Use B.B. King's life and his experiences to talk about life in the Delta

Tag : Split Marble
King, an 83-year-old multiple Grammy winner who still plays about120 gigs a year, says he's honored the story of the blues is beingtold through the prism of his life.
"It's going to be educational to people, young and old, becauseit's going to talk about the origins of the blues. I'm just one whocarried the baton because it was started long before me," he says.
The details may be different, but the narrative of his life issimilar to blues musicians who came before him.
He was born poor and black as Riley B. King in 1925. His parentssplit, leaving his grandmother to raise him before she died whilehe was still a young boy. He grew up, and as most blacks did in theDelta, he got a string of plantation jobs. His last was at thecotton gin in Indianola. Somewhere in between, he began developinghis playing style, described by some as a mix of Delta, Memphis andTexas sounds.
King started with gospel, but he noticed the spirituals drew morepats than tips at his perch on Church Street.
"I made more Saturday evening than I did all week driving atractor," King says.
He became known as the Beale Street Blues Boy and then had thenickname Blues Boy, which he shortened to B.B. His career took offin 1948 after performing on a radio program in West Memphis,leading him on a path that would make him an international icon andput him in a class by himself as the only living blues artist withhis own museum.
With its sleek, linear design, the 20,000-square-foot(1,858-square-meter) museum carved out of the old cotton gin is aconvergence of old and new. A touch-screen interactive allowsvisitors to choose topics of interest, ranging from King'schildhood to facts about the Delta Flood of 1927. Music lessons aregiven through another interactive computer program with Kinginstructing on a video as visitors finger chords on a guitar.
Elsewhere, vinyl blues records by Bobby Blue Bland and Blind Lemon,are hung near decades-old, yellowing contracts signed by musicians,who are now largely forgotten. A Panoram Soundies nearby broadcastsa Cab Calloway performance.
The museum also houses rare photos of Elvis Presley, King's draftcard and, of course, Lucille, the storied guitar King used on suchhits as "The Thrill Is Gone," "To Know You Is to Love You" and"Sneakin' Around."
The significance of the museum in the blues world cannot beoverstated, says Mark Camarigg, publications manager of LivingBlues Magazine, believed to be one of the oldest blues magazines inthe United States.
"You can't overestimate his impact and what he represents. He'svirtually transcended blues music in a lot of people's minds. He'son the level of a Sinatra or Willie Nelson," Camarigg says."Because of his age, it's a great way for people to get aconnection to him. Other than Robert Johnson, he's probably themost important person in blues music."
Organizers are betting on King's appeal to draw $8 from at least40,000 visitors each year to keep the museum afloat. Connie S.Gibbons, the museum's executive director, says fundraisers alsowill be held and grants sought to generate money.
"Our mission is education," Gibbons says. "What we've done is useB.B. King's life and his experiences to talk about life in theDelta. It's his values, it's his work ethic, it's his commitment towork excellence that provide the inspiration for the message andthe story we want to tell."
The museum is to be the centerpiece of the state's blues tourismeffort that also includes a developing blues marker trailstretching from Memphis Minnie's grave in Walls, near the Tennesseeborder, to Farish Street in downtown Jackson, a historic blackbusiness district and home of the Alamo Theatre, where artistsperformed live. The blues trail is a project of a state commissioncreated to market the Mississippi's blues heritage in a region thatflourished because of cotton before mechanization eliminated theneed for most plantation jobs.
"What state can boast they have two kings