20th Century Genius Award Essay

A nominee for the 20th ampere-second Genius Award should be Riley B. tabby. king has had an integral p guile in the history of the color hyphen of music since the mid(prenominal) 1950s. The manner in which he plays his guitar, Lucille, and his voice are very distinguishable. His style of instrumentation has carried entirely over to other genres of music as well. He is hail as the govern king of the discolor. Most blues guitar solos will have some of the recognisable might inspired bent notes.Riley B. queer, better known as B. B. exponent, was innate(p) September 16, 1925 to a family of poor sharecroppers in Mississippi. Kings aesthetical contribution to the 20th century is music, most notably the megrims. In the blues arena, he is probably cardinal of the greatest and most respected guitarists in the history of the genre. When one hears the name B. B. King, the music of the blues immediately comes to mind. His tuneful motivation came from the music in his church. At f irst, Riley wanted to become a gospel singer. The pastor in his church taught him the basics of guitar.He indeed became a self taught guitarist by using instruction books he ordered through the mail. Since his arrival on the scene in the mid 1940s, King has been the definition of blues for the world wide audience. In his y emergeh, he would play his guitar on street corners for dimes. There were nights when he would play in four towns. Riley also performed with small gospel groups. At the age of 21 hitchhiked from his home in Mississippi to Memphis to pursue his dreams in music. In 1948 Kings performance on a radio station in West Memphis launched his career.This performance turned in to regular performances at a grill in West Memphis called Sixteenth Avenue Grill and to a 10 minute judgment of conviction slot called Kings status on a radio station in Memphis. Kings 10 minute show was such a hit, the show was elongate and turned in to a show called Sepia Swing Club. Riley muli sh he should have a name that was easily remembered for his radio show, so he started out with Beale Street Blues Boy. That named seemed to be too long, so he shortened it to Blues Boy King. When Blues Boy King first performed in New York, he decided to shorten his microscope stage name to B. B. King.King has named his guitars Lucille after he performed at an event in Twist, AR. A couple of men began to brawl over a charr and during the brawl a stove that was fueled by kerosene was knocked over. This caste fire to the building and everyone rushed out. When King realized his guitar was still inside, he risked his life to run back inside and retrieve it. After it was all said and done, he found out the two men were chip over a lady by the name of Lucille. At that time he figured he would give the name Lucille to his guitars so he would remember to in no way do a goosey thing like fighting over a woman.In Kings song, Three Oclock Blues (1951), the song begins with a four pub guit ar introduction, followed by four full chor engages of the twelve bar form. The third chorus is an instrumental with the guitar improvising on the harmonic progression. In this song, King sings and then plays guitar lines that serve as a response to his vocal lines. The guitar lines manifold and expand on the vocal melody to which they answer and often use string bends to reach blue notes. An accompaniment is provided by saxophones playacting notes that are long held. The drums are very quite with little or not accenting of the backbeat.Some urban sophistication in the line of battle is the occasional use of half step slides into some of the main chords of the progression. A great deal of the time, King slides down to the appropriate chord, then turns around and slides up to the tonic chord at the final beat. During his career, King has created one of the most individualistic guitar techniques in the world. He integrated his specific and complex vocal-like string blends and his left hand vibrato. These types of instrumentation have turn out to be important works of a rock guitarists expression.B. B. King was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and tear Hall of Fame in 1987. He received the National Academy of transcription Arts and Sciences (NARAS) Lifetime exercise Grammy Award in 1987 and has received honorary doctorates from several universities. According to Billboard, B. B. King has 74 entries on the Rhythm and Blues charts and he was one of the few full fledged blues artists to accounting a major pop hit when The Thrill Is Gone cross over to the mainstream success. Kings lyrical and expressive solo style has made a oversize impact on several artists in the rock genre such as Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix, Mike Bloomfield. B. B. Kings urban blues guitar style includes the playing of lines that are allude in importance to the lines he sings. There is no single put dow n that can show the brilliantness of B. B. Kings abilities as a guitarist or a singer. His interest in playing melodic lines earlier than chordal accompaniments is quite obvious in several of his numbers. King has performed as a featured soloist with jazz bands and groups of all sizes.He has also performed with large orchestral string sections playing arrangements of blues songs. Considering what B. B. King has done for the art of blues music, the accomplishments he has had during his career, and the influence he has had on the various genres of music, his contributions to the blues music will continue to impact the music industries for years to come. For these reasons, B. B. benevolent should be considered for nomination for the 20th Century Genius Award.References(April 03, 2008). B. B. King. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from Academy of Achievement Web sitehttp//www.achievement.org/