inductee, he's regarded as one of the greatest guitarists in history, one who has changed the blues landscape. He has sold millions of albums and influenced perhaps as many players.

And yet, the affable 85-year-old still just wants to play.

"There's just nothing else that I want to do," King says. "I know I'm past retirement age, but I just love playing. I could stop, but I don't want to quit. I still have the energy and desire to get out there and entertain. There's nothing I enjoy more than getting out in front of the crowd and playing the blues. I play just as good as ever. I'm still going out there and making a living. If I wasn't doing this, what else could I do?"

'I'm feeling good'

Well, he could oversee his chain of B.B. King's Bar and Grills. He could just fool around in the studio. King could also do something that he could never imagine, relaxing at home in Indianola, Miss.

"I could do that, but I would rather not," King says. "As long as I have this energy, I'll do what I love best. Just because you're older, that doesn't mean you have to shut down. I'm feeling good."

King is hellbent on spreading the news about the blues, and is happy to encourage any fledgling artists. "The younger people are the future of the blues," he says. "We got to keep the blues going."

King's words and music still carry considerable weight. Fans come out in droves to check out the guitar, Middle-age white folks predominate in the audience.

"Every now and again I'm asked if that bothers me," King says. "The only thing that would really bother me is if I didn't have any people at all in the audience. I would like to have more black kids come out to the shows. I would like young people in general to come out to catch the concerts.

"I'm not necessarily talking about them seeing me as much as [experiencing] the music. If they could come out they could better understand the music. We have to teach the young people about the music. If people would give blues a chance, they might be surprised. I love it and so would many people if they listened to it."

Get the biggest news in your email or cellphone as it's happening. Sign up for breaking news alerts.



Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/06/03/1241247/king-of-the-blues-and-the-road.html#ixzz1OdG8dyPI

Directing the audience's thoughts toward the legacy of the great Delta bluesman, Emling defined the mission of the second annual Mississippi Night, part of the museum's festivities for Grammy week. As one of several officials in the room repping for the state that calls itself the birthplace of American music, Emling had an agenda: convince the VIPs in attendance that a trip to the Deep South can still unlock the deepest meanings of America's greatest art form.

Mississippi Night, which Grammy Museum Executive Director Robert Santelli confirmed will be an ongoing annual event, brings bright young talent from the Magnolia State to Los Angeles to promote tourism and music-industry investment in the region. This year, much talk was of the Misssissippi Blues Trail, a statewide path of interactive markers tracing the development of one of contemporary music's fundamental styles. A film offered testimony from Mississippi native B.B. King as well as stars such as Robert Plant and Bonnie Raitt about the continued relevance of the Delta region.

The loudest case was made, however, by the trio of musical acts who provided the night's entertainment. Touching on deep blues, atmospheric folk-pop, and gritty, wide-reaching rock, these artists were anything but mired in the past.

The Homemade Jamz Blues Band is a remarkably young sibling trio that has been taking the international blues festival circuit by storm. Fronted by 18-year-old Ryan Perry, a gritty shouter with flashy guitar skills, the group demonstrated a hopped-up approach to classic blues. Perry's younger brother Kyle was a fleet-fingered secret weapon on bass, while sister Taya, only 12, thumped the drums like a little Meg White. Dad Renaud Perry provided support on harmonica as Ryan strutted through the crowd, his trademark muffler guitar lighting up as he leaned in toward the ladies and showed his prowess.

Shannon McNally was as laid-back and pensive as the Homemade Jamz Band was hot. The singer-songwriter, a New York native, relocated to northern Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina drove her from her chosen home of New Orleans, and she spoke with amusement about the process of assimilation, noting that the skinny street cats she'd adopted from the 9th Ward soon grew fat from eating the big bugs and other critters in the fields near her home in Holly Springs. McNally sang material from the albums she recorded with the late hill country great Jim Dickinson, as well as "Thunderhead," a vivid song about childbirth from her new album, Western Ballad. Her heartfelt rendition of "Miss the Mississippi and You," first made popular by the state's favorite country son Jimmie Rodgers, showed her soul-deep affinity for her new environment.

