Thursday, December 22, 2005
What I've Learned: B. B. King
December 16, 2005
(Bluesman, 80, Las Vegas)
Some people say that blues singers are always cryin' in their beer. But you know what? I don't drink.
I don't think it's meant for man to know everything at once.
This year, I will do something like 180, 190 concerts. But that's a little less than usual. I had been averaging 230 or 240. In 1956, I did 342 one-nighters. But I was young then, and I was doing something I love to do. I didn't pay any attention until my agents told me at the end of the year: "B. B., do you know how many dates you did?" Even I was surprised at that.
I've been married twice. Most women would rather not be married to a traveling blues singer.
My last divorce was in '68. What made it come to a head was a promise. See, I had promised her that the next year I wouldn't work as much. But then I got in trouble with the IRS and I had to continue working just as much to pay the government. So she said I lied, which is something I never did. I tried to explain it to her, that I was forced to do what I had to do by circumstances. But of course she's tellin' me, "You promised!"
A while back, a teacher brought me some book reports from some kids who'd read my book. Most all of them got A's. Some of them were saying, "Well, he loved women," and that's no lie; I do. But one young lady, she wrote, "He's a woman freak. I think I would be scared to be in a room with him by myself." I want that girl to know that I'm not that bad; I do have control. But it's no lie. I love women most of all.
It's not that I want to sleep with all of them. I'd like to clarify that. It's like seeing a rose. A rose is a rose. It's pretty. But that doesn't mean you want to snap it off and put it on your lapel. I have an excellent medical team. There's Dr. Viagra, Dr. Cialis, and nurse Levitra. They keep me, er, straight.
The guitar I'm playin' is Lucille number sixteen. There's actually a seventeen; they made it for my seventieth birthday. But I never take it out on the road, 'cause it's got my picture on it. I like to sit it up at my house and just look at it.
The younger players, my hat goes off to them. Because they are always coming up with ideas that I never thought of. I sometimes used to kind of hate myself for that: Why didn't I think of it?
I used to have a jones for gambling. But thirty years ago I moved to Las Vegas, and it cured my habit. My former manager taught me something: He said when you go to a casino and you want to gamble, write a check. It's one of the smartest things I've ever been told. Because when you get back that canceled check and you see how much money you have screwed up - you could've given it to your family, you could've given it to your girlfriend. You could've just walked over to the Mississippi River and thrown it in there. That's what cured me, realizing how much I was throwing away.
Water from the white fountain didn't taste any better than from the black fountain.
Back when we was in school in Mississippi, we had Little Black Sambo. That's what you learned: Anytime something was not good, or anytime something was bad in some kinda way, it had to be called black. Like, you had Black Monday, Black Friday, black sheep. . . . Of course, everything else, all the good stuff, is white. White Christmas and such. You got to pay attention to the language, hear what it's really saying.
Growing up, I was taught that a man has to defend his family. When the wolf is trying to get in, you gotta stand in the doorway. He has to get through you first before he gets into the house to get your family. I'm one of those guys who wants to be in that door.
I'm a country boy. I love nature. I don't need all the fancy things, the fancy automobiles, the fancy this and that. I have a nice car, a Mercedes. And then I have an old El Camino truck that I'm crazy about. I like to get in that truck and go up in the hills near where I live, in Vegas, and take my camera. That to me is heaven, being out in nature, taking pictures of the wildlife.
With the U. S. government, I don't know. I don't know what they see. When I say they, I mean the president and his people, the Senate and everybody. I don't know what they see. They're not going to tell you everything. So many things we read, we just don't know the whole truth about. What's really going on? Who knows?
America might be a little eager to go to war. We don't consider the cost of what this is going to do to us in the long run.
I don't have a favorite song that I've written. But I do have a favorite song: "Always on My Mind," the Willie Nelson version. If I could sing it like he do, I would sing it every night. I like the story it tells. It go, I may not have written you - he's talking about a lady - when maybe I should have. Or maybe I didn't take you to dinner, didn't call you when I should have, or didn't love you as I should have. But you was always on my mind. I felt that way a lot in my life. I think every person feels it. That's one of the things about being an entertainer. What we do - it's just sharing the thoughts that many people have. You go to see a movie, and you sit up and cry - it's because something is happening in there that just done happen to you or somebody you know. It's the same thing with what I do. Don't matter if you're gay or straight, black or white, you still have the same problem. It's love. It's universal.
I don't like anybody to be angry with me. I'd rather have friends. If there's any static or whatever that causes somebody to be mad at me about something or to think I'm at fault about something, I'll get on my knees to apologize. I just believe that life is good like that.
