Il Blues Intorno A Me: L'autobiografia Di B.B. King

by B.B. King

The fabled blues guitarist chronicles his youth on a Mississippi cotton farm, years as a disc jockey, experiences with racism and the civil rights movement, romantic relationships, and forty-five years on the road.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir, History, African American

310 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

B. B. King (born Riley B. King) was an American blues guitarist and singer. Widely considered one of the greatest and most respected blues guitarists of all time, and is possibly the most recognizable name in the blues genre.

Reviews

[Winter Sophia Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwarming, Inspiring, Deep & Honest! An Insightful, Powerful Read! I Loved It! R.I.H. Mr. B.B. King!

[Courtney Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a blues lover and always have been, beginning with B.B. King. This book is a great, great story, written by King himself, simply and artistically done just like the music he plays and creates. It is quite the story how he gets out of the Mississippi delta after wrecking his landlord's tractor. And then fearing for his future there, he leaves his wife, runs away and rides a bicycle all the way to Memphis, Tennessee. I have read other autobiographies by Johnny Cash, Steven Tyler, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, George Carlin, but this was by far my favorite. The story of his life is, indeed, fascinating--how he worked his way up to as many as 290 shows per year; how Lucille got her name; how he had 17 children by 17 different women (or did he lose count?); how he wrecked a tour bus into a bridge at 4:00 am without insurance. The amazing stories of a superstar that only someone like BB could write. As he tells the story, on his way to Memphis, riding a child's bicycle on that very hot summer day, he was hungry and dying of thirst. A little old lady at the side of the road had him in, gave him food and water and a bed to sleep in. Many years and millions of dollars later, he returned to find her, to repay her handsomely, but the house was gone and the neighbors knew not what had happened to the old woman. What a story. Here's to Peaches, his first love, and to his first wife, whom he left in the delta to live with her family there after he ran away to Beal Street in Memphis to pursue his career. And what a career it was.

[Milan · Rating 5 out of 5]

B.B King was the consummate bluesman. This book comes across as an honest story of a very hard-working man. He lost his mother and grandmother as a child and was thereafter shuttling between sharecropping relatives in the Mississippi delta. King’s love of music started through the church. He is enthralled by the music of Sonny Boy Williamson, Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker among others. After honing his skills in Indianola, King moved to Memphis, the black music hub of the south. He gets a break on the radio and is also doing gigs all the time. He slogs for two decades. Commercially, the turning point was "The Thrill is Gone" for which he won a Grammy in 1970. After that he started to get more recognized and starts getting a bigger audience. He writes at how he arrived at his distinctive style, using his "fat hands" to sustain and bend notes like a plaintive steel or slack-key guitar. His take on the blues and the Beale Street of the late 40s and 50s is quite captivating. The story of BB King is the hardships of his childhood, the impact of a chronic stutter, the brutality of daily life in Jim Crow south and as an army recruit, his constant womanizing, and in later life a serious gambling habit. But beneath the surface is an untiring bluesman who has influenced many later blues electric guitar players, including Eric Clapton.

[Sarca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one man whose music speaks to me like no other. When I found this book, I was so excited to read it. This book reads like B.B.'s own personal diary. So frank and honest. It's like B.B. was sitting there talking to me.

[Nikki Braun · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have loved this man from a very early age. he is an amazing man.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going back and looking at my review of this book the first time I did not give it the justice it needed. being a blues fan and B.B.King fan I was fortunate to see him play live, and for me, he was truly amazing. In this book, he takes you through his life from childhood poor and then being with his first love while they were both teenagers, while he was wanting to play blues music. How as much as he cared for and loved that girl they were too young to be married and have children but life went a different way. he speaks of working as a DJ for a radio station while still trying to make it as a blues singer. how T-Bone Walker became an important influence on him which led him to Memphis, Beale Street. there he goes into how he came about his style of play, not being able to use a glass coke bottle like others so he came up with his own technique, how he decided to sing and then use the guitar when he did not sing these all became his trademarks. he speaks of Johhny Ace, who was a good singer in the early fifties and had a hit song "Pledging my Love" in 55 he also ended dying tragically in 54. if you can look up that song for it is special I have been listening to Johnny Ace for over 35 years and he never gets old. he then tells you about how the song "The Thrill is Gone" came to him how he recorded it the way he wanted to and how it changed everything for him afterward. I found this to be a very honest book and look at his own life as a very good book. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

[Dawn Lennon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without question, this is the best collaborative musician's autobiography I've read, and I've read my share. The candor, the insights, and the voice of B. B. King are moving and palpable. The stucture, the tone, and the progression of events are easy, captivating and informative. If you want to get to know, B. B. King as he sees himself and his unflinching, adoring, and faithful love of the blues, this book is for you.

