The bluesman ‘had it all’: Michigan musicians pay tribute to B.B. King, cite influence of ‘national treasure’

The legendary guitarist’s death this week is being mourned by Michigan musicians influenced by his music, including Jimmie Stagger, Greg Nagy, Jim Shaneberger and more. Read their tributes.

 

B.B. King was the “Blues Boy” who became King of the Blues.

But the affable guitarist never really considered himself musical royalty as such, just a man who reveled in the blues for more than 65 years.

“I don’t know anything else,” he told me in an interview several years ago.

Indeed, retirement from the stage wasn’t in the cards for perhaps the most influential bluesman of his generation. He told me that fishing and watching TV just weren’t as much fun as playing guitar, so he figured “the great God” would retire him someday.

“I’m not as spunky as I have been, but I feel good, and as long people keep coming to see me as they have been, I see no reason to quit,” he reasoned. “It is the one thing I’m happy with.”

On Thursday, the great God retired King. He died in Las Vegas at age 89, about six months after playing his final show and several decades after establishing himself as America’s most well-known blues guitarist. In some ways, he helped bring the influential genre to the masses, thanks in part, to the overwhelming success of his 1969 hit, “The Thrill is Gone.”

But he meant so much more to guitarists and musicians everywhere, including many in Michigan.

Local icon Jimmie Stagger says his “first big gig” came in 1983 when he opened for B.B. King at Grand Rapids’ DeVos Hall, getting a chance to meet one of his blues heroes in person. He ended up opening for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist four times over the years.

“He was always cool,” Stagger recalls, noting that the distinctive, hand-quivering vibrato that distinguished King’s guitar-playing was really his version of a slide technique which he “assimilated with his fingers.” It meant you could recognize King’s playing by listening to a single note.

Stagger – who acknowledged King during an intimate Friday night in-studio acoustic session at Grand Rapids’ Goon Lagoon studios – had another another, even more important connection to King: He was mentored, in part, by King’s cousin, Bukka White, who stayed at Stagger’s home during performances in the Grand Rapids area.

Stagger was one of many area musicians shaped by King’s music and saddened by his death who paid tribute to the bluesman this week. Here are some of their comments:

GUITARIST GREG NAGY
“BB King had it all. The voice, the soulful guitar phrasing and guitar vibrato, and the great, great songs. He will certain live on in the hearts of everyone he’s ever moved and inspired. It’s hard to imagine the world of music without there ever being a BB King, as his influence rings far and wide in American music to this day. Truly, the King of The Blues and certainly the Godfather of American Music. I will miss him, but I know he will also live on.”

GUITARIST JIM SHANEBERGER
“B.B. changed the world. Not just blues, but music as a whole. He was monumentally influential to everything that came after him both as a guitarist and a singer. He bridged the gap between Muddy Waters’ Mississippi Delta slide style and the more modern ‘urban’ blues style. He made blues truly accessible to the mainstream.”

HARMONICA PLAYER HANK MOWERY
“First, there is no person alive that plays blues that isn’t directly or indirectly influenced by B.B. King. He is part of the fabric and can’t be removed. There aren’t many players of any genre that you can identify immediately with one or two notes. BB really created his own sound that is recognized by everyone around the world, not just blues fans. That shows the impact he has had in MUSIC, not just the blues.

He set the bar incredibly high for performers or every genre of music: performing 300 nights a year for years. I read somewhere that in 1956, he played 342 one-nighters. 342! Even more amazing is that everyone that ever met him that I have talked to, said he was very gracious, giving of his time and appreciative of their support, that is hard to do when you play that much. Performers like that inspire me to be better and make me want to live up to his standards.”

GUITARIST MIKE COON
“B.B King was likely my single most inspirational musical artist in terms of playing style. He could play just one note and say so much with his signature vibrato and feel. I saw his last performance at Meijer Gardens in 2013 and it brought tears to my eyes. He will be missed but never forgotten.”

GUITARISTS RUSTY AND LAURIE WRIGHT
“So we’re sitting here, eyes welling up trying to put our thoughts into words, and it’s harder than we thought. B.B. King is a national treasure. It’s amazing to consider where he started in life and what he experienced and accomplished in his life. Very few public figures have been as universally respected and as loved as B.B. King. Everyone we know who did meet him or open for him talked of his absolute kindness, humility and generosity. As for his playing, B.B. was the absolute “king” of less is more. His sound and playing technique is immediately identifiable. He cut right to the point. His lyrics, too. He cut right to the point. You knew this was a bluesman right out of the gate.”

GUITARIST JUNIOR VALENTINE
“Among many things that made B.B. King so special as a guitarist is that he took T-Bone Walker’s single-string soloing approach and added bent notes and a beautiful vibrato — a ‘singing’ vibrato. His bending and vibrato affected every electric blues-influenced guitar player who followed. I would also say that B.B.’s singing was also very influential and, combined with his unique and fabulous guitar style, made him a one-of-a-kind musical being — often imitated, never duplicated. … I met B.B. when I was 15 years of age. He gave me a pick with ‘B.B. King’ stamped on it. I still have the pick. I’ve always known where it is and have kept it near always.”

GUITARIST VINCENT HAYES
“B.B. was one of the most influential guitarists for my own desire to play blues. ‘Live at Cook County Jail’ changed my life from the first time I heard it, and it’s one of my favorite recordings of all time. He was iconic, and a giant of a human being. I think in many ways he was almost Christ-like in his humility and the way he saw his talent as a gift to be shared to uplift the people, rather than merely a skill to be shown off. His ‘Lucille’ was like a pen in the hand of a great writer, just an extension of his voice, rather than some beast he had to conquer. Every note told a story, and every note came from his big beautiful soul.

Very few musicians ever get to the point where they could write an entire book with only two or three notes. If that is the case, then B.B. wrote volumes of encyclopedias in multiple languages. … I did get to watch him play ‘Thrill is Gone’ from about 15 feet away (after opening for King at Meijer Gardens). The band and I were stage right, and he kept looking at us and smiling throughout the show. I’ll never forget that.”

GUITARIST CHARLES SCHANTZ
“B.B. was one of the very few top blues artists who had a blues voice of his own, both his vocal and guitar stylings. This is what separates the very top most influential blues players from the rest of the pack: a unique and consistent voice. Also, as with the other top players, his vocal and guitar voices were similar, which is a sign of the artistic integration of voice and guitar.”

Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC