“You don’t do the business, the business will do you,” B.B. King (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) tells the rising Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. He says this after a late-night jam session which includes Little Richard (Alton Mason), and while the blues guitarist is admiring the shiny new ride owned by the white rock and roll sensation. King advises Elvis to start his own label.
In reality, B.B. King did just that in 1956. At the time, he was coming off his best year, according to King of the Blues: The Rise and Reign of B.B. King, by Daniel de Visé. King had just packed the Howard Theater in Washington D.C. and Harlem’s Apollo, as well as 340 other venues. Born Riley B. King on a Mississippi plantation in 1925, B.B. “Blues Boy” King had risen to the height of his musical popularity by the mid-1950s.
In reality, B.B. King did just that in 1956. At the time, he was coming off his best year, according to King of the Blues: The Rise and Reign of B.B. King, by Daniel de Visé. King had just packed the Howard Theater in Washington D.C. and Harlem’s Apollo, as well as 340 other venues. Born Riley B. King on a Mississippi plantation in 1925, B.B. “Blues Boy” King had risen to the height of his musical popularity by the mid-1950s.
- 7/1/2022
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
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