We all have idols. Play like anyone you care about but try to be yourself while you're doing so. B. B. King More Quotes by B. B. King More Quotes From B. B. King I was born on a plantation, and things weren't so good. We didn't have any money. I never thought of the word 'poor' till I got to be a man, but when you live in a house that you can always peek out of and see what kind of day it is, you're not doing so well. And your restroom is not inside the house. B. B. King money house men Sometimes the proprietors of the little juke joints gave me a couple dollars. I loved that. I'd go back next Saturday. B. B. King dollars couple littles It just seemed to me that the way I played was nice. I could hear it myself. B. B. King nice way The early years when I was starting, blues player, you wasn't always welcome in a lot of the other places. People usually have preconceived ideas about blues music. They always feel that it's depressing and that it's just something that a guy sit out on a stool, grab a guitar, and just start singing or mumbling or whatever. B. B. King depressing guitar player My ex-wife was trying to be nice once, so she took me to a concert in Los Angeles. I went with her to Symphony Hall, and the orchestra was playing. When the show started, the spotlight was sharp on this one man (Andres Segovia) and he had sombrero on and his guitar propped up like this and, oh man ... he was a master ! - I really heard it. That one guitar sounded like a whole orchestra to me. B. B. King music nice men Michael Bloomfield came in after rock n roll started, and he was a great guitarist. He idolized me - I know that. What else can I say ? he was a young, excitable man. To him, drugs were plentiful, and that was no good. I talked to him like he was a son of mine. He was a great and he was gonna be greater. But he was part of the "in-crowd" and so he never got there B. B. King music men son I was glad to see other blues guitarists like Albert King have crossover successes like me. We played in the same places like the Whisky and the Filmore. When Albert made his guitar cry, he could cut you so deep! B. B. King guitar cutting kings I can't afford no liquor, all I can buy is beer and wine. B. B. King politics wine beer I gave you seven children, but now you want to give them back. B. B. King want giving children There are so many sounds I still want to make, so many things I haven't yet done. B. B. King done sound want Elvis, he was unique. And he loved the blues, it was a pity he didn't do more. B. B. King pity unique Being a blues singer is like being black two times. B. B. King singers black two I think of guitar players in terms of doctors: you have the doctor for your heart, the cardiologist, then one that works on your feet, your leg. But I believe George Benson is the one that plays all over. To me, he would be the M.D. of them all. B. B. King player heart believe I guess you can look at me, and tell I'm the old man. My name is BB King. B. B. King kings names men Religion began as a natural explanation of the universe. The problem started when people refused to accept new evidence. B. B. King problem natural people I'm trying to get people to see that we are our brother's keeper. Red, white, black, brown or yellow, rich or poor, we all have the blues. B. B. King black brother yellow people I developed in my head that I'm never any better than my last concert or the last time I played, so it's like an audition each time. You get nervous just before going onstage. I still have that, but I think it's more like concern. You're concerned about the people - like meeting your in-laws for the first time. B. B. King think you time people I would sit on the street corners in my hometown of Indianola, Mississippi, and I would play. And, generally, I would start playing gospel songs. People would come by on the street - you live in Time Square, you know how they do it - they would bunch up. And they would always compliment me on gospel tunes, but they would tip me when I played blues. B. B. King me you time people Cotton was a force of nature. There's a poetry to it, hoeing and growing cotton. B. B. King cotton force poetry nature If there was no ladies, I wouldn't wanna be on the planet. Ladies, friends, and music - without those three, I wouldn't wanna be here. B. B. King without friends music three
