The Death Of B.B. King Means We Should Totally Remember Our Original Sin Or Something

Pirate's Cove ^ | May 16, 2015

[2ndDivisionVet]

In case you missed it, B.B. King, one of the best of the original Blues players ever, passed on. Of course, when we walk down the road into the fever swamps of Leftism, in this case, the always unhinged and insane Salon, we get

B.B. King and our blatant racial revisionism: The South still denies the roots of “America’s music” Southern states celebrating “America’s music” should remember the direct line between our original sin & the blues

We all have to go sometime. And hopefully, B. B. King was able to reflect in his twilight years that he had lived a longer, greater and more illustrious life than he ever might have imagined when he was born in the cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta back in 1925. He has passed away at the grand old age of 89.

I have found myself listening extensively to the blues over this past year or so. There is not a direct musical connection here to my biography of Wilson Pickett, who went straight from gospel to R&B and soul. But it has helped further inform my understanding of the culture of the deep South, the music that came out of the slavery experience, and how it then traveled, via the Great Migration, to the big cities of the industrial North. Just recently, I found myself listening to B.B. King’s classic “Why I Sing the Blues” and had to stop what I was doing to truly register the opening verse:

When I first got the blues They brought me over on a ship Men were standing over me And a lot more with a whip And everybody wanna know Why I sing the blues…

I thought back to when I drove briefly through Mississippi this March and was taken aback by its disingenuous welcome sign, “Birthplace of America’s Music,” which offers absolutely no hint whatsoever as to how that music came about. A much more simple and accurate statement would be to call it “Birthplace of the Blues,” and leave travelers and residents alike to draw their own reference points.

Unfortunately, such revisionism is everywhere in America, and probably the world. I’m currently reading the brand new book “Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South“ by Charles L. Hughes, which takes a fresh look at the famously “integrated” studios of Memphis, Muscle Shoals and Nashville, and the mostly white musicians who played on (and produced, and owned) so much of the great soul music that came out of them. The story of how black music from the South was steadily assimilated into and by white popular culture is, thanks to the work of people like Hughes, one of ongoing debate – and “Country Soul” confirms how our own skin color, however subconsciously and perhaps even unwillingly, plays into our individual perspectives on the issue(s).

Is anyone surprised by Salon writer Tony Fletcher using the death of Mr. King as an excuse to delve into slavery, a practice that has been outlawed in the United States for over 150 years, and racism? These folks cannot help themselves when it comes to stoking the flames, rather than looking for healing. Seriously, a sign set Tony off. A sign. Blues is America’s music. It was developed here. But, loony tunes liberals always have to assuage their white guilt and push this narrative. They can’t help themselves.

And, apparently, because White people like the Blues, we’re unconscious racists. Seriously, even after all this time, I really do not get in the slightest how Liberal brains work. The insane thoughts that emanate are really insane.

[Baynative]

Unfortunately This Video of BB KING and BUDDY GUY that was made five years ago gives a poignant look at a good man who loved his music and his life. The last lines from BB are especially prophetic and moving, to me. I expect something special from Buddy in memorial.

[fatnotlazy]

Never let a crisis (or a passing) go to waste.

The left should be ashamed, but psychopaths don’t feel shame.

[Calvin Locke]

And, apparently, because White people like the Blues, we’re unconscious racists.

So, if I like the Blues, and detest rap/hip-hop, does that cancel the unconscious racism out?

[Boogieman]

“In case you missed it, B.B. King, one of the best of the original Blues players...”

Not really original, he learned to play from his cousin, who himself learned from older country blues players. So, he was more part of the 3rd generation/3rd wave of blues artists.

[edwinland]

I thought back to when I drove briefly through Mississippi this March and was taken aback by its disingenuous welcome sign, “Birthplace of America’s Music,” which offers absolutely no hint whatsoever as to how that music came about. A much more simple and accurate statement would be to call it “Birthplace of the Blues,” and leave travelers and residents alike to draw their own reference points.

This is a great example of a paragraph so devoid of meaning that you could always write it, regardless of the facts on the ground. For example, if the Mississippi signs indeed said "Birthplace of the Blues" the author could have written:

I thought back to when I drove briefly through Mississippi this March and was taken aback by its disingenuous welcome sign, “Birthplace of the Blues,” which offers absolutely no hint whatsoever as to how the Blues inspired virtually every other genre of American music, notably Rock and Roll. A much more simple and accurate statement would be to call it “Birthplace of the American Music,” instead of leaving travelers and residents to try to draw their own connections between the Blues and contemporary American music.

[Banjoguy]

I appreciate all the good things being said about BBK...but honestly, I never heard the guy play one blues scale, just the same string bend over and over. (Maybe I wasn't listening?)

Please, don't be too hard on me.

[dmz]

When I see original in this context, I think more that he was born in the deep south and made his way upriver, as opposed to the 2nd and so forth generations that were born in Kansas City or Chicago or any of the other way stations along the way.

[dmz]

You weren’t listening.

I’d make a banjo joke but since I play one as well, it just would be unseemly.

He’s not playing 8 or 16 notes a measure like a banjo does, so you have to listen longer :-)

[mad_as_he$$]

Yup. I have seen BB five times over the years. The first time was some bar in the 70’s in Riverside, CA. He was interesting but still just an above the middle of the road picker. I think his singing deliver was good and that made the act work.

[WayneS]

Here are a couple of quotes form the man himself on the subject:

“I just wonder where I was when the talent was being given out, like George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Eric Clapton... oh, there’s many more! I wouldn’t want to be like them, you understand, but I’d like to be equal, if you will.”

and,

“You’ve heard me call myself a bluesman and a blues singer. I call myself a blues singer, but you ain’t never heard me call myself a blues guitar man. Well, that’s because there’s been so many can do it better’n I can, play the blues better’n me. I think a lot of them have told me things, taught me things.”