Thrill Still There for 80-Year-Old B.B. King

[CTC Command]

BB King has been on the road for nearly 60 years and -- if he would want it -- has earned a life of ease. So why is the undisputed king of the blues still making those one-nighters? That's the question that first comes to mind on his 80th birthday.

Listen to this story here.

At 80, B.B. King still works for the blues

Now that he’s a beloved musical icon, turning 80 and embraced by both blacks and whites, it’s difficult to understand that B.B. King comes from a time when there were two Americas.

Before the 13 Grammys, induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Kennedy Center honors, the eponymous night clubs, even before he picked up a guitar, the blues singer picked cotton, drove tractors and sawed wood. He never finished high school.

And despite all the fame, the worldwide accolades and the records with rock kings like Eric Clapton and Bono, he has never forgotten growing up in the segregated South, where they just opened the B.B. King museum in Indianola, Mississippi, near his birthplace on a plantation.

Read the rest here.

Edited September 16, 2005 by Shawn

[Shawn]

:Here's to you:

[Kooperman]

Truly an American icon...

[method77]

an icon indeed

icons if you include Lucille. That guitar is alive

[slum_goddess]

it’s difficult to understand that B.B. King comes from a time when there were two Americas.

i thought there were still two especially after the recent flooding, silly me. (happy b-day, BB) :)

[Ken]

i thought there were still two especially after the recent flooding, silly me. (happy b-day, BB)

The "two Americas" now have to do with the growing class separation.

The wealthy are getting even more so, and the rest are slipping down the slope of poverty.

[Kooperman]

The "two Americas" now have to do with the growing class separation.

The wealthy are getting even more so, and the rest are slipping down the slope of poverty.

By 2008 John Edwards' message should really resonate, provided we can still afford electricity then....

[method77]

please don't insert some american politician name in every thread. Make it easier for us foreign dumbasses

[Kooperman]

please don't insert some american politician name in every thread. Make it easier for us foreign dumbasses

When I'm confronted with a Greek or New Zealand or British or Canadian or whatever politican my fellow BK members mention in a thread, I do a search to somewhat familiarize myself with them. I figure that if that politician is important enough to be mentioned in that member's post....if that politician has a message that could somehow one day help connect this world into one community (or, conversely, tear it apart even more than it is), then I owe it to myself and the member to find out more about that person.

John Edwards ran with John Kerry last year as his vice-presidential candidate...I would have been happier to see him as the presidential candidate. He spoke of the two Americas...one with nice houses, warm clothes, educational and career opportunities, and stability...the other America is one whose citizens live every day of their lives faced with uncertainty and instability. They don't have nice living conditions, well-balanced meals or trendy clothing to wear. They don't have health insurance, educational opportunities or family businesses to work in. They can be black, hispanic or caucasian...the one thing they have in common is poverty. John Edwards didn't grow up in that situation, but his family was by no means well-to-do. He worked hard to acheive a better life, and he has. He understands poor people and their problems, unlike George Bush and his bloodless corporate supporters.

The Gulf Coast tragedy, particularly in New Orleans, has exposed to the world the second America...the one that the George Bush Republican regime tries to sweep under the table. It's an America that isn't pretty, and it won't get any better without assistance they're not getting from George Bush. He's even allowing reconstruction and cleanup corporations to pay them less than prevailing wages to do the hard labor required to rebuild the region. Someone has to put into motion some programs to begin bridging that great gap between the Americas...John Edwards has that willingness...not many other politicians have made the effort.

[slum_goddess]

I would have been happier to see him as the presidential candidate.

same here.

The "two Americas" now have to do with the growing class separation.

duhhhhhhhhhh!