David Ritz, who captured B's life and his essence, never gets in the way. You feel B from the first chapter and become a part of B's journey. As in most books that focus on the blues, there's a journey through hardship, racism, and loss--the life material that gives lasting life to the blues. With B there's almost always a kind of forgiveness, acceptance, and recognition that life is hard. He didn't like conflict and confrontation. He loved warmth and women who he counted on to provide it. But most of all he loved his cherished Lucille, his guitar partner in his life with the blues.

There are so many aha moments in this book around the evolution of music and impact of the blues, even when that impact isn't recognized. In reading about B.B. King, we learn about the history of our culture and the power of music to overcome. In spite of our darker side as a society and our greedier side in business, there are souls like B B King who simply marshall through following their own precious beat.

[Raymond Strodl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I collect biographies and autobiographies of musicians and this is one of my favorites. This frank insight into the life of a musician left me feeling that I had truly got to know this warm, hardworking and talented man, and I liked him.

His insights into some of the great musicians of our age that he collaborated or worked gave interesting insights.

This guitar master is one of my musical influences and I was thrilled get to know him and find out that I liked him.

[Gabriela Magalhães · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma historia que, alem de mostrar a superação e as batalhas vencidas pelo rei do blues, impressiona por exibir sua maior característica: a gentileza! Um cara que apesar de crescer nas situações mais adversas, tanto de pobreza quanto de preconceito pela segregação racial, nunca perdeu a raça, garra e muito menos a sua educação com seus fãs, admiradores e até críticos e "inimigos". Acho que todos tem uma lição a aprender com ele, além da musical!!

[Christina Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feels like a conversation with B himself; honest and without embellishment.

[East Bay J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a lot of bios and studies of blues and blues musicians. Because so many of these musicians have passed away, it's rare to see an autobiography. Generally, these books fall in the realm of the writer interviewing surviving family and friends of the subject in an attempt to discover the story behind the music or musician. Blues All Around Me, then, is kind if a rare treat.

An additional treat is the solid, simple lucidity of B. B. King's writing. I'm sure it helps that his coauthor in this venture is an accomplished biographer, but King achieves a poetry at times that reminds me of his music. He comes across as a friendly, affable, humble, hard working guy. He tells his story with all the emotion and feeling he can muster, creating an intimacy that, were it missing, would weaken the impact of this book. King is very matter of fact about the events of his life. He's so straightforward that it was uncomfortable to read some of these passages. I got the sense there was a great deal of catharsis for King in the telling of his tale.

Blues All Around Me is full of amazing stories, not just about King but also about the various characters he came into contact throughout his career. Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, George Bush, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King and many more feature in the story of B. B. King and King's insight lends something to their stories, as well. King discusses cotton farming, racism, guitar playing, religion, family, relationships, sex and more, all in a clear, even way.

It's interesting that, according to King, he first experienced sexual intercourse as a young boy of six. I recall reading Ike Turner's autobiography years and years ago and being surprised at the young age he became sexually active. I believe Little Richard may have also have been sexually active at a very young age. I wonder if this has to do with the three of them having to grow up faster than children typically do, due to environment and circumstance. I think it's interesting because, at six years old, I had not the slightest inkling of sex or sexuality.

There is also a great deal of inspiration to be found here. King's mother died when he was very young and nothing about the first several decades of his life was particularly easy. Yet, no matter how many times he got knocked down by the trials of life, he always picked himself up, dusted himself off and got on with things. King's attitude towards life and its difficulties is exemplary.

On a serendipitous side note, King references a book by Charles Keil called Urban Blues. Coauthor David Ritz references this book as well. In fact, King is featured on the cover of the book! I happened to pick up a copy of Urban Blues the same day I bought Blues All Around Me. Having read that both King and Ritz hold Keil and his book in such high regard makes me all the more excited to readUrban Blues and happy that I had enough trade credit that day to get both books.

