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I didn't want to disrespect m...

I didn't want to disrespect my parents, so I never played blues around the house. But I knew then, same as I know today, that I wasn't doing anything wrong. I think that before they died, they both felt very proud of me.

B.B. King 9 quotes

Growing up on the plantation ...

Growing up on the plantation there in Mississippi, I would work Monday through Saturday noon. I'd go to town on Saturday afternoons, sit on the street corner, and I'd sing and play.

B.B. King 9 quotes

I was a regular hand when I w...

I was a regular hand when I was 7. I picked cotton. I drove tractors. Children grew up not thinking that this is what they must do. We thought this was the thing to do to help your family.

B.B. King 9 quotes

I would sit on the street cor...

I would sit on the street corners in my hometown of Indianola, Mississippi, and I would play. And, generally, I would start playing gospel songs.

B.B. King 9 quotes

When I do eventually drop, I ...

When I do eventually drop, I pray to God that it'll happen in one of three ways. Firstly, on stage or leaving the stage, then secondly in my sleep. And the third way? You'll have to figure that out for yourself!

B.B. King 9 quotes

Everything I record, I just t...

Everything I record, I just try to sound like me and come up with songs that suit what I do and then just go for it. I never know what the public's going to like, anyway.

B.B. King 9 quotes

I've been a loner all the tim...

I've been a loner all the time throughout my life... I haven't been the best father... Many times... my children have accused me of not giving them enough attention. And, frankly, I never have been good at handling that.

B.B. King 9 quotes

I almost chopped my thumb off...

I almost chopped my thumb off once. Just before I left home, I was about ten or eleven years old, and I was trying to open a bone. Can you imagine that? A bone! I was trying to get the marrow out of a bone, and I took the ax, and I went to chop it, and something slipped, and the ax went right down there and damn near cut it off.

B.B. King 9 quotes

Once in a while, the thumb th...

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.

B.B. King 9 quotes

Sometimes I just think that t...

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.

B.B. King 9 quotes

I never wanted to be like oth...

I never wanted to be like other blues singers. I might like hearing them play, but I've never wanted to be anyone other than myself. There are a few people that I've wished I could play like, but when I tried, it didn't work.

B.B. King 9 quotes

I tell my children now that t...

I tell my children now that they are older, 'If something happens to me... don't make no big fuss over me. Don't make no big expense on my funeral. Don't put any pressure on the rest of the family. I've loved everybody, and I hope they loved me. But don't create this big expense for the family.'

B.B. King 9 quotes

'She's Dynamite' was a 100 ye...

'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.

B.B. King 9 quotes

I'm more careful about my han...

I'm more careful about my hands than about what I eat and most anything else, because my hands have been my living. My hands have been able to help me learn. My hands have taken me around the world. So I'm very proud of my hands.

B.B. King 9 quotes

I've seen myself on those lis...

I've seen myself on those lists of the 100 best guitarists, and if they think that I'm that good, thank them. Thank God for them. But I don't think so.

B.B. King 9 quotes

As for my band, well, my ment...

As for my band, well, my mentors were Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Jimmie Lunceford, and no one had a band more smartly dressed than Duke.

B.B. King 9 quotes

I have not been a good father...

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.

B.B. King 9 quotes

I would sit on the street cor...

I would sit on the street corners in my hometown of Indianola, Mississippi, and I would play. And, generally, I would start playing gospel songs. People would come by on the street - you live in Time Square, you know how they do it - they would bunch up. And they would always compliment me on gospel tunes, but they would tip me when I played blues.

B.B. King 9 quotes

I've always tried to defend t...

I've always tried to defend the idea that the blues doesn't have to be sung by a person who comes from Mississippi, as I did.

B.B. King 9 quotes

I like jazz, rock n' roll, so...

I like jazz, rock n' roll, some hip hop - I can't think of any music I don't like.

B.B. King 9 quotes

Добрые, щедрые, великодушные: 6 советских актеров, которые были всеобщими любимчиками

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