B. B. King Writes About His Life in ‘Blues All Around Me’

Blues master B. B. King, who celebrated his 71st birthday last month, still spends most of his time on the road--to the tune of about 260 performing dates a year. Despite that busy schedule, King has found the time to write his autobiography, “Blues All Around Me,” published last week by Avon Books.

King, who will be touring local bookstores this weekend, says that money is not the motivating factor for his still keeping so active.

“I’m financially in good shape,” he said. “But I feel I’m still opening doors for the younger blues artists, and I enjoy that.”

His book details his long sojourn that began in the cotton fields of Mississippi and continued through a musical apprenticeship in Memphis, through years spent toiling in relative obscurity and his breakthrough to worldwide fame and acceptance, all the way to his role today as goodwill ambassador of the blues.

“Being a blues player and being black was like being black twice,” King said of his early performing days in the 1940s and ‘50s, when blues was considered to be of lower quality than other forms of music.

While the blues is enjoying perhaps its greatest popularity today, King says his style of music still is rarely heard on the radio.

“Blues has always been treated like the stepchild--the bottom of the totem pole,” he said.

But it is the only music he ever considered making.

“My career has been blues versus any other kind of music,” King said. “Anytime someone sings the blues, it makes me happy. It hasn’t always been easy.”

“Blues All Around Me,” written by King with David Ritz, is told in a casual, straightforward manner. Chapter titles include “Why I Love Arthur Godfrey,” “Where Was I When Rhythm and Blues Became Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “There’s Something About Being in Prison” and “Circumcision Is No Laughing Matter.”

The book is rich with anecdotes involving such heavyweights as Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Medgar Evers and Dizzy Gillespie.

King’s strong sense of himself is apparent throughout. Here’s a man who’s fiercely proud while still aware of his personal limitations.

“I lacked the flash of other black entertainers like Little Richard, Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley,” King writes. “I didn’t have Sam’s [Cooke] good looks or Jackie’s [Wilson] dance moves, but I was going to give ‘em a taste of the in-your-face blues and give it to ‘em good.”

King will be in Glendale to sign his book, and he says he’ll probably stop by the club at Universal Studios CityWalk that bears his name, but will not perform. He shrugged off questions regarding recent litigation between him and the club operators as a minor problem that seems to be on its way to a mutually agreeable solution.

As for questions about the resurgence of the blues?

“What do you mean resurgence? It never left,” he said. “But a lot of young people are playing and supporting the blues, and it makes me a very happy guy.”

* B. B. King will sign his book, “Blues All Around Me,” at noon Saturday at Super Crown, 101 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Call (818) 500-7145.

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Next-Century Blues: Guitarist Roy Gaines has done it all.

Gaines, who’s performing at Cozy’s on Friday, came blazing out of the state of Texas in the 1950s with a blues guitar sound evocative of his idols, fellow Texans T-Bone Walker and Gatemouth Brown.

Gaines later ventured into jazz and other styles and went on to work with such people as Ray Charles, Chuck Willis, Aretha Frankin, Della Reese, Brook Benton, Harry Belafonte and Stevie Wonder. Additionally, in the 1960s and ‘70s, Gaines played with the Crusaders--when they were known as the Nite Hawks.

Now Gaines has, with the help of his friends, recorded “Lucille Work for Me,” a new blues album. The record--which has a big, fat, jazzy big-band sound with Gaines’ vocals and searing guitar way up front--features the Crusaders’ Joe Sample, Wayne Henderson and Wilton Felder plus guest stints by Hubert Laws, Leon Haywood and other jazz types. The producing chores were shared by Gaines and Henderson.

“It’s my hope this album will lead the blues into the next century,” Gaines said.

The album features a variety of styles plus a medley of classic R & B tunes. The title cut is a straight-ahead blues number dedicated to B. B. King and his famous companion--his guitar Lucille. At one point, Gaines cleverly interweaves his lyrics with his licks, describing his playing as he lays it down.

Gaines, 59, sees his CD as nothing short of revolutionary.

“It’s like when Beethoven put voices with the symphony orchestra, they thought he was crazy,” Gaines said. “Or when Glen Miller put the clarinet and trumpet on top over the saxes and other sections; people thought that was far out.”

Gaines, who owns his own restaurant, Gainesville, in the Crenshaw District, spent $100,000 to produce “Lucille Work for Me.” He called it money well spent.

“It’s doing great; it’s really taken off,” Gaines said. “I would rather carry the blues into the next century with someone chasing my back, than me chasing someone else.”

* Roy Gaines plays at 9 p.m. Friday at Cozy’s Bar & Grill, 14058 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. $8. Call (818) 986-6000.

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Lone Star Import: Also at Cozy’s this week is another act from Texas music maven Clifford Antone’s Austin stable of blues artists.

But Guy Forsyth is a bit different. He comes to the blues from a punk orientation. While other blues enthusiasts were listening to Muddy or Buddy or someone with “Guitar” in his first name, Forsyth was enjoying the Dead Kennedys, Fear and the Sex Pistols. Forsyth does not think the genres are all that different.

“Punk has always been about minimizing the distance between the band and audience--they could be up on stage playing it too,” Forsyth said. “What attracts me about the blues is it was the same idea.

“It’s music you can use--it’s medicinal,” he said. “It’s music to hold onto when you’re drowning.”

This is Forsyth’s first trip to the West Coast since he spent some time in La Canada as a preteen. He was born in Colorado, but his dad worked for TWA and the family traveled around a lot. He graduated from high school and spent a good part of his formative years in the Midwest.

“It was like being an Army brat,” Forsyth said. “Austin has been home since 1990, but I love to travel.”

“Needlegun,” his first studio album, was recorded about eight months ago in that Texas town. Forsyth said his songs concern regular people in extreme circumstances rather than tales of idealized love. The title cut uses tattoos as a metaphor for personal relationships.

“Everyone’s heroic, but some more than others,” he said. “The music just sets the mood for the stories.

“Everyone’s looking for the thing that brings it all home for them,” he said. “For me, it’s storytelling.”

* Guy Forsyth performs at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Cozy’s Bar & Grill, 14058 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. No cover. Call (818) 986-6000.