Riley B. King . . . still playing the blues at the age of 86 . . . 15,000 plus performances over a 60 year span.
The home B.B. King was born in was located near this spot on Bear Creek just outside of Berclair. Nothing remains of the house. If you visit the B.B. King Museum you can view a film of him revisiting the area.
I am not sure why, but the historical marker for the B.B. King birthplace is about 1/2 mile from the actual site.
The B.B. King Museum in Indianola (unfortunately no photography was allowed in the exhibit area). This place is a state-of-the-art facility. A buttload of money went into preserving all that is B.B. King. Now don't get me wrong . . . I like B.B. King just fine, but spread the wealth a little. With all of the major players that had something to do with this region of Mississippi (Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Jimmy Reed, etc.), surely some of the space could have been allotted to them with still enough room to tell the story of local boy made good.
The museum structure incorporates this part of an old cotton gin where B.B. King once worked. As this space is available for rentals and such, it is the one photo I could take within the walls of the museum.
Touching greatness . . . Rolling Stone lists B.B. King as number 6 on their 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list.
This is the corner in Indianola where B.B. King cut his musical teeth.
A who's who of musicians travelling the “chitlin circuit” passed through the doors of Club Ebony (Ray Charles, Count Basie, B. B. King, Bobby Bland, Little Milton, Albert King, James Brown, Ike Turner, Clarence Carter, Howlin’ Wolf, etc.). B.B. King now owns the establishment, which is located in Indianola.
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