Fans of B. B. King will love Blues All Around Me. It's an effective, no nonsense insight into the man and his legend.

[Diego Kroeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember like it was yesterday, as a young child going to my first ever concert. I knew relatively nothing about the King besides what my father told me and what a show it was! We bought nose-bleeder seats because we couldn’t afford those closer to the stage and boy did he shred Lucille like nothing I had ever heard before! From that moment I was entranced with the blues. I was the youngest person in that relatively small Miami auditorium so my father decided to try and sneak closer to the lower VIP section and thanks to a kind woman who saw a young man absolutely entranced by what he was hearing, we were let through. Since the lower section was filled with old, mostly white, and assumingely rich men and women in seats, we were forced to stand. I stuck to that stage like glue with B.B. no more than 2 meters away from me playing like a young man, yet he was well into his 80s. As a young guitarist, I tried mimicking his “ol’ lemon” facial expressions and guitar playing with my own “air guitar”. B.B. didn’t stand up for the entire show, given his older age I assume, yet when he saw such a young fan seemingly copying him playing, he stopped mid song, got up, and tossed me the pick he was using. Upon seeing him do so, several men and women rushed to grab the pick which had fallen just at my feet. I will never forget that moment and from then on I was a B.B. King fan. Only after finishing this book years later, which I could not put down and finished within 2 days, did I understand where his heart was at in that very moment. There will never be another man like him, never will there be another blues player like him - there is only one King.

[Jamie Howison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is a rambling autobiography (and a bit on the longish side), written by David Ritz's countless hours of interviews and conversations, and published almost twenty years before King died. King speaks again and again of his faith in God, his respect for the church, his love of the sermons of C.L Franklin (Aretha's father, no less), but even more frequently he speaks of his love of women and his enormous sexual appetite. Over the years he fathered fifteen children from fifteen different women, and confesses that though he did his best to support them, he was on the whole rather absent from their lives. He speaks, too, of his gambling and his mismanagement of his finances, which landed him in deep trouble with the IRS. Yet for all that, he remains a rather likeable character, whose honest conversational voice keeps coming through.

[Teresa Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read this book in our book club. I enjoyed reading it. The autobiographer conveyed B. B.'s voice so well that at times it felt like B.B. was sitting there telling the story.

[The Immersion Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some see a blues musician like a follow-the-dots painter. Like any fool can do it. But simplicity is deceptive. And feeling is something that's not easy to evaluate. Lightnin' Hopkins may not have known many notes, but he knew all the right ones, and he knew where to put 'em. Some genius with four Ph.D.s in music theory might never be able to do in a lifetime what Lightnin' did in a minute - tell the truth.

I searched for any slight opening in the 10-foot chain-link fence surrouding King's tour bus. Nothing. I weighed my Fender Stratocaster in my hands and with a certain reckless abandon decided that I could hurl the instrument over the fence. Then, when he'd come out with his band to board the bus, I'd holler and beg for him to sign it and have someone throw it back over the fence to me.

I had no other options. The security guards at the backstage entrance ignored the pleas of my sister and I. We shamelessly implored them to have a heart and provide an unforgettable experience to two young kids. We couldn't find any discarded backstage passes anywhere on the littered floor of the amphitheater. But I would not be denied. The power of Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy and BB King had charged my ambition and purged me of any regard for decorum or dignity. After all, Buddy Guy was "so funky you could smell it" and BB King reigned over the stage like a god come down to his people.

Then, while gauging my launch angles to clear the fence, I heard my sister cry my name. I went running towards her and two wonderful women were holding out their backstage passes to us. They had been through to meet and greet the great King and were offering their passes to us. My dignity still absent, I thanked them profusely and ran back to the security guards and their rolling eyes. They simply opened the gate and waved us through. They abandoned the fight and rather chose to live to see another day. What were two more kids to BB King?

I will tell you what BB King was to two more kids.

He sat comfortably in a blueish-purple arm chair situated in a room full of grateful subjects - his smile radiating the same joy as greeting relatives at a long overdue family reunion. One young rocker wore white gloves laying his autographed guitar back into it's hard-shell case. A man laughed while taking photos of people rushing next to BB, squatting down to capture the memory of a lifetime. The bare white walls seemed to cower in homage to a man from whose greatness they wouldn't dare distract.