For Jimbo Mathus, that connection is a given -- raised in Clarksdale and still hugging the border between the north end of his home state and Tennessee, the Squirrel Nut Zippers founder turned solo raconteur has spent his whole life becoming, as he put it, "fluent in this strange tone."

Mathus, who is a ripping guitar player, regaled the crowd with tall tales and his fractured country blues, first solo and then with help from a local band that included Zippers drummer Chris Phillips. The rollicking, too-short set offered strong support for Mathus' pitch to this music-biz crowd -- which succinctly said what the Mississippi officials had taken much longer to communicate. "Put us to work in Mississippi and in Memphis, Tenn.," he said. "We're the best, and we work cheap!"

-- Ann Powers, L.A. Times

For the past five decades, savvy music fans around the world have hailed the iconic B.B. King as one of the greatest blues artists ever. But to get a true measure of this 14-time Grammy Award-winner, who performs here Wednesday at the Balboa Theatre, we asked some of his fellow musicians to weigh in.

“He treats me like an equal, but I don’t see it that way,” Eric Clapton said. “He’s like a father figure and uncle. He’s this genius artist to me. I can’t ever see myself as being in the same league with him.”

Fellow guitarist David Lindley, best known for his work with Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt, is equally effusive.

“B.B. has influenced everybody,” Lindley said. “Everyone who plays electric guitar has come through B.B., directly or indirectly.”

The late Stevie Ray Vaughan, who died in a 1990 helicopter crash, also sang the praises of King (whose classic 1964 album, “Live at The Regal,” inspired him to become a guitarist). Vaughan credited King for teaching him the importance of concision.

“Sometimes one note is all you need,” Vaughan told me in a 1985 San Diego Union interview. “B.B. showed me that. We were playing in Austin, and I had the pleasure of sitting in with him. He played rhythm guitar for me for four songs that I played lead on. Then he stood up and played one note, and I died. It was the best note I’ve heard in years!”

King, 85, now sits when he performs with his brassy band. It’s one of the few apparent concessions to age by this still-vibrant legend, whose recording partners range from the Count Basie Orchestra to the Rolling Stones and U2.

A seemingly tireless road warrior, the man born Riley B. King has thus far performed nearly 15,000 concerts, with a high of 342 shows in 1956 and an average of 250 gigs a year until the late 1990s. By 2005, he had cut back to “only” 150 concerts a year.

King is scheduled to perform 12 concerts this month alone, followed by a tour of Australia and New Zealand in April, and an eight-country European concert trek in June. His diabetes has not visibly slowed King, a Las Vegas resident.

True, he spends more time talking to his audiences than he used to. But he still sings and plays guitar with so much passion you might think his life depended on it. Knowing King, it just might.

“As long as people buy my records and come to my concerts, I don’t see anything else I’d like to do,” the blues icon told me in a 2005 Night&Day interview.

“One of the great joys for me is to be able to think that people appreciate what I’ve done, through the way they act and their way of treating me. That makes me feel that I’ve been kind of productive, somewhat, and that’s the richest feeling you can have.”

Article by Michael D. Ayers, Spinner.com

Tickets to the event for the general public will be awarded via an online lottery system, providing a chance to obtain free tickets to the ceremony. The online lottery will be available beginning at 12:01 a.m.(ET) on Friday, November 5th. The ticket lottery remains open through 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 7th, by going to www.thenationaltree.org and following the link to the online ticket lottery application page at www.recreation.gov. The National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony marks the opening of the four‐week event sponsored by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s National Parks.

