Museum Is a Castle for the King of the Blues

They're a reminder of those who labored by day in a segregatedsociety. But at night they escaped to Indianola's Church Street tobe entertained by a young man later known as

B.B. King

, who would throw his hat on the ground to catch coins as heconjured devil's music from his guitar.

More than a half-century after King left Indianola in search offame, the $15 million B.B. King Museum and Delta InterpretiveCenter has opened in his home town and is as much a tribute to himand his blues music as the culture that inspired it.

King's museum is the latest attraction for the state's bluestourism industry, which ironically thrives because so little haschanged in the predominantly black Delta since King,

Muddy Waters

,

John Lee Hooker

 and

Robert Johnson

 got their start there. Enthusiasts from across the nation andoverseas vacation in the flatland region, known for fertile soil,its past racial strife and its lingering, unfathomable poverty.

King, an 83-year-old multiple Grammy winner who still plays about120 gigs a year, says he's honored that the story of the blues isbeing told 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.

King was born poor as Riley B. King in 1925. His parents split,leaving his grandmother to raise him before she died while he wasstill a young boy. He grew up, and as most blacks did in the Delta,he got a string of plantation jobs. His last was at the cotton ginin Indianola. Somewhere in between, he began developing his playingstyle, described by some as a mix of Delta, Memphis and Texassounds.

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 he performed 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 museum carvedout of the old cotton gin is a convergence of old and new. Atouch-screen interactive feature allows visitors to choose topicsof interest, ranging from King's childhood to facts about the Deltaflood of 1927. Music lessons are given through another interactivecomputer program, with King instructing on a video as visitorsfinger chords on a guitar.

Elsewhere, vinyl blues records by Bobby "Blue" Bland andBlind Lemon are hung near decades-old, yellowing contracts signedby musicians, who are now largely forgotten. A Panoram Soundiesjukebox nearby broadcasts a Cab Calloway performance.

The museum also houses rare photos of

Elvis Presley

, King's draft card and, of course, Lucille, the storied guitarKing used on such hits as "The Thrill Is Gone," "ToKnow 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 publicationsin the United States.

"You can't overestimate his impact and what he represents.He's virtually transcended blues music in a lot of people's minds.He's on the level of a Sinatra or

Willie Nelson

," Camarigg says. "Because of his age, it's a great wayfor people to get a connection to him. Other than Robert Johnson,he's probably the most 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."