"Can I shake your hand?" I honestly don't remember how he replied. I do remember smiling eyes and a large hand reaching out to me from his seat. I held it and noted the massive ring donning his finger. I don't recall the grip, just this overwhelming sense of gentleness.

But down to business. "Will you please sign my guitar?" He did speak during these exchanges, his voice like amber hue and higher in its timbre than I expected. I simply can't recall exactly what he said up to this point. Someone handed BB a marker and he signed his name on the body of my Strat. When he handed it back to me, a rush of comfort overtook me, an excited feeling of belonging or perhaps simply of relief. I would be leaving with a guitar emblazoned with BB King's signature.

I found myself on the floor, kneeling next to his chair, asking if he really only played Lucille. Any world famous musician surely has dozens of instruments from which to choose from for any performance. He replied with a giggle, "No, no, no...I have an acoustic too." Unreal. The others in line burst into laughter and I remember some looking at me with familial smiles as if grateful for my interaction with BB. Looking back, they must have relished the charismatic character of King which I had unknowingly displayed for their amusement.

"And what was it like recording with Eric Clapton?!?" I believe he was shaking someone else's hand at this point and answered, "Oh, Eric? Yeah, he's pretty cool." Breathe. Don't forget to breathe.

The photographer then leaned over and suggested we take a photo together. I stayed on one knee and leaned over BBs shoulder; my arm around the top of his armchair, our heads bending towards each other. My sister then walked up and asked, like I had, if she could shake his hand. "Girl, you can give me a hug 'round my neck if you want to!" My sister hugged BB King as if he were her granddaddy.

Imagine classical music; any kind of western academic system of music. I would argue that these composers and players "follow the dots" more than any great bluesman. Players quite literally follow notes on a page to perform a piece. Instead of glorifying the deceptive human element of music, the part less easy to evaluate, old western culture complicated the dots. This way, no one could argue the supremacy of their craft and their monopoly over the idea of "real music". Futhermore, perhaps this can also represent our tendency to follow more and more complicated dots in evaluating our world and universe leaving no room for spirit or anything we can't quantify. BB King and those like him can argue that supremacy and challenge us to glorify the kindred spirit and shared human experience of all people, not only those playing "real music" on high.

I've read this autobiography, met the man himself, and I still can't quantify BB King - nor can this book. He airs all his flaws, all his passions, all his ambitions, all his joys and weaknesses, leaving us with a familiarity of a man; a man glorified in the annals of American music but still a man - something complex, deceptive, not so easy to evaluate.

When BB died, I did not feel as though a hole had been left in American music or that a hole had been left in the world or our culture. He has left these holes and one can see them, hear them and understand them. But one does not feel these holes. Rather, I felt in my stomach that pit left from a personal loss. Something closer, perhaps less grand when viewed from the outside, but irreplaceable and more valuable then any quantification of how well one follows dots.

BB changed the world. Yes, perhaps in a cultural and historic sense, but for the first time, I valued someone of that accomplishment and magnitude not because he changed the world, but because he changed me.

I feel blessed to be part of the change - even if it's only for a single afternoon, even if it lasts only as long as it takes the shimmering sun to melt into the dark Mississippi soil.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the blues. And while BB King is not my favorite bluesman, I love what he's done for the blues during his career. He's a great entertainer. I've seen him live probably 10 times. During his shows--and especially as he's gotten older--he tells stories. These can be entertaining. But there comes a point, at least for me, that I think "Okay, story time is over. Now start playing again." There are even times when I feel uncomfortable when he's telling his stories. I don't want to hear BB telling about the joys of Viagra.

Well, this book was written very much in his voice. To me it was like listening to his stories during one of his shows. At times they were entertaining and insightful. At times they made me uncomfortable. And often I thought "Okay, story time is over. Now start playing again."

[MaryAlice · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Ritz did an excellent job recording B.B. King's story; for most of Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B. B. King, it felt like B. B. was talking to me directly.

B. B.'s voice changed as he went from childhood to struggling young musician, to a more mature man of 70 (his age when telling Ritz his story.)I do not know if that was due to Ritz's skill as a writer or if it was a natural result of B. B. looking back, recalling his past.

James Brown took claim to being "the hardest working man in America." After reading B. B.'s story, I think he takes claim to being the hardest working man in the music entertainment business. Mr. King's biography is an inspirational tale of how a boy growing up in abject poverty, doing hard physical labor, learning values from his mother, overcame obstacles to become a wealthy, renown entertainer.