The lottery at www.thenationaltree.org will include 3,000 ticketed seats and 10,000 standing room tickets. The website will contain all necessary information to apply for 2010 National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony tickets. Additionally, any ticket seekers without access to a computer may also call (877‐444‐6777 or for TDD 877‐833‐6777) beginning Friday, November 5th through Sunday, November 7th to place their names into the lottery. For more information about the 2010 National Christmas Tree Lighting, visit www.thenationaltree.orgThe 2010 National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony is presented by the National Park Service and the
National Park Foundation and produced by Alex Coletti Productions. Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is the premier sponsor of the event.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System and its 393 National Park sites for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world. For more information, visit www.nps.gov.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION
You are the owner of 84 million acres of the world’s most treasured landscapes, ecosystems, and historic sites -- all protected in America’s nearly 400 national parks. Chartered by Congress, the National Park Foundation is the official charity of America’s national parks. We work hand in hand with the National Park Service to connect you and all Americans to the parks, and to make sure that they are preserved for the generations who will follow. Join us in supporting your national parks -- this is your land. www.nationalparks.

Contact:
National Park Service
Bill Line, Toni Braxton
(202) 619‐7400
William_Line@nps.gov

Contact:
National Park Foundation
Marjorie Hall
(202) 354‐6480
Mhall@nationalparks.org

As you’d expect, he plans to mark the occasion with a little help from his friends, and anyone else he can round up. Finding himself in New York on the big day, he is celebrating with a private event in the morning at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square; Hard Rock International is honoring the day at locations around the world. (Details are at ringostarr.com.)

In the evening he will perform a concert at Radio City Music Hall with his All Starr Band, which includes Edgar Winter, Gary Wright and Rick Derringer.

Mr. Starr spoke recently with Dave Itzkoff about hitting the big seven-O and some other recent accomplishments. Here are excerpts from the conversation.

Q. Can I wish you a happy birthday ahead of schedule?

A. You can. And you can put the gift in the post or you can leave it at the concierge.

Q. What would you like to get this year?

A. You know what I’m asking for: peace and love.

Q. How are you feeling about the number 70?

A. As far as I’m concerned, in my head, I’m 24. That’s just how it is. The number, yeah, it’s high. But I just felt I’ve got to celebrate it. I’m on my feet and I’m doing what I love to do, and I’m in a profession, as a musician, where we can go on for as long as we can go on. I’m not hiding from it, you know.

Q. When you were 24 what did you think you’d be doing at age 70?

A. I don’t know, but when I was 22, actually, I remember this so well, and I was playing, and there was another band, and these people in that other band were 40, and I was saying, “My God, you’re still doing it?” [laughs] Which doesn’t look funny in black and white, but it was incredible, and now I’m waaaaay past 40. My new hero is B. B. King. I have a great line: B. B. is still playing, even though he is sitting down now. But hey, I’m sitting down already. You’ve just got to get on with it. I’d like to be out there pretending I’m only 55, but I’m not.

Q. What seems like an advanced age to you now?

A. I think 90. But we’ll see. It’s a birthday at a time.

Q. You’ve had a few interesting things happen to you over the last year. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is taking one of your drums.

A. They’re taking a whole snare drum. I’m lending it to them because, it’s well-documented, in 1964 that old Bill Ludwig, he presented it to me. I bought these Ludwig drums, and in the shop in England, the guy wanted to take the sign out, but I love everything American, the music and the instruments. So I made him leave the sign on. So I was a running commercial — on Sullivan, and all that touring of America, it said Ludwig drums. And so to thank me for that, they gave me this gold drum, and that’s the one that’s going into the Metropolitan for a year.

Q. How does that make you feel, to have one of your possessions on display at the Met?

A. Well, yeah, cool.

Q. That’s it?

A. I mean it. I’ve had a couple of pieces of clothing in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Q. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame isn’t too shabby, but come on, this is the Met.

A. It’s cool. That’s all I can say. It’s very cool. I did a show there in January with Ben Harper, that’s how we got friendly with them, and they have an instrument room with a lot of very crazed African drums, old pianos, and so they thought this would be good.

