Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B. B. King - Softcover

King, B. B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062061038 ISBN 13: 9780062061034

Publisher: It Books, 2011

Synopsis

B. B. King has the blues running through his blood.

Growing up in the rural poverty of the Mississippi Delta, King first experienced the blues at nine years old, when his mother passed away. The man of the house before the end of his first decade, he used this strife as a source of inspiration and launched one of the most celebrated musical careers in American history.

King has led a remarkable life, and this riveting autobiography dramatizes his whirlwind adventures from the Memphis of the forties to the Moscow of the nineties with unflinching candor and sincerity. But most of all, B.B.'s story is the story of the blues—the evolution from country acoustic to urban electric, the birth and explosion of rock 'n' roll—and B.B.'s own long, but ultimately triumphant, struggle for crossover success, during which he remained unwaveringly true to the music of his heart.

About this title

Review:

His real name is Riley B. King, but the B.B. stands, as any aficionado knows, for Blues Boy, a nickname he was given in the late 1940s when he was a disk jockey in Memphis, Tenn. Of course, he's best known as the King of the Blues to millions of fans throughout the world. At 70, B.B. King is still singing the blues and this is his story, from his childhood growing up in the Mississippi Delta, to the purchase of his first guitar at age 12, from his first real break after his appearance on Sonny Boy Williamson's King Biscuit Time radio show, to his ascent to international acclaim as America's ambassador of the blues.

About the Author:

B. B. King's numerous honors include an honorary doctorate from Yale University, a Presidential Medal of the Arts, and fifteen Grammy Awards. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame, and has more than ninety albums and anthologies to his credit. At age eighty-four, he is still on the road, touring the world.

David Ritz is the author of the acclaimed novels The Man Who Brought the Dodgers Back to Brooklyn and Blue Notes Under a Green Felt Hat. He is the only four-time winner of the Gleason Book of the Year Award. He's also co-written the memoirs of many celebrities.

About this edition

• Publisher: It Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0062061038
• ISBN 13: 9780062061034
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336