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| B.B. King | Legends of the Canyon | Classic Artist Series |
BB King - Life of Riley Reviews
Total Film
"Morgan Freeman's wise drawl underscores this tribute to blues icon Riley ‘B.B.’ King, whose extraordinary life is recounted by first-time director Jon Brewer.
Shots of endless swampland and the KKK show what the man started out with; contributions from Bill Cosby, Bono, Bruce Willis and King’s own board of directors show the lasting power in his music"
Radio Times
"Still playing over 100 shows a year half a decade after his farewell tour, Riley B King (better known as BB King, from a moniker he picked while working as a DJ, the Beale Street Blues Boy) has more than earned his nickname "The King of the Blues". Born in Mississippi in 1925, he was raised by his grandmother and worked on a cotton plantation while singing with the local church choir and learning his first guitar chords. He began recording in 1949 and influenced a generation of rock royalty, including Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and Bono, who all testify to his greatness here alongside Bruce Willis and Barack Obama.
This engrossing, Morgan Freeman-narrated profile puts King front and centre, and director Jon Brewer not only captures his musical genius in 250 hours of footage amassed over two years, but also his tenacity in enduring decades of vicious and often violent racial prejudice."
Sonic Shocks
‘You can write 1,000 notes a minute, but if there are no feelings doesn’t mean anything’. In one quote, as ‘The Life of Riley’ opens, the whole true meaning of music is synthesized. Right there.
Jon Brewer’s inspirational documentary goes all the way back to Mississippi to re-live the humble beginnings of Riley B. King before he became Blues Boy (B.B.) King. We go through poverty, segregation but also love and courage, in the Southern U.S. of the Ku Klux Klan. In an emotional combination of re-enacting, old photographs and interviews, the period black & white is coloured by the poignant notes of the original American blues, and I dare you not to tap at least one foot as B.B. and his loved ones tell the story.
Our feet are still tapping as the end credits roll, our hearts filled with love and gratitude. And a thought: either you’re driving a tractor, delivering mail, managing a bank or cooking for your family, let it come from your heart"
Subba Cultcha
"This is a great film, a brilliant expose on a man who has long lived as a whispered and unexplored genius of his creations, but so often hidden behind his own schedule of unrelenting work and releases, it is nice to peek behind the curtain and see the real face of the man
Jon Brewer has created a masterpiece that looks at a man who has been born anew as a legend who will live forever in music… We should all be lucky to have his music touch us in one-way or another.
It’s a stunning achievement, and one that needs all of you as an audience".
The Guardian
"The great Mississippi-born blues singer and guitarist BB King, was christened Riley B King in 1925, which explains the comic title of this authoritative British documentary on his long, impressive career. BB bore with dignity his exclusion by white society and the domination of the region he grew up in by the Ku Klux Klan. But it was from a white employer that he got his first decent guitar, and it was the admiration of British musicians – the Stones, the Beatles and Eric Clapton among them – that ultimately brought him a huge following in white America.
There's a wonderful clip from a concert he gave at the White House with Mick Jagger in which Barack Obama joins them on stage, and at a couple of points Morgan Freeman steps out of his role as narrator to make his own eloquent tribute straight to camera."
Reviews
Slash, Ronnie Wood, Mick Hucknall Amongst Stars Joining BB King At Royal Albert Hall
Slash tweeted earlier today that he was picking up two Gibsons courtesy of the Gibson Showroom
for a mysterious gig. He joined BB King at Royal Albert Hall tonight for a special guest appearance
along with Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood, Simply Red's Mick Hucknall, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi?.
King was appearing at Royal Albert Hall as part of The Blues Festival in London. Check out some footage
of the guest appearance below:
By Justin Ng www.entertainment-focus.com
B.B. King live at the RoyalAlbert Hall, London
Tuesday, June 28 marked what may very well be Mr. King?s last foray onto British soil. The 85 year old legend, said to have performed an average of 275 concerts per year ever since his number one hit ?Three O?Clock Blues,? enticed a medley of people to the Royal Albert Hall this week with just the promise of his presence.Receiving a standing ovation from the packed out Royal Albert Hall (an awe inspiring sight in itself), B.B. King takes a seat, center stage, and gives the rest of the band as much attention as he himself received, introducing each one in turn. Fragile and cute (there is no other word to describe the frail old man sitting on the stage), from the first plucked string, and the first powerfully belted out note, it is easy to see why he is such a legend.
Drawing chuckles from the crowd with each comment about how old and forgetful he is, it is unfortunately very quickly that we can tell he?s not just saying it for the comedic factor. Rambling on and on in between the few songs the group manage to complete, an almost impatience settles for the beautiful music we were all so excited to hear.
After having announced at the beginning of the show that he had a few surprises up his sleeve, the audience is still not suitably prepared for what is to occur. First up were US singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi and her husband slide guitarist Derek Trucks. More cheers greeted Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall and guitarists Slash and Rolling Stone?s Ronnie Wood. Having developed one of the world?s most readily identified guitar styles, indispensable components of rock guitarists vocabulary and what has become a model for thousands of players, the aura of respect on the stage is palpable.
Vibing off each other with mind boggling guitar riffs and incredible voices, the setting feels supremely intimate, despite the thousands of people and the high ceilinged, large venue. Leading into one of his greatest hits ?The Thrill Is Gone,? Slash removes his hat (perhaps the only time he?s ever been seen without it) and places it gently onto B.B. King?s head.
Gazing in genuine amazement at the talent sitting either side of him, no egos seem to be present. B.B.?s humanity is especially endearing, and it is only at moments where someone creeps onto the back of the stage and attempts to take an inconspicuous picture that the spell is broken and you are reminded that what you?re witnessing is a true legend at work.
Throwing out guitar picks to a fumble of hands and a second standing ovation, B.B. exits the stage. Every song ends but is that any reason not to enjoy the music? springs to mind, as we exit the venue. And it?s true; with a legend of a life, this is as good a way to leave it, as any.
By Alya mooro at soulculture.co.ukBluesfest, BB King - Albert Hall - review
The blues ain't nuthin' but a good woman gone bad, as they say, but last night it was more a case of a great guy gettin' old.BluesFest London 2011 needed BB King as its only authentic poster-boy, but at 85 the Mississippi guitar maestro is well past poster-boyhood. After an ominously deafening 20-minute set by his brass-heavy backing band, he emerged from the wings to a tumultuous ovation. Waving graciously like a visiting head of state, he settled into a chair centre-stage, donned his faithful guitar, took the mike and began to ramble like your absent-minded grandpa at Christmas.
Chatting amiably but forgetting not only his set-list but also the names of his backing musicians, he refused to identify some forthcoming mystery guests "in case y'all walk out on me" first.
"Never!" screamed someone in the stalls. Your Love's All I Need featured that wondrous one-note shake, his left hand levitating on the string like a bee's wings, but things did not radically improve until guests began drifting onstage.
First up were sweet-voiced US singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi and her husband, slide-guitar virtuoso Derek Trucks. More cheers greeted Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall - "he's about as red as me" - and two guitarists, Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood and Slash, the top-hatted kid from Guns 'n' Roses. Both remained coolly anonymous but King gave everyone adequate solo space. "I wish I could do that," he mused after a particularly shapely Trucks solo, but of course his is the original style they all studied. An extended romp through The Thrill is Gone and When the Saints Go Marching In left everyone happy.
By Jack Massarik http://www.thisislondon.co.uk
