B. B. King Quotes
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I don't try to just be a blues singer – I try to be an entertainer. That has kept me going.
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Once in a while, the thumb that fits over the neck of the guitar kinda bothers me a little bit, but not that much yet. I figure in time I won't do much because of my age.
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In our local Baptist church, I sang in the choir and formed a gospel quartet. When our minister caught me messing with his guitar, he taught me three positions – one, four and five. After that, I taught myself to play.
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I was a singing disc jockey who heard every type of music there was - and loved it all.
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There are so many sounds I still want to make, so many things I haven't yet done.
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I don't care for the music when they're talking bad about women because I think women are God's greatest gift to the planet - I just like music.
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I never met a woman I didn't like. I love 'em all, in their different ways.
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The minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille.
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The problem is that a lot of the blues stations are late on Saturday night, and like a lot of people, I ain't no vampire!
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I've said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie Ray Vaughan missed on both counts, but I never noticed.
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The blues was bleeding the same blood as me.
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My dad died, I think, at 87. So I'll be lucky if I make 87. But in a lot of cases, the younger people live longer than their parents. And they know more. My dad used to tell me he ate the hog from his rooter to his tooter. So do I when I'm not trying to lose weight.
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I developed in my head that I'm never any better than my last concert or the last time I played, so it's like an audition each time. You get nervous just before going onstage. I still have that, but I think it's more like concern. You're concerned about the people - like meeting your in-laws for the first time.
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I wanted to connect my guitar to human emotions.
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The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.
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I've put up with more humiliation than I care to remember.
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I don't think anybody steals anything; all of us borrow.
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Sometimes I just think that there are more things to be said to make the audience understand what I'm trying to do more. When I'm singing, I don't want you to just hear the melody. I want you to relive the story, because most of the songs have pretty good storytelling.
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I'm no good with chords. I'm horrible with chords.
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'She's Dynamite' was a 100 years ago, and I recorded that song because the company thought that it was a great song and it was hot. That was the beginning of rock n' roll, and I guess they thought it would be a BB King version of rock n' roll.
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I think of guitar players in terms of doctors: you have the doctor for your heart, the cardiologist, then one that works on your feet, your leg. But I believe George Benson is the one that plays all over. To me, he would be the M.D. of them all.
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Growing up, I was taught that a man has to defend his family. When the wolf is trying to get in, you gotta stand in the doorway.
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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.
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Charlie Christian had no more impact on my playing than Django Reinhardt or Lonnie Johnson. I just wanted to play like him. I wanted to play like all of them. All of these people were important to me. I couldn't play like any of them, though.