[Michelle G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's true, the blues isn't only about the sad times, it includes all emotions laid bare for others to hear. This is no less true of Riley King. The beginning read like a compelling novel, full of character development, soaring highs and deep lows, but then it started getting choppy with all the musician name dropping once he made it in Memphis. By the last chapter, there were more vignettes and most of them made me laugh or feel upset (experiences with racism), but you take this for what it is -- B.B.'s memories as he recalls them, and he says as much in the very first chapter so I am not complaining. I am glad to have read his autobiography as a backdrop to listening to his music.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This felt more like a conversation with BB King than a traditional memoir which made it quite enjoyable to read. I could imagine him sitting across from me telling me the unvarnished stories from his life. He was incredibly honest and sincere. He was a man who knew his strengths and more importantly his weaknesses and wasn’t afraid to admit them. Loved how much he enjoyed learning new things, especially that he would read about all the things that he wanted to know about. It’s how he learned to fly a plane which is incredible. I'm happy to have a bit of insight into him and his music and will also be eternally grateful that I was able to see him perform in person once.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been interested in B.B. King and his life. The fact that he wrote his own biography made me want to read the book even more. The story of his life is one of poverty, sadness, and success. His diction is simple, so his personality comes out throughout the book. He also explains the meaning of blues. It's not just about being sad. It's just pouring out your emotion, plain and simple. This is much like the book, where he explains everything in a fundamental and understandable way.

[Jarl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a brilliant book. I loved discovering so much of B.B. King's life that I did not know prior. B.B. King analysed how Blues was important to him from childhood, how it influenced him, and how he became a success with the help of his peers and Lucille (the name he gives all of his guitars - explained in the book). Overall, although there were few gramatical errors in the book itself, this was an outstanding read - why I rated this book 5 stars.

[Chelsea Hensley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. B.B really takes you on a journey through History and Blues.
If you are a feminist you may not like B.B Kings comments towards woman. Though B.B loved women and felt at peace anytime a female was present, much of his ideals towards women appeared to be mainly sexual in nature, that and nothing more.
Those thoughts aside, this book has really opened my eyes to the brilliance of Blues and the respect it demands.

[Cole Heramb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a terrible book, but could have been written in a more entertaining way. It was interesting to learn about B.B.'s ife growing up, but someof the parts of the book were a little slow. It seemed as though there were almost too many names and small events that made the story a litte difficult to follow. Aside from those small issues, the book was a good one to get through.

[Phil Doherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extraordinary life told with candour and humility. I loved King's straight talking and his ability to define 'the blues'. B.B King is the ultimate definition of a Bluesman, still hooked on spending over 300 days a year on the road. This book is a slice of history, a little bit rough around the edges but the 100% real deal.

[Theresa David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know much about the man, but I knew his music. I enjoyed the look in to B.B.'s humble beginnings and tenacious drive to succeed. He seemed to be a man of honor and integrity and he also didn't apologize for who he was. A great and easy read and a wonderful look in to the life of a great Blue's legend.

[Dom Venditti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book from the king of the blues. The big man led an almost Disney like life full of hardships, highs and lows.

The King goes over his sex life in great detail, learning the guitar and most importantly, living the blues. His early life on a cotton picking plantation and family life are particularly heartbreaking and eye-opening.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

B.B. King is an incredible musician and showman. This is the story of his life, and as such it is also the story of the blues.

I've seen B.B. King perform several times, and even met him twice. He is truly the king of the blues and an incredible ambassador for it. He's also a very friendly guy.

[Sandy Duke · Rating 2 out of 5]

BB is best left to telling stories through Lucille. Surely there were more stories to be told in all of those days on the road that did not have to do with BB's sex life. Seems that was all BB wanted to share with us though. Too bad. Still a fan of his music, though.

[George Crowder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific autobiography, compulsively readable, that really captures the essence of this gentle, thoughtful, hard-working man. David Ritz is a gifted collaborator, bringing his expert touch to the life of B.B. King, as he has to the stories of many other musicians.

[Adamdaigle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 24-year-old book was a real prize find. It had so many memorable lines in the book, just as if they were song lyrics.

What a great American story. Thank goodness he wrecked the tractor that day. No telling how things would have turned out.