Interviewed by Mike Sager
(via dave & the fine folks at rockandrap confidential) ¶ 12/22/2005 06:07:00 PM
December 16, 2005
(Bluesman, 80, Las Vegas)
Some people say that blues singers are always cryin' in their beer. But you know what? I don't drink.
I don't think it's meant for man to know everything at once.
This year, I will do something like 180, 190 concerts. But that's a little less than usual. I had been averaging 230 or 240. In 1956, I did 342 one-nighters. But I was young then, and I was doing something I love to do. I didn't pay any attention until my agents told me at the end of the year: "B. B., do you know how many dates you did?" Even I was surprised at that.
I've been married twice. Most women would rather not be married to a traveling blues singer.
My last divorce was in '68. What made it come to a head was a promise. See, I had promised her that the next year I wouldn't work as much. But then I got in trouble with the IRS and I had to continue working just as much to pay the government. So she said I lied, which is something I never did. I tried to explain it to her, that I was forced to do what I had to do by circumstances. But of course she's tellin' me, "You promised!"
A while back, a teacher brought me some book reports from some kids who'd read my book. Most all of them got A's. Some of them were saying, "Well, he loved women," and that's no lie; I do. But one young lady, she wrote, "He's a woman freak. I think I would be scared to be in a room with him by myself." I want that girl to know that I'm not that bad; I do have control. But it's no lie. I love women most of all.
It's not that I want to sleep with all of them. I'd like to clarify that. It's like seeing a rose. A rose is a rose. It's pretty. But that doesn't mean you want to snap it off and put it on your lapel. I have an excellent medical team. There's Dr. Viagra, Dr. Cialis, and nurse Levitra. They keep me, er, straight.
The guitar I'm playin' is Lucille number sixteen. There's actually a seventeen; they made it for my seventieth birthday. But I never take it out on the road, 'cause it's got my picture on it. I like to sit it up at my house and just look at it.
The younger players, my hat goes off to them. Because they are always coming up with ideas that I never thought of. I sometimes used to kind of hate myself for that: Why didn't I think of it?
I used to have a jones for gambling. But thirty years ago I moved to Las Vegas, and it cured my habit. My former manager taught me something: He said when you go to a casino and you want to gamble, write a check. It's one of the smartest things I've ever been told. Because when you get back that canceled check and you see how much money you have screwed up - you could've given it to your family, you could've given it to your girlfriend. You could've just walked over to the Mississippi River and thrown it in there. That's what cured me, realizing how much I was throwing away.
Water from the white fountain didn't taste any better than from the black fountain.
Back when we was in school in Mississippi, we had Little Black Sambo. That's what you learned: Anytime something was not good, or anytime something was bad in some kinda way, it had to be called black. Like, you had Black Monday, Black Friday, black sheep. . . . Of course, everything else, all the good stuff, is white. White Christmas and such. You got to pay attention to the language, hear what it's really saying.
Growing up, I was taught that a man has to defend his family. When the wolf is trying to get in, you gotta stand in the doorway. He has to get through you first before he gets into the house to get your family. I'm one of those guys who wants to be in that door.
I'm a country boy. I love nature. I don't need all the fancy things, the fancy automobiles, the fancy this and that. I have a nice car, a Mercedes. And then I have an old El Camino truck that I'm crazy about. I like to get in that truck and go up in the hills near where I live, in Vegas, and take my camera. That to me is heaven, being out in nature, taking pictures of the wildlife.
With the U. S. government, I don't know. I don't know what they see. When I say they, I mean the president and his people, the Senate and everybody. I don't know what they see. They're not going to tell you everything. So many things we read, we just don't know the whole truth about. What's really going on? Who knows?
America might be a little eager to go to war. We don't consider the cost of what this is going to do to us in the long run.
I don't have a favorite song that I've written. But I do have a favorite song: "Always on My Mind," the Willie Nelson version. If I could sing it like he do, I would sing it every night. I like the story it tells. It go, I may not have written you - he's talking about a lady - when maybe I should have. Or maybe I didn't take you to dinner, didn't call you when I should have, or didn't love you as I should have. But you was always on my mind. I felt that way a lot in my life. I think every person feels it. That's one of the things about being an entertainer. What we do - it's just sharing the thoughts that many people have. You go to see a movie, and you sit up and cry - it's because something is happening in there that just done happen to you or somebody you know. It's the same thing with what I do. Don't matter if you're gay or straight, black or white, you still have the same problem. It's love. It's universal.
I don't like anybody to be angry with me. I'd rather have friends. If there's any static or whatever that causes somebody to be mad at me about something or to think I'm at fault about something, I'll get on my knees to apologize. I just believe that life is good like that.
Interviewed by Mike Sager
(via dave & the fine folks at rockandrap confidential) ¶ 12/22/2005 06:07:00 PM
