The other day someone was telling me how "simple" B.B. King is and I was like "please stop reading internet comments and thinking they're smart..." The intricacy and rhythmic brilliance in his playing was absolutely out of this world. He was like Shakespeare with a guitar. He always seemed to know what to say.
There was NOTHING out of this world in his playing. It was great, yes. Learn your triads and intervals. For example in this solo, is the same thing over and over. Same intervals and phrases. As for the timing and rhythm. Well, those are amongst the first things a guitar player must learn. Bends, vibrato and then rhythm/timing. Much easier than say shredding or Instrumental Rock/Metal as far as technique, but more difficult to execute in a musical context. Thats what people mean. No offense, but your comment is just as absurd as the ones that claim, Blues sucks.
@@lelandgaunt7130 If you can play with the incredible feel, have one of the most signature guitar sounds ever, lead groups of incredible musicians all around the world for decades, be a global household name, then why in the world are you on youtube making comments like this? Go do what B.B. King did. It's super simple.
@@ThreeKingsOfBluesSir if you could tab 'Sweet Sixteen' from Live in Zaire that would be incredible. Thank you so much for everything you're doing brother.
B.B. called his approach “speaking with good diction”. Every note was carefully placed and nuanced. His facial expressions say it all. And they were not for show.
With blues , it’s all about phrasing & the right note at the right time that will get an audience to start yelling, I’ve seen Albert & BB King get standing ovations with one well placed note!
I'd throw in dynamics. What makes BB so special is his use of dynamics IMO. He's telling a story. When you hear him play it's like he's pulling and pushing you and taking you where he wants you to go...with every note.
This is the first time I've been really impressed to see BB King playing. Until then, I had only seen videos of him playing at an advanced age, always playing economically and using a kind of simplified blues (although his characteristic way of sounding the notes is always very pleasant to hear). But in this video you can see that he really understood the inner workings of the blues, the small changes of notes, at the right moment, that characterize playing over changes. This video is really special. BB King is a blues master, without a doubt.
His playing is so clean. No fancy effects pedals or distortion to hide his mistakes. Just a wonderful touch and complete mastery of his instrument. I'll never tire of listening to BB.
A friend of mine gave me a birthday present in on December 1985....front row seat to a BB King show in a small venue in Edmonton Alberta Canada! He was a good friend...! Some people still don't believe me, but I was there!!! BB King can make you weep with one note and that's what the blues is! Forget the shredders.
I am so glad that I got to see him in concert. Although it was almost 20 years after this he still had it all: the tone, the phrasing and, of course, the vibrato. He also had an incredible stage presence.
Same here, saw BB at the Count Basie in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1997. Just him and that Fender Twin were louder than the whole backing band. He told stories and played amazingly, so happy I got to see him!
I suspect the key change was for the benefit of the horn section, to make it easier for them. But then one would ask why wasn’t the performance in 2nd key from the beginning? 🤔
@@gideonk123 That makes sense. The Band stopped playing when BB starts noodling a semitone below. So it seems that was not intended right from the start. But this catched my ear. BTW: Sea Song Cover on your channel is really beautiful! Thx.
Everybody who says that BB King is simple...they have in mind a 80 years old Man talking to the audience about his new friends. They don't know the young BB King...the SingSing...the incredible performer and musician and SINGER that he was.
Or the racism he encounterd. His early songs, he was prohibited by US law to play his own songs, untill after the songs were recorded and played by a white artist first. Thank you America. The Beatles, the Rollong Stones, Led Zeppelin, they all made their fortune out of this law. 🚀🏴☠️🎸
The mark of a true guitar master is knowing exactly who they are after the fewest notes played. BB King is the definition of that rule. You know who is playing immediately. ❤️
I hear so many people talk about great blues players, and names we all know, but to me the only one that is really great is BB, no dreaded distortion, or added FX and thousands of un-musical notes, just the right notes, at the right time, second to none, but that's just my opinion.
probably because if you listen to it without knowing its BB king it sounds like a 12 year old trying a guitar at guitar center. you are biased and saying he sounds good to be anti-racist.
@@itisinickt If you don't like BB's playing then that's fine. It's your opinion. But to say that the motive of a compliment is to be anti-racist, is as large a leap as I've heard.
What happens here is that, he forgets he had horns on tonight and kicked it off in his usual A but then he gets reminded at around 0:22 and immediately realizes he has to transpose it to G# to save this performance, then decides to finish the round first then do this break and interlude and save the day.
