Happy Music Monday! Last week a blues hero passed on. The great B.B. King went up to that great back porch in the sky. His music is great and you should all find some and listen to it, but today's Music Monday isn't about the man himself. It's about his cultural legacy. Scott's chosen five songs about B.B. King that illustrate just how many different genres he's influenced. Here's a spoiler: it's everything.
Even in this stream of consciousness album filler, John Lennon still takes a moment to namecheck one of his favorite artists. If that's not good enough to make you take notice, what is?
More cultural references coming after the jump.
B.B. King just turns on/the New Hampshire Boys/Steve and Joe/They're gonna lead it on Sonic Youth more or less helped start what is now considered modern rock, and they've never been afraid to reference their heroes and enemies. This song is supposedly about seeing Aerosmith happily perform beside B.B. King, without any drama or nonsense, just pride and joy. It's very respectful and nice. As the man deserves.
Method Man - P.L.O. Style NSFW due to language
For real, check it, I pull strings like B.B. King on guitar/I'm the true fist of the north star! When you get namechecked in a hip hop song, you've done something great. Method Man's boasting puts himself at B.B. King's level, which means B.B. King is already great.
Alan Jackson - The Thrill Is Back
You said yes now your wearing my ring/Guess I can stop playing ol B.B. King The blues are what you play when you're sad, and country artists owe them a debt. B. B. King didn't just influence rockers and rappers. He influenced music. Country, dance, even some radio-friendly pop tracks all built off of B. B. King's work.
Scritti Politti - Tinseltown To The Boogiedown
From night sticks, to plungers, to NYPD/From Lucille BB King, you've seen me rhyme B.B. King's Times Square club might not be something he managed on a day to day basis (in fact he probably just leased out his name and walked away) but it's still part of the New York landscape. Every day hundreds of tourists see the man's name in lights. Maybe it's not what a guitarist wants to most be known for, but he'll be impossible to forget.
Take a minute today and check out the legend that all those songs are talking about. You'll be glad that you did.
Let just remind you: some images come from the corresponding Wikipedia page and are here under fair use. See you next week. Rest in peace, B.B.