BB