B.B. King: From Indianola to Icon

A comprehensive exploration of B.B. King's journey from sharecropper to musical icon!


This book documents a great American story, that of B.B. King, the “King of the Blues,” and one of America’s most important popular musicians. With fascinating images and history—most published for the first time—it traces his migration from the Chitlin’ Circuit (the national network of Black theaters and roadhouses), to Club Ebony in his hometown of Indianola, Mississippi, and eventually to Carnegie Hall. What was it about Riley B. King that enabled him to become the “King of the Blues”?

• B.B. King brought the music of America—the blues—to the world.
• Never-before-seen images of King on stage, on the tour bus, with fans, and at home.
• King gave an estimated 18,000 concerts in 90 countries, including a legendary performance in Zaire in 1974, prior to the Muhammed Ali–George Foreman heavyweight title bout.

The author tells the story of the once-impossible friendship between someone who grew up poor and Black in Mississippi and the white middle-class New Englander who fell in love with the blues and was determined to tell the story of his musical hero. This is the ultimate book for blues fans!

[AuthorName]By Charles Sawyer, Foreword by “Monster” Mike Welch, Other Nick Nurse, and Edited by Cherie Hoyt[/AuthorName][AuthorBio]Charles Sawyer is a photographer, writer, and leader of the blues band 2120 South Michigan Avenue. He wrote The Arrival of B.B. King (Doubleday, 1980), the first full-length biography of the great bluesman. Now retired, he was a software professional for high-tech companies and taught both software and blues history courses at Harvard Extension School. He consulted for the B.B. King Museum during its development.[/AuthorBio][NumIllustration]318 color and b/w photos[/NumIllustration][CoAuthor][/CoAuthor][SubTitle]A Personal Odyssey with the “King of the Blues”[/SubTitle][ColorPattern]318 color and b/w photos[/ColorPattern]