Jon+D.

As you research your selected guitarist, you will need to note some specific information from his or her life and career. Include the following in your final writing: Details for your written assignment: ,
 * Introduction
 * Biography
 * Discography
 * Legacy
 * Conclusion

B.B. King

B.B. King played the blues. The blues is a type of folk song devised by Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century, usually employing a basic 12-bar chorus, the tonic, subdominant and dominant chords, frequent minor intervals, and blue (depressed) notes. King’s style of music is a sound between voice and guitar. He often used the guitar to make his singing better, continuing the musical flow. His technique emphasized bending every note. It also enhanced a bottleneck style with finger vibrato. He payed impeccable attention to diction, phrasing, and accents on many different notes which made his sound clearly from others.

Riley B. King was born on September 16, 1925 on a plantation between Indianola and Itta Bena, Mississippi. When he was four years of age, his parents separated so his mother took him east to Kilmichael, Mississippi. A lot of the time, he lived with his maternal grandmother, Elnora Farr, who was a sharecropper the worked for a white dairy farmer. When he wasn't working on the Henderson farm, he had a ten mile round trip walking to school. His mother wasn't always living with him, she was still very affectionate a instilled him a high moral standard. She died when King was only nine. Through the influence of his mother and his teacher's, Luther Henson, efforts, he had a very high self respect and reliability that continued on with him throughout his life and career. When he joined the radio station for black people called the WDIA as a disc jockey, he created the name Blues Boy, or B.B., King. He then went to Memphis, Tennessee, which was a center for blues singers, and his career blossomed with Bullet Records in 1949.

One of his albums "B. B. King's Blues Summit", which was made in 1993, won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. Another album, "Riding with the King", which was also successful, was made by King and Eric Clapton in 2000. There, they fused there styles and created a very popular song called "Three o'Clock Blues".

B. B. King's bluesy style influenced many people of his time. He made the blues music mainstream part of American culture. Going on hundreds of tours each year he continued to spread the world of blues. Even when other people migrated to the more popular world of rock & roll, King stayed true to the blues. With the new generation of the 70's and 80's, his music only increased in popularity. B. B. King has certainly left his mark on the musical world and is still doing so today.

I found it interesting that he grew up as a slave. This must've had an enormous impact on the way he played the blues. I also enjoyed that he named his Gibson with and ebony, pearly fingerboard Lucille. That shows he's a very good guitar player because of the connection between him and his guitar.  



Works Cited Sources : Include the source information for all of the articles or web sites that were used to complete your project. Source information is found at the end of each article in iCONN.They should also be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the source citation. //sample:// "Carol Kaye." //Contemporary Musicians//. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale, 1998. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 8 Jan. 2012. "Selected Websites on Carol Kaye's Life and Works." //Gale Biography in Context//. Detroit: Gale, 2008. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 8 Jan. 2012.

Your Source List:
 * Wagner, Mary H., and Wagner Mary H. "B. B. King." //Musicians And Composers Of The Twentieth Century // (2009): 1. //Biography Reference Center //. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
 * Spring, Staci A. "B. B. King." //Great Lives From History: African Americans // (2010): 148. //Biography Reference Center //. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.

Guitarist Research Notes Table
//cells will expand as you enter your findings// || on a plantation between Indianola and Itta Bena, Mississippi. || What do you like about his/her style? || Joshua Ledet-he puts a lot of gut into it and is usually at a faster tempo ||
 * ** Information Feature ** ||= **Your Findings**
 * The guitar style I am researching is: || Blues ||
 * The artist I am researching is: || B.B. King ||
 * This guitarist lived from ___ to__ _ || September 16, 1925 to Present. He was born
 * Define and describe the guitar style you are researching. || "King’s style of music is a dialogue between voice and guitar. King often used the guitar to extend his singing, continuing the musical line. His technique emphasized bending every note and using a bottleneck style with finger vibrato. King’s attention to diction, phrasing, and accents on various syllables set his style apart from others." ||
 * What kind of musical training did the guitarist have? || <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">"King's early musical experiences were deeply influenced by his Christian upbringing, exposure to blues music, and the sounds of the field workers around him. He often sang in church, and soon became enamored with the guitar after hearing his preacher uncle Archie Fair play. He saved eight dollars to buy his own guitar and soon learned chords to accompany his singing. Initially, he was more interested in pursuing gospel music. At the age of fourteen, he was reunited with his father and moved back to the Delta area. It was there that he had the opportunity to meet visiting musicians who came to play in the plantation halls and juke joints." ||
 * What types of music influenced this artist? || <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; text-align: justify;">"King's early musical experiences were deeply influenced by his Christian upbringing, exposure to blues music, and the sounds of the field workers around him. He often sang in church, and soon became enamored with the guitar after hearing his preacher uncle Archie Fair play. He saved eight dollars to buy his own guitar and soon learned chords to accompany his singing. Initially, he was more interested in pursuing gospel music. At the age of fourteen, he was reunited with his father and moved back to the Delta area. It was there that he had the opportunity to meet visiting musicians who came to play in the plantation halls and juke joints." ||
 * Name some musicians who influenced the guitarist you are researching. || In the Delta area, he got to meet visiting musicians that played in the plantation halls and juke joints. ||
 * Has this guitarist played more than one style? If so, what other styles? || Yes, he pursued gospel music when he was younger to accompany his singing at church. ||
 * What type of guitar does this musician play? || He played a Gibson named Lucille with an ebony pearly finger board. ||
 * What are some interesting facts about your guitarist’s childhood? || <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">He grew up, "on a plantation between Indianola and Itta Bena, Mississippi. His parents separated when he was four, and his mother took him east to Kilmichael, Mississippi. He spent most of his time living with his maternal grandmother, Elnora Farr, a sharecropper working for a white dairy farmer. When not working for his grandmother on the Henderson farm, King walked ten miles round trip to school. Although his mother did not always live with him, she was always very affectionate and instilled in him a high moral standard. She died when King was nine years old. Between the influence of his mother and the efforts of his teacher Luthor Hensen, King developed self-respect and self-reliance that remained with him throughout his life and career." ||
 * What did this guitarist do before he became famous? || He was a slave on a plantation between Indianola and Itta Bena, Mississippi. ||
 * List two interesting facts about the guitarist’s life. || * He began working as a disc jockey on a black radio station called the WDIA <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; text-align: justify;">and became known as "The Beale Street Blues Boy" or "blues boy," which was then shortened to "B. B."
 * He opened for the Rolling Stones on the bands 1969 tour. ||
 * List two albums or songs your artist released, the dates they were released and why they are important. || * B. B. King's Blues Summit-1993-won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album
 * Riding with the King-2000-Eric Clapton and King fused their styles ||
 * Who is playing this style of music today?
 * What legacy has this guitarist left to the world of music? || He had a huge influence of the blues on other people of his time. ||