Palace Bash Salutes B.B., the King of Blues

The thrill was definitely on at the Palace Theater on Monday night. There was plenty of food, music and accolades in honor of blues legend B.B. King, who was presented with the Blues Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The occasion, which included a silent auction of blues memorabilia, also served as a benefit for the organization founded in 1980 and dedicated to the preservation and promotion of blues music around the world. And, as if that wasn’t enough, it was a belated birthday celebration for King, who turned 72 last month.

“Things are happening now that I never dreamed,” said King, relaxing in the VIP reception area before the show. “To see what’s happening tonight--how can I say it? This is the punch line. This is the epitome of the whole thing.”

Since he first stepped onstage at another Palace Theater, the one on Beale Street in Memphis, Tenn., almost a half-century ago, King has inspired generations of musicians, some present on this evening to pay homage and play music in his honor. Helping pack the house were fellow blues granddad John Lee Hooker, along with Bonnie Raitt, Ike Turner, Dr. John, Billy Gibbons, Buddy Guy, Rufus Thomas, Ruth Brown, Elvin Bishop, Ruby Wilson and many others whose names at one time or another have graced the rock, pop and blues charts.

“For those of us who live a little bit on the dark side, to be able to see somebody as positive as B.B., still play the . . . out of the blues is a real lesson for me,” said longtime friend and blues player Raitt. “I thought you had to be real self-destructive and pissed off to sing properly.” After a VIP cocktail reception, guests sat down to a genuine Mississippi Delta dinner of barbecued pork and fried catfish along with pecan pie flown in from King’s hometown, Indianola, Miss. Well sated, the guests sat through a series of Blues Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, award presentations, video clips and thank-you speeches.

“The first time I was rocked was with a record by B.B. King,” said Gibbons during the ceremony. “And all of a sudden, I was in a new world. I was a guitar player, but this guy was something else, something more, something deeper, and I knew that was the new direction that I wanted to go.”

Then, things onstage really started to cook. Hooker, Raitt, Turner and others launched into a variety of blues classics, culminating with King, armed with his guitar Lucille, closing out the affair with a knockout final jam of “Let the Good Times Roll.”

Ticket prices started at $75. Between the box office and silent auction, more than $40,000 was collected for the Blues Foundation.