B. B. King Quotes

I grew up listening to spiritual music, Blind Willie Johnson and folk.

I remember hearing Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Big Bill Broonzy, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and not really knowing anything about the geography or the culture of the music. But for some reason it did something to me - it resonated.

I grew up with a heavy diet of gospel, folk, and blues because those are kind of the cornerstones of traditional American music.

I dabbled in things like Howlin' Wolf, Cream and Led Zeppelin, but when I heard Son House and Robert Johnson, it blew my mind. It was something I'd been missing my whole life. That music made me discard everything else and just get down to the soul and honesty of the blues.

I love early blues like Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf. I listened to the way these people sang, and it was just beautiful - straight from the soul. That, for me, was an inspiration.

Blues is one of the most important art forms. It's an amazing music, and we don't want to lose it.

I've grown up on gospel and blues music, and now it's a huge part of who I am.

Blues was made for the recessed.

The blues. It runs through all American music. Somebody bending the note. The other is the two-beat groove. It's in New Orleans music, it's in jazz, it's in country music, it's in gospel.

The music that I listen to is very minimalistic. I listen to a lot of old blues that is just guitar and vocals.

I played with Sam Lay, Jimmy Reed, Big Walter Horton, Big Moose Walker, and all those guys.

It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives its most distinctive character.

Charlie Patton, who was born in 1891, recorded some of the very first blues. In 'Pony Blues' and 'Peavine Blues,' he manages to pile dense layers of rhythms one upon the other.

Because the blues is the basis of most American music in the 20th century. It's a 12-bar form that's played by jazz, bluegrass and country musicians. It has a rhythmic vocabulary that's been used by rock n' roll. It's related to spirituals, and even the American fiddle tradition.

My favorite country blues player was Big Bill Broonzy. City blues was Freddie King, but I liked them all - Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Ralph Willis, Lonnie Johnson, Brownie McGhee and the three Kings, B.B., Albert and Freddie. Jazz-wise, I listened to Django, Barney Kessel and Wes Montgomery.

I was a big fan of black gospel. As a kid, there were black groups I sang with from my teen years to my early 20s.

Ain't nobody more punk rock than Robert Johnson, Lead Belly, even Little Richard.

Blues is such a dynamic and ever-changing system of music.

The blues is played everywhere. There's no place I've been where they don't have blues or aren't interested in blues.

I started on acoustic guitar after I heard Leadbelly and Big Bill Broonzy.

My musical education was grounded in blues and Chicago blues - John Lee Hooker and Otis Redding.

I was just fascinated by the blues.

The blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits. It's better keeping the roots alive, because it means better fruits from now on. The blues are the roots of all American music. As long as American music survives, so will the blues.

From the spiritual came the blues, gospel, and rhythm-and-blues. I heard all of that music growing up, and that has influenced how I approached classical music. I'm sure of it.

I grew up listening to Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf and lots of blues, R&B and Motown.