Q. Are they letting you borrow anything from their collection in exchange?

A. Yeah, they’re giving me Tutankhamen’s tomb. No, they’re not giving me anything. I’m being kind to them.

Q. A few weeks ago the Vatican finally gave its approval to the Beatles. How did you feel about that?

A. It didn’t affect me in any way, but I do believe that the Vatican have better things to deal with than forgiving the Beatles. I don’t remember what it actually said — it had some weird piece in it, too. That they’ve forgiven us for being, what, satanic? Whoever wrote it was thinking about the Stones.

Q. Are you ever surprised by the unpredictable ways in which the Beatles continue to resonate in the popular culture? There’s a novel out now called “Paul Is Undead,” which imagines that you’re a ninja and your band mates are zombies.

A. I only ever see the covers and the titles. I don’t read it all. But it’s always on. There’s nothing we can do about that. What’s more interesting to me is that our records are still coming out. And they’re the same records and the new generation gets to hear them, and as far as that’s concerned, that’s the most important thing to me. The music we make, it’s still going on.

Q. Do you get much chance to listen to all the Beatles covers that continue be produced?

A. You have to talk to Sony about that. They have the publishing and they’ll give it to anyone.

Q. You’re using the occasion of your birthday to give a message back to your fans.

A. Yes, I want to spread the word that at noon, wherever you are — in New York, in L.A., in Paris, in London — I just pray that you’ll put your fingers up and say, “Peace and love.” I did it two years ago, it was the first time, and I did it out of Chicago because I was on tour. This year, we’re playing Radio City, so we’re doing it in New York. In Japan there were little get-togethers and it went worldwide, so that was great.

Q. Do you think we’ve got a good chance at getting peace and love this year?

A. I think the more we promote it, the more chance we have of getting it.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: July 5, 2010

An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed Colin Hay and Billy Squier as part of the lineup for the All Starr Band's performance at Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday.

A version of this article appeared in print on July 6, 2010, on page C1 of the New York edition.

Dave Itzkoff
The New York Times

Lacey McLaughlin
Madison County Journal

Rick Massimo
The Providence Journal

The end of a relationship would prompt Mr. Darnell to co-write one of the best-known blues songs, the B.B. King standard "The Thrill is Gone," said Carl Eggleston, a friend of Mr. Darnell's and owner of a Farmville funeral home.

Mr. Darnell died Christmas Eve after a brief illness. The family will receive visitors from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Carl U. Eggleston Funeral Home.

Mr. Darnell co-wrote "The Thrill is Gone" with Roy Hawkins in 1951. Hawkins' release became a minor hit. After King released his version in 1970, it became a classic and turned into King's signature song.

The song has since been performed by the likes of country musician Willie Nelson, R&B artist Roberta Flack and opera legend Luciano Pavarotti, said Alicia Darnell of Mechanicsville, one of Mr. Darnell's three daughters.

The song has also been sampled by rappers 50 Cent and Lil' Kim, she said.

Alicia Darnell said her father never tired of his association with the song or being asked about it, but he continued to collaborate with various artists.

Mr. Darnell was born in Galveston, Texas, but his involvement in music prompted him to live in places across the country. He moved to Farmville in 1987 after purchasing radio station WPAK-AM, Alicia Darnell said. Mr. Darnell sold the station in recent years, his daughter said.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Darnell is survived by his wife, Lula Mae Darnell of Richmond; and two other daughters, Pearlina Cockran of Williamsport, Pa., and Tanya Rachels of Farmville.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/article/RDOB27_20081226-212705/162776/

Rolling Stone magazine says, “This isn’t just B.B. King’s best album in years, it’s one of the strongest studio sets of his career.”

One Kind Favor can be purchased at the Museum gift shop.

A Jazz and Blues Christmas can  be purchased at the Museum gift shop.