The BB King Reader: Six Decades Of Commentary
by Richard Kostelanetz (Ed)

Readin’ with the King

Riley “BB” King, now 82 and still a hard-working blues ambassador (he has 13 gigs scheduled in May) has probably attracted more column inches of print than any other blues artist, and deservedly so. In this updated second edition, Kostelanetz gathers some of the best B-ography from a 1952 Memphis newspaper article on up, divided into sections on his early career, his hard-fought rise to fame, his musical style and influences, and the view from the top. Top-and-tailed by essays from respected British writer Colin Escott, it intertwines comment, criticism and interviews.

There’s something for every Kingophile: Jerry Richardson painstakingly dissects his guitar technique, right down to the last pull-off, BB’s biographer Charles Sawyer offers two insightful essays on the man’s warm personality and genuine humility (“I have these stupid lazy fingers”) and, best of all, Michael Lydon’s undiluted account of travelling with the band in 1970, showing that the road was no picnic, even for an established star. On the downside, some pretentious git blethers on about ostinato, one page of text is omitted and another repeated, and Escott’s “Notes on selected recordings”, though admirable, are lifted uncredited from his sleevenotes to Ace Records’ Vintage Years boxed set. That’s what the blues is all about.

ISBN 0634099272

Reviewed by Mike Atherton
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