groyster1
2580 posts
Apr 06, 2014
10:33 AM
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sadly I read about a less than satisfactory concert by bb king;but even sadder was that he was heckled by some in the audience....he is 88 years old.....but he is still a living legend....he hurts me that he was trashed by such disrespectful people
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SuperBee
1900 posts
Apr 06, 2014
1:18 PM
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88 hey?! I just was thinking about him as I only yesterday learned the story of why he calls the guitar 'Lucille'.
It occurred to me it must be a well-known story and I wondered how I'd managed to not hear it until now.
Ah well...hecklers...tells more about their lives than his I expect.
I'm going to see 3 70+ year old performers in 2 weeks; Guy, Cotton and Mussellwhite. I'm not expecting to witness peak performance, and I won't be heckling...this is one time I'll be happy just to be there.
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JustFuya
50 posts
Apr 06, 2014
2:10 PM
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I'm curious about the venue but I'm not going to look into it any further. At 88 I'm sure BB knows a bad day when he's having one. Shame on the hecklers but if he wasn't up to snuff, the crowd was likely the least of his worries. Cheers to better days for him.
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Martin
651 posts
Apr 06, 2014
2:43 PM
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Heckling is bad form, of course, no argument. But perhaps the time has come for BB to do what Toots T did just recently? He´s been sounding a bit shaky at times and one has to take into account what an audience can rightfully expect from a performer. BB´s halcyon days are now 40-50 years back -- he´s been great every once in a while afterwards but not with that same edge.
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groyster1
2581 posts
Apr 06, 2014
2:58 PM
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BB has nothing to prove to me as do cotton,musselwhite,buddy guy....they can rest on their legacy....at 88,I wonder if BB would like some help...like Kenny wayne shepherd or some other strong lead guitarist?buddy allows his second lead guitarist lots of space
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Brad Arvidson
3 posts
Apr 06, 2014
7:30 PM
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I saw BB two years in a row, about 15 years ago in StL. The first concert wasn't very good, at the second concert he acknowledged that the concert of the year before was sub par for him and made up for it- he did a great job. At the time he said he was doing 250 shows a year.
When your at a concert of someone that's up there in years, for me, the magic is seeing them and where their at and what they are currently doing. I'm up here in Valdez Alaska and saw Joan Collins a little while back, was the concert all that good? Not really, but am I glad I went- you bet, super lady- plus she hung out around town so if you really wanted to see her you could go say hi.
At the BB concert there were a big crowd of older ladies, dressed to the hilt, they were wanting to see the "man"- pretty cool!!
BTW: the concert are/were at the old Fox theater in StL, great venue- a 1920"s theater that has been restored, if you get a chance go there.
Now to the OP of heckling BB King, really!!!!! I hope there is a special place in hell or nirvanaless for them.
Should he retire? In my opinion- No, I'd pay to go see him again but I know what I'm getting, if your wanting BB King of 40 years ago don't buy a ticket.
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JustFuya
52 posts
Apr 06, 2014
7:50 PM
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I just hope his motivation for continuing to perform is coming from within.
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eharp
2143 posts
Apr 06, 2014
10:15 PM
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Did everyone read the article?
45 minutes of him sitting on stage mumbling?
The 2nd song is a 15 minute, sing-a-long rendition of "You are My Sunshine"?
And heckling is used very loosely.
"yelling out requests or simply calling for King to “play some music!”
I think the first happens at every single concert by just about anybody.
The 2nd? I might let "You are My Sunshine" go around 4 or 5 times, but....
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kudzurunner
4644 posts
Apr 07, 2014
4:16 AM
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Here's the article:
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/reviews/b-b-king-is-heckled-at-an-awkward-st-louis/article_59ade8eb-c431-55de-a138-66925bb8de3b.html
There's clearly a problem here. Sometimes what's going on in these cases is that nobody wants the gravy train to stop. You can't blame them. BB is one of the last performers to keep a big band working for decades.