I once saw him play "The Thrill Is Gone" in a green suit at aroud the same age as this clip, and no other version comes close. BUT, I can't find the clip anywhere, I saw it on Norwegian TV in the early 90's and didn't try to find it before TH-cam came along. Anybody know the clip and where to find it?🙏
@@ThreeKingsOfBlues1/4 is not enough to cover the fractions of this tone bending. That’s how expressive it is. It’s not as simple all of its 1/4 ^. Do you get that?
@@ThreeKingsOfBluespretty sure you tried. BLUES AINT COLLEGIATE. Play your file on note-flight it’s not gonna sound like BB. Ok that’s my point. The notes are too particular for your notations to pinpoint. Everyone at home is gonna read your tabs and sound WRONG haha
If you're looking for a shredder then no BB is not the man for you, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if he could play fast and retain the soul of the music. I'm surprised you named Clapton because he generally plays similarly to BB in that he plays, he stops, he plays again 😅 and says as much as he needs to with few select notes, just like BB. I mean listen to a song like Strange Brew and tell me how Claptons solo is much different in form from BBs start, stop, start, stop. The difference is that BB came up with a ton of blues licks that essentially built the foundation for everyone to follow. I understand it's not everyones taste because BB isn't my favorite guitarist either but it's undeniable that he had a groundbreaking impact on things to come and deserves great respect as an artist and musician for his place in music history.
@@bobdillon1138 eric clapton: hundred of songs and covers !! srv: none! and eric is always on the 5top best guitarists in times magazines and rolling stones and many...not srv ! you have to play guitar and to be addicted to the blues to realise that there is one blues musician and it s clapton
![B.B. King - The Thrill Is Gone [Crossroads 2010] (Official Live Video)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SgXSomPE_FY/mqdefault.jpg)
The other day someone was telling me how "simple" B.B. King is and I was like "please stop reading internet comments and thinking they're smart..." The intricacy and rhythmic brilliance in his playing was absolutely out of this world. He was like Shakespeare with a guitar. He always seemed to know what to say.
There are many many people who confuse technical proficiency and showmanship with actual musicality and good songwriting.
There was NOTHING out of this world in his playing. It was great, yes. Learn your triads and intervals. For example in this solo, is the same thing over and over. Same intervals and phrases.
As for the timing and rhythm. Well, those are amongst the first things a guitar player must learn. Bends, vibrato and then rhythm/timing. Much easier than say shredding or Instrumental Rock/Metal as far as technique, but more difficult to execute in a musical context. Thats what people mean.
No offense, but your comment is just as absurd as the ones that claim, Blues sucks.
@@pandadoublexlBingo!
It is simple and not out of this world.
@@lelandgaunt7130 If you can play with the incredible feel, have one of the most signature guitar sounds ever, lead groups of incredible musicians all around the world for decades, be a global household name, then why in the world are you on youtube making comments like this? Go do what B.B. King did. It's super simple.
He's one of those guitar players that you know exactly who it is without seeing him after the first three notes.. unmistakable tone and articulation.
Only 3 notes!? Blackmore I usually know at the very first note. Or Iommy, or May.
@@MichaelWinter-ss6lx I guess your just a better musician than me bud...congrats
Don't forget his unmistakable vibrato
Love B.B's control of dynamics. He can hit you over the head with something one second and then be whispering in your ear the next.
He’s a master, for sure.
This is just amazing. BB taught us all how to play an electric guitar.
I think it beyonds electric guitar, he actually taught us how to understand music.
This channel is a hidden gem
@@orenalbertmeisel3127 thank you 🙏
Yes! So glad I found it!
@@ThreeKingsOfBluesSir if you could tab 'Sweet Sixteen' from Live in Zaire that would be incredible. Thank you so much for everything you're doing brother.
Please never stop making these, this is pure gold!
@@stainie thank you! I appreciate the support
Lucille sings so beautifully
This one of my favorite performances by him such a beautiful performance
B.B. called his approach “speaking with good diction”. Every note was carefully placed and nuanced. His facial expressions say it all. And they were not for show.
I love this era of B.B.'s playing. Just beautiful!
Awsome.. One of the greatest BB King solos I've seen. His control, feel and dynamics were top notch here..
fabulous, mid tune key change with a jazzy twist…BB!!❤
With blues , it’s all about phrasing & the right note at the right time that will get an audience to start yelling, I’ve seen Albert & BB King get standing ovations with one well placed note!
I'd throw in dynamics. What makes BB so special is his use of dynamics IMO. He's telling a story. When you hear him play it's like he's pulling and pushing you and taking you where he wants you to go...with every note.
