If you want to be a good blues singer, people are going to be down on you, so dress like you're going to the bank to borrow money.
B. B. KingRead
I call myself a blues singer, but you ain't never heard me call myself a blues guitar man.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses B. B. King's identity as a blues singer while downplaying his role as a guitarist.
B. B. King highlights the significance of his vocal artistry in the blues genre. While he is also an accomplished guitarist, he emphasizes that his primary identity lies in his singing, suggesting that the emotional expression and storytelling inherent in his vocals are what truly define him as an artist.
Themes
BluesSingingIdentityMusicArtist
In practice
Example use cases
In a music workshop teaching the importance of vocal expression, this quote could inspire participants to find their unique voice.
More from B. B. King
All quotes βThe way I feel today, as long as my health is good and I can handle myself well and people still come to my concerts, still buy my CDs, I'll keep playing until I feel like I can't.
B. B. KingRead
Everything I record, I just try to sound like me and come up with songs that suit what I do and then just go for it. I never know what the public's going to like, anyway.
B. B. KingRead
A guitar is like an old friend that is there with me.
B. B. KingRead
I have not been a good father, but no father has loved his children more. Like my father, I decided the best thing I could do for my kids was work and provide. Fortunately, I've been able to do that. Unfortunately, my work was on the road, and that's meant a life of one-nighters.
B. B. KingRead
People all over the world have problems. And as long as people have problems, the blues can never die.
B. B. KingRead
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I never sang for a Grammy, for money, for fame. That's my whole purpose for singing: for people, for the fans.
Mavis StaplesRead
You can go to Europe, and there's no turnin' back - any parts of Europe. Wherever you are, there is no stop and go for the blues. The blues go but it don't stop.
John Lee HookerRead
When I'm on stage, I'm trying to do one thing: bring people joy. Just like church does. People don't go to church to find trouble, they go there to lose it.
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Hearing a whole entire room sing back to me, 'I guess it's true I'm not good at a one-night stand,' you know, I just can't explain the feeling. It's unreal. You feel like you've just read your diary to thousands of people and they've gone, 'It's okay. We still love you.'
Sam SmithRead
I've never mastered the guitar. Either I was playing it, or it was playing me; it depends how you look at it. As a kid, the only things I had to do was go to school, do my homework, and play guitar.
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In World War II, jazz absolutely was the music of freedom, and then in the Cold War, behind the Iron Curtain, same thing. It was all underground, but they needed the food of freedom that jazz offered.
Herbie HancockRead