B. B. King

I was born on a plantation, and things weren’t so good. We didn’t have any money. I never thought of the word ‘poor’ ’til I got to be a man, but when you live in a house that you can always peek out of and see what kind of day it is, you’re not doing so well. And your rest room is not inside the house.

I was a singing disc jockey who heard every type of music there was – and loved it all.

Playing the guitar is like telling the truth – you never have to worry about repeating the same [lie] if you told the truth. You don’t have to pretend, or cover up. If someone asks you again, you don’t have to think about it or worry about it because there it is. It’s you.

I like jazz, rock n’ roll, some hip hop – I can’t think of any music I don’t like.

I have not been a good father, but no father has loved his children more. Like my father, I decided the best thing I could do for my kids was work and provide. Fortunately, I’ve been able to do that. Unfortunately, my work was on the road, and that’s meant a life of one-nighters.

I thought Eric Clapton was good. He still is. Not only is he good – he’s rock’s #1 guitarist, and he plays blues better than most of us.

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.

I remember Elvis as a young man hanging around the Sun Studios. Even then, I knew this kid had a tremendous talent. He was a dynamic young boy. His phraseology, his way of looking at a song, was as unique as Sinatra’s. I was a tremendous fan, and had Elvis lived, there would have been no end to his inventiveness.

You have a mentor or teacher and you learn all he can show you.

There’s a lot of recreational Jazz going on, where cats learn a particular style and become sharks on somebody else’s language.

Improvisation is the ability to talk to oneself.

You’ve got to learn your instrument.

To work is to feel alive.

It’s difficult for me to dislike an artist, no matter what he’s creating.

I’m fascinated with the electronic devices that we can mess around with.

There is a time where you’re beyond yourself, better than your technique, better than your usual ideas.

You don’t know what love is, until you’ve learned the meaning of the blues, until you’ve loved a love you’ve had to lose.

Musicians have to suffer to a certain degree in order to obtain their outlet.

When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille.

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

Regardless of what you play, the biggest thing is keeping the feel going.