BB King – You’d Better Not Look Down

Posted on by Opher

I heard this on the radio today and it inspired me to put it up one here. Some humour and great lyrics along with Blues Boy’s great sound.

“Better Not Look Down”

I’ve been around and I’ve seen some things
People moving faster than the speed of sound
Faster than the speeding bullet
People living like Superman
All day and all night
And I won’t say if it’s wrong or if it’s right
I’m pretty fast myself
But I do have some advice to pass along
Along in the chorus of this song

Better not look down
If you want to keep on flying
Put the hammer down
Keep it full speed ahead
Better not look back
Or you might just wind up crying
You can keep it moving
If you don’t look down

An old girl friend of mine showed up the other day
That girl have lived in love and for love
And over love, and under love all her life
If the arrows from cupid’s bow that had
Passed through her heart had been sticking
Out of her body she would have looked like
A porcupine, and she asked me
B.B. do you think I’ve lived my life all wrong?
And I said: The only advice I have to pass
Along in the chorus of this song
Girl

Better not look down
If you want to keep on flying
Put the hammer down
Keep it full speed ahead
Better not look back
Or you might just wind up crying
You can keep it moving
If you don’t look down

I was walking down the street at sunrise one morning
In London, England
And there was a very large Rolls Royce Limousine
Pulling slowly along the street
And in that Rolls Royce was the Queen of England
Looking tired
Just go back from a party, and the Queen leaned out and
She said: Aren’t you B.B. King? She said:
Oh B.B., sometimes it’s so hard to pull things together
Could you tell me what you think I ought to do?
And I said:

Better not look down
If you want to keep on flying
Put the hammer down
Keep it full speed ahead
Better not look back
Or you might just wind up crying
You can keep it moving
If you don’t look down

 

BB King – the last of the great Blues Singers – A tribute.

Posted on by Opher

b-b-king-the-hooks-brothers-1949 bb king

OK – Riley B King is not the last of the great Blues Singers – we still have the great Buddy Guy, Billy Boy Arnold and Lazy Lester – but he was a giant of a Blues Singer and Guitarist. But BB was one of the best.

The great years of Chicago was when Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf were slugging it out to be cock of the roost, Elmore James was searing out those unparalleled slide guitar riffs, Sonny Boy Williamson (the 2nd) was laying down his harp wailing stories and the Little Walter, James Cotton, Otis Spann and Shaky Horton providing ample support. Then there was the incredible John Lee Hooker.

Those were the great years of Electric Blues. Albert King was laying it down with Stax in Memphis and then there was the brilliance of Magic Sam, T-Bone Walker, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson, Albert Collins, Otis Rush, Freddy King and Slim Harpo. From the melting pot of New Orleans all through Louisiana and Mississippi up to Memphis and on to Chicago in the industrial north the Blues was flourishing.

BB King was a giant in this competitive forum. As a young kid he secured a spot on WDAI radio in Memphis and never looked back. He still busked on street corners though. His articulate voice and unique guitar style of slick, fluent runs were ideal in his brilliant story-telling blues. He excelled on numbers like ‘Everyday I have the Blues’, ‘Why I sing the Blues’, ‘The Thrill has Gone’, ‘Lucille’ and the great ‘When Love Comes to Town’.

BB King got himself the reputation of being the hardest working man on the circuit. He often played 365 concerts a year. It was testament to the love he felt for his music. He set up clubs in Memphis and Chicago and gained a huge following.

He went on performing right up to the end and has now died at the age of eighty nine. He was a real link to those early years of rural Blues in Mississippi. We’ll miss him but he has left us a brilliant legacy of music.

Thanks Riley! You made the world a better place.

The Thrill has gone! We’re the poorer for its passing.