This is the first time I've been really impressed to see BB King playing. Until then, I had only seen videos of him playing at an advanced age, always playing economically and using a kind of simplified blues (although his characteristic way of sounding the notes is always very pleasant to hear). But in this video you can see that he really understood the inner workings of the blues, the small changes of notes, at the right moment, that characterize playing over changes. This video is really special. BB King is a blues master, without a doubt.
Well said. I think many people do associate his playing with his later years. 1960-80 he showcased far more complexity and skill.
B.B. King is the King ... How he could bring out the emotions with the least amount of notes, necessary... He's one of my guitar heroes....
His playing is so clean. No fancy effects pedals or distortion to hide his mistakes. Just a wonderful touch and complete mastery of his instrument. I'll never tire of listening to BB.
Oh man that was so good. I need to lay down for a while. 🥰
It's one things to give the notation, but the dynamics of this solo were a masterclass as well.
A friend of mine gave me a birthday present in on December 1985....front row seat to a BB King show in a small venue in Edmonton Alberta Canada! He was a good friend...! Some people still don't believe me, but I was there!!! BB King can make you weep with one note and that's what the blues is! Forget the shredders.
All music has its place but yeah the blues does it for me.
Whoaaaaaaa thanks you so much for share it with us!!!!
@@elconchetumare thanks for watching!
Love every single blue note....👌🏼🙏🏼💫🎶🎸❤️🇺🇲
I am so glad that I got to see him in concert. Although it was almost 20 years after this he still had it all: the tone, the phrasing and, of course, the vibrato. He also had an incredible stage presence.
Same here, saw BB at the Count Basie in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1997. Just him and that Fender Twin were louder than the whole backing band. He told stories and played amazingly, so happy I got to see him!
Beautiful key change @0:54 on 5th level of the progression with e-flat 7/9 chord out of nowhere.
I suspect the key change was for the benefit of the horn section, to make it easier for them. But then one would ask why wasn’t the performance in 2nd key from the beginning? 🤔
@@gideonk123 That makes sense. The Band stopped playing when BB starts noodling a semitone below. So it seems that was not intended right from the start. But this catched my ear. BTW: Sea Song Cover on your channel is really beautiful! Thx.
@@alfredanonymous3113 Yeah, maybe BB’s solo was not coordinated in advance.
Thanks for your compliment on the Sea Song cover 😀
Master of phrasing and dynamic. His bends and vibrato are of incredible accuracy.
This was amazing, I had never heard him play like this, no wonder he is the King
Thanks for the upload
This was an absolute pleasure to listen to.
Perfection
Everybody who says that BB King is simple...they have in mind a 80 years old Man talking to the audience about his new friends. They don't know the young BB King...the SingSing...the incredible performer and musician and SINGER that he was.
Or the racism he encounterd. His early songs, he was prohibited by US law to play his own songs, untill after the songs were recorded and played by a white artist first. Thank you America.
The Beatles, the Rollong Stones, Led Zeppelin, they all made their fortune out of this law.
🚀🏴☠️🎸
This channel is pure gold! Thanks a lot, dude 🎸🔥
@@pablote4988 thank you 🙏
I LOVE THE BLUES
Speechless. All I can say is thank you
The mark of a true guitar master is knowing exactly who they are after the fewest notes played. BB King is the definition of that rule. You know who is playing immediately. ❤️
Wow excellent soloing! Pure and inspiring
É como se estivesse contando uma linda história ❤
So good it's off the charts.....thank you BB
Awesome transcription!👏
Awesome and the change 😮
Amazing playing. Flawless beauty brought to you by the Fingers of BB King !
Absolutely masterful!
I hear so many people talk about great blues players, and names we all know, but to me the only one that is really great is BB, no dreaded distortion, or added FX and thousands of un-musical notes, just the right notes, at the right time, second to none, but that's just my opinion.
Super wonderful ❤Nova Constanța România
just amazing
Just kills me when folks say BB is simple when his mastery of Bebop lines is second only to Charlie Christian himself.
probably because if you listen to it without knowing its BB king it sounds like a 12 year old trying a guitar at guitar center. you are biased and saying he sounds good to be anti-racist.
@@itisinicktHaters gonna hate. You don’t get it. That’s ok. Don’t bring race into it tho. You’re making yourself look like a total ass.
@@itisinickt man what the hell are you yapping about
@@itisinickt If you don't like BB's playing then that's fine. It's your opinion. But to say that the motive of a compliment is to be anti-racist, is as large a leap as I've heard.
@@johvanortiz6267 thats why theres no famous white guy jazz players
Rest in peace to this legend!
I mean just so simply nuanced and sophisticated. Its not flashy.
