B. B. King

I call myself a blues singer, but you ain’t never heard me call myself a blues guitar man.

I’ve always tried to defend the idea that the blues doesn’t have to be sung by a person who comes from Mississippi, as I did.

Blues purists never cared for me. I don’t worry about it. I think if it this way: When I made ‘Three O’ Clock Blues’, they were not there. The people out there made the tune. And blues purists just wrote about it. The people is who I’m trying to satisfy.

I’m a fan first. I believed Duke Ellington when he said there’s no bad music, just some of it is presented badly. As a kid, hanging around Church Street, the presentation of music was so powerful, I couldn’t help but jump for joy. I had discovered art, or truth, or whatever you want to call it; I had seen a light I’d follow forever.

I wanted to sustain a note like a singer. I wanted to phrase a note like a saxist. By bending the strings, by trilling my hand – and I have big fat hands – I could achieve something that approximated a vocal vibrato. I could sustain a note. I wanted to connect my guitar to human emotions. By fooling with the feedback between my amplifier and instrument, I started experimenting with sounds that expressed my feelings, whether happy or sad, bouncy or bluesy. I was looking for ways to let my guitar sing.

I tell my children now that they are older, ‘If something happens to me… don’t make no big fuss over me. Don’t make no big expense on my funeral. Don’t put any pressure on the rest of the family. I’ve loved everybody, and I hope they loved me. But don’t create this big expense for the family.’

Men have died for this music. You can’t get more serious than that.

I think that what is important is that the music be honest and direct and that it is relevant to today.

What don’t I want to learn? I have how-to books, history, nature. Ain’t nobody here saying, ‘You’d better learn this.’ But I still think I’ve got a head on my shoulders, and it pleases me.

T-Bone was, to me, that sound of being in heaven.

If you want to make beautiful music, you must play the black and the white notes together.

If you already have a piece of music ingrained in your body, why would you not play it?

One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you’re into jazz.

You only get better by playing.

I never really thought about becoming a professional musician.

I hope my recordings of my own works won’t inhibit other people’s performances. The brutal fact is that one doesn’t always get the exact tempo one wants, although one improves with experience.

If a Jazz musician plays someone else’s song, he has a responsibility to make a distinct and original statement.

For most dates I was paid the sum of $1 per hr and they always tipped me at the end of the night.

All a musician can do is to get closer to the source.

I didn’t know the right names for anything at first, but I knew what knocked me out. Changes… man I dug.

If a guy’s got it, let him give it. I’m selling music, not prejudice.