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B.B.
King to rock the Michigan Theater tonight...
By Veronica Woolridge
You don't have to dance the blues
to the songs they're playing on the
radio. The principal piece of the
blues scene - B.B. King, as well
as the entire blues genre, is not radio
oriented. B.B.'s classic songs such
as "Playin' The Cost To Be The
Boss," "Caldonia," "How Blue Can
You Get," "Everyday I Have The
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Blues," and "Why I sing The Blues,"
are concert and fan staples. .
As B.B. plugs into the Michigan
Theater tonight, Ann Arbor has the
privileged honor of welcoming a
legend into her midst. B.13 performs
an average of 275 concerts a year.
From the chitlin circuit with it~s
small town cafes, ghetto theaters,
country dance halls, and roadside
joints to jazz clubs and international
concert halls, B.B. has become the
most renowned blues musician of
the past 40 years.
Throughout his 40-year reign, the
economical blues sensation has
coined a'distinct style that integrates
traditional blues, jazz, swing, main-
stream pop, and jump into a.unique
sound that makes the most of each
note. "Bent" notes, subtle vibratos
and loud chords emphasize the deli-
cate filigrees of single string runs
featured in B.B.'s style. "I've always
played simple B.B. King type blues
and try not to make it slick," B.B.
once told Walter Cronkite about the
reasons for his longevity.
The title of "King" has not always
been the status-quo of B.B.'s noble
existence. Born Riley B. King in
that hump-backed, crooked letter
state of Mississippi in 1925, B.B.
played on street corners for dimes as
a young adult. In 1947 when he had
saved enough dimes - $2.50, he
hitchhiked to Memphis. In 1948 he
got his big break, and gave a per-
formance on a West Memphis radio
show. As his popularity and talents
became more appreciated, B.B.
adopted the stage name of Beale
street Blues Boy, later shortened to
Blues Boy King and eventually B.B.
King..
"I am trying to get people to see
that we are our brother's keeper, I
still work on it. Red, white, Black,
brown, yellow, rich, poor, we all
have these blues," B.B. said. So if
your blue-berry pie burns in the
oven and your blue-bells don't
bloom, if it's once in a blue moon
or simply out of the blue, get into
the psychological zeal and feel of
your gloom. Take B.B.'s advice.
"From my own experience, I would
say to all people but maybe to
young people especially Black and
white or whatever color, follow your
own feelings and trust them. Find
out what you want to do and do it
and then practice it every day of your
life and keep becoming what you are
despite any hardships and obstacles
you meet."
See KING, Page,.7
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elaxin the
comfort of our
exclusive rocking
chair loungers...
Acres offree lighted
Art Galler
parking... Spacious Lobby...
DOLBY STEREO Bgc
Q0 --T Stateof the
Big Scre
ngi S[REEN Climat
y...
All Auditoriums Handicap
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... And some of Detroit's hottest-
blues musicians to rock the Pig
Hail to the king of the blues guitar.
For Exam Preparation
Choose to EXCEL!
- Learn to Anticipate the Exam
- Improve Your Test-Taking Skills
- Use Your Study Time More Effectively
' Achieve Your Maximum Potential Score
EX;:EL
Test Preparation
1
s
I By Lisa Magnino and
Robert Flaggert
In an attempt to obtain press
information on the first annual Blues
Factory and Blind Pig Blues
Festival, we ventured down to South
First Street to meet with bar
manager Todd. On our return journey,
from the Blind Pig Monday
afternoon, we happened upon Ann
Arbor blues prodigy Hailstorm
Hawkins, who, upon finding out our
purpose in the area, insisted on
helping us out withthe article.
Hailstorm recalled the days when
blues was big in Ann Arbor, before
people forgot about the music and
all the musicians left town. "Well,
most of them left a while back. I am
the only one left to carry on the
tradition, but I can't do it myself. I
guess that's why the folks at the
Blind Pig have to bring in people
from Detroit.
"Not that I'm complaining. If they
can't be from Ann Arbor, Detroit is
the next best place. And I've heard
some of these cats on the Detroit
Blues Factory Anthology; they're
not too bad for youngsters. I
especially like Zoom. She's got
quite a pair of lungs.'She almost
sounds like Koko [Taylor]. I envy
the Paybacksjammin' behind her as
she sings those throaty verses!
"I've seen Robert Penn a couple of
times, too. They have their own
See BLUES, Page 7
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996-1500
100 South University
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Reservations Showtimes 1
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Mistress ofthe Darki
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A ROCK AND ROLL FANTASY
Showuc
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ANN ARBOR 4,
PITTSFIELD
TOWNSHIP
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1-2-3 -4-5-6 7-8-9 -"10- 11-12 13 14
410'0 Carpenter Road - Two miles south of Washtenaw Avenue
(near Intersection of I-94 & US23)-24 HOUR TELEPHONE: 973-8380
Only minutes from The University of Michigan Campus - on the site of the former UniversityDrve-In
Limit per ad-11 pm shows only. Exp. 101/88t
Jonny "Yard Dog" Jones.
PAGE 4
WEEKEND/OCTOBER 7, 1988
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