Dominando las dinámicas BB es un dios 👌
A master indeed.The King./
Insanely good 👍
Love to see this! 🤘
If a guitar could sing this guy would be holding it ❤
Thank you so much 💙
Sublime…
If you haven't yet, listen to "Live at the Regal" , very similar playing even though it was recorded a decade before.
LEGEND
That variety of chords in accompagnement
Absolutely fantastic and also have a great weekend also Monday is Thanksgiving in Canada ❤😊
The best thing of the solo is the dynamics maybe...
It's that filthy half step modulation for me dawg.
Indeed!!
@@jamesmcmahon4172 haha yes 🙌
Agreed!
Nice job wapping off with the instrument
Big Blues King.
I just put my guitar back in it's case.
Me too !
💕💕💕💕
What happens here is that, he forgets he had horns on tonight and kicked it off in his usual A but then he gets reminded at around 0:22 and immediately realizes he has to transpose it to G# to save this performance, then decides to finish the round first then do this break and interlude and save the day.
Doesn't get any better than BB King.
BB was cook'n ! 😊
Dynamics kids,dynamics.
Is this tune "When I Fell For You?" :-)
Yes yes!
Yas, Yas!
When playing, he's not thinking about any techniques, dynamics or scales, he's living the music, he's expressing his soul with the guitar
Telling a story!
Great
What song is this called?
The man could play!!😂
Now imagine if this man had a Metal Zone pedal lol
I once saw him play "The Thrill Is Gone" in a green suit at aroud the same age as this clip, and no other version comes close. BUT, I can't find the clip anywhere, I saw it on Norwegian TV in the early 90's and didn't try to find it before TH-cam came along. Anybody know the clip and where to find it?🙏
Wasn't it the one with Gary Moore? th-cam.com/video/iUaevnP1LLg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=9Tb-o-Oag0ielbdy
@@bartoszk5433 Sadly, no. I think it was the 60's, he was a young man, young-ish.
Thanks for trying👍
Can you transcribe the outro from Old Love?? (Eric Clapton and Robert cray)
What show is it from? Outstanding... 😌
Found It 😃 Kopenhagen 1974
😮🎉❤
Amazing, what song is it?
“Darling you know I love you”
@@ThreeKingsOfBlues thanks again! Thought it was a version of guess who
The only guitar player to give Peter Green the cold sweats … or was it the other way around?
What song is this ?
🙂👊🏽
Hard to grasp that performance was nearly 50 years ago.
And someone said BB didn’t have technique
All the haters as well as the meat riders in this comment section should shut the hell up and just listen to
Dinámicas
How could anybody with two brain cells to rub together possibly say that Albert King was better than BB?
Too bad notation can’t really capture this. There are an abundance of quarter tones that the notation is not accounting for
@@PaulieMusicHmm nope. Pretty sure I got most of them.
Amazing what the imagination adds to music 😂
If you need musical notation or a tab for this, something is up.
@@ThreeKingsOfBlues1/4 is not enough to cover the fractions of this tone bending. That’s how expressive it is. It’s not as simple all of its 1/4 ^. Do you get that?
@@ThreeKingsOfBluespretty sure you tried. BLUES AINT COLLEGIATE. Play your file on note-flight it’s not gonna sound like BB. Ok that’s my point. The notes are too particular for your notations to pinpoint. Everyone at home is gonna read your tabs and sound WRONG haha
Done lost your good thing
No emotion from Clapton nor SRV that compare with BB King. A lot of notes, but completely devoid of feeling.
clapton is the best ! bb is very limited he plays he stops he plays again he stop pfffffffffffff
oh please
SRV is the best Clapton is pffffffffff....And if you asked them both they
would say BB is the best
Oh look. Another guy who doesn't know what good guitar playing is. LOL!
If you're looking for a shredder then no BB is not the man for you, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if he could play fast and retain the soul of the music. I'm surprised you named Clapton because he generally plays similarly to BB in that he plays, he stops, he plays again 😅 and says as much as he needs to with few select notes, just like BB. I mean listen to a song like Strange Brew and tell me how Claptons solo is much different in form from BBs start, stop, start, stop. The difference is that BB came up with a ton of blues licks that essentially built the foundation for everyone to follow. I understand it's not everyones taste because BB isn't my favorite guitarist either but it's undeniable that he had a groundbreaking impact on things to come and deserves great respect as an artist and musician for his place in music history.
@@bobdillon1138 eric clapton: hundred of songs and covers !! srv: none! and eric is always on the 5top best guitarists in times magazines and rolling stones and many...not srv ! you have to play guitar and to be addicted to the blues to realise that there is one blues musician and it s clapton
In the early 1950s when King became popular literally every blues guitars tried to play and sound like him. Ask Buddy Guy