I just heard a few days ago that he's on his last tour. He'll stop performing after this.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Apr 07, 2014 4:18 AM
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Goldbrick
401 posts
Apr 07, 2014
5:47 AM
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Sad story- I saw BB King two years ago and he was still very good -playing tasteful solos, strong singing voice and a great band.
Also saw Buddy Guy not that long ago and that was not that great. Very little hard core blues and mostly rock with lots of distortion and attention to the 2nd guitarist.
Seeing the older legends play is always a crap shoot. I saw Hubert Sumlin several years ago-he didnt play much but his presence lit the place up
Last Edited by Goldbrick on Apr 07, 2014 5:48 AM
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The Iceman
1584 posts
Apr 07, 2014
5:52 AM
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" cotton,musselwhite,buddy guy"
Not fair to put Musselwhite with these other guys, as Charlie is still growing and vital as a musician while the others are resting on their reputation.
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The Iceman
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1847
1676 posts
Apr 07, 2014
7:57 AM
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what about the recording
cotton mouth man? that was "vital"
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i get a lot of request when i play my harmonica
"but i play it anyway"
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The Iceman
1585 posts
Apr 07, 2014
8:17 AM
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That recording is good, but live, Cotton is a shadow of his former self.
Musselwhite is still going strong with innovative ideas and strong vocals.
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The Iceman
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1847
1677 posts
Apr 07, 2014
8:34 AM
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damn, i am a shadow of my former self
my problem is i've never cast a large enough shadow to begin with. lol
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i get a lot of request when i play my harmonica
"but i play it anyway"
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HawkeyeKane
2458 posts
Apr 07, 2014
8:53 AM
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I caught BB 4 years ago when he rolled through Springfield. I'm really glad I went and saw him when I did. He still gave a good performance. Talked a good deal of the time, but it was still enjoyable. From what I've heard from people who've gone to see him in the last year or two when he's been back, he was really slipping and didn't play well at all. I still wouldn't have heckled him under any circumstances. After all, to this day, he's still refrerred to as the King of the Blues.
One other point I might mention about an elderly guitarist with a similar background...Matt Guitar Murphy has been in the biz just as long as BB. While he doesn't have (to my knowledge) diabetes like BB and all the effects that come with it, he's had his own problems to deal with and still manage to perform. Back in '03, he had a stroke onstage during a show in Nashville, and yet he managed to finish his set playing with just one hand. Tough old SOB. From what I hear, he's running with a couple of protege players these days to help him out. Maybe BB oughta do the same. Buddy Guy has Quinn Sullivan under his wing. Clapton still has John Mayer under his wing to a degree. No shame in it...it show's you're passing on what you've learned so your craft lives on.
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Hawkeye Kane - Hipbone Sam
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The Iceman
1586 posts
Apr 07, 2014
9:03 AM
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Nothing is forever, no matter how much we want to hold onto the past.
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The Iceman
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6SN7
434 posts
Apr 07, 2014
11:19 AM
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Wow, the BB King story has been shooting around a number of plaaces I frequent on the 'net today.
One of the more interesting comments came from a former sideman, Mr. Ron Levy, his pianist during the 60 and 70"s. Ron appeared on Live at the Cook County Jail and traveling with BB to Africa to perform during the Rumble in the Jungle. Ron said the man is old and ill, but has his is what he has done for so long there is nothing left for him.
I took my daughter to see BB 10 years ago, she was nine. A lot of viagra jokes, long on talk, short on music, but it was a nice evening and my daughter saw what he was about. Was he the same as when I saw him at the Providence Blues Festival in 1976? No, just a different type of show.
I use to see Buddy Guy all the time in the 70's, he was crazy good in the doing all the SRV/Hendrix tricks (of course, he did them first) but in later years when I saw him, he features excellent musicians with guest guitarist. Clapton has done the same with Doyle Bramlett and Dereck Trucks, though he was a very pleasant surprise in power trio at the 12/12/12/ concert a while back.
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