Being B. B.

Seeing BB King with my girlfriend Sue at Lupo's in Providence was a milestone of sorts for me since I have now seen  him 3 times, tied with Chuck Berry and James Brown, which should give you an idea of the kind of music I like. The first time was the most bizarre, a concert that King headlined in my gritty hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut. It was a strange line up, since the Santana clone band Malo was the opener. BB was the heart of the show, running through "The Thrill Is Gone", "Lucille", "Payin The Cost To Be The Boss" and his other blues "Top Ten" hits, backed by high powered horns and a rock bottom rthymn section. The second time was when he closed out the 1985 Newport Jazz Festival. I had dragged my late wife Jery there despite the fact that she was extremely pregnant because Miles Davis was playing and I had never seen him before. Unfortunately, the two airheads in front of us talked all the way most of Davis' solos, so BB was a relief, although I had to leave a few songs into the set in order to preserve my marriage.

Keyboardist Mark Taber and his son opened the show with some dynamite boogie/woogie - barrelhouse dual electric keyboards, setting the mood for the King of Blues. His band ran through the warm up music, a funky mix of horns, guitar, keyboards and rthymn, until BB himself arrived in a wheelchair, a testament to his  age and diabetes.. Two of his "handlers" then lead him to a chair in front of the stage.

He started by introducing the band, a function that most artists save for last, and spent a lot of time explaining who the musicians were before slipping into "You Are My Sunshine". BB seemed to be preoccupied with the audience in front of the stage. In my almost but not quite nosebleed section, the audience was preoccupied with taking selfies as BB played in the background, one particular woman managing to block everybody's view as she and her partner kept trying to find the right angle and the right spot.

Fortunately, King segued into "The Thrill Is Gone", a timeless tune that brings out his distinctive, mournful voice and seamless guitar, followed by another signature number, "Every Day I Have The Blues" , bringing me back to the "Live At The Regal" album. The band was given lots of opportunity to jam which they did admirably, especially the second guitarist., once again evoking  James Brown , the musicians trading funky riffs, a couple of dudes waiting on the fringes with his hat and coat, BB still playing with the crowd, again changing the tune to "How Blue Can You Get?", the show finally winding down to the grand exit. King donned his stylish hat and coat as the crowd cheered , the selfie addicts popping up in front of us, and headed back to retirement, not without a final wink at whoever was getting his attention in the expensive seats.

There's no mistaking BB King's stature and soul, as he wrenches more emotion out of a single lyric than an opera singer, so any performance is an opportunity to see an authentic blues pioneer. It just seemed to me this third time around, that the focus had shifted from being BB's music to Being BB, able at the age of 88 to rest on his blues credentials as well as still churn out those powerful, unmistakeable melodies that have become blues anthems.