7 Clifton Chenier 7

amputated. Although Chenier experienced somewhat of a
comeback in the early 1980s—when he expanded his band
to include a trumpet—his illness continued to take its
musical and physical toll, and he ultimately succumbed to
it in 1987.

B.B. King

(b. Sept. 16, 1925, Itta Bena, near Indianola, Miss., U.S.)

A

merican guitarist and singer B.B. King (born Riley B.
King) was a principal figure in the development of
blues and from whose style leading popular musicians
drew inspiration.
King was reared in the Mississippi Delta, and gospel
music in church was the earliest influence on his singing.
To his own impassioned vocal calls, King played lyrical
single-string guitar responses with a distinctive vibrato;
his guitar style was influenced by T-Bone Walker, by delta
blues players (including his cousin Bukka White), and by
such jazz guitarists as Django Reinhardt and Charlie
Christian. He worked for a time as a disk jockey in
Memphis, Tennessee (notably at station WDIA), where
he acquired the name B.B. (for Blues Boy) King. In 1951
he made a hit record of “Three O’Clock Blues,” which led
to virtually continuous tours of clubs and theatres through-
out the country. He often played 300 or more one-night
stands a year with his 13-piece band. A long succession of
hits, including “Every Day I Have the Blues,” “Sweet
Sixteen,” and “The Thrill Is Gone,” enhanced his popularity.
By the late 1960s rock guitarists acknowledged his influence
and priority; they introduced King (and his guitar—which
was named Lucille) to a broader white public, who until
then had heard blues chiefly in derivative versions.
King’s relentless touring strengthened his claim to the
title of undisputed king of the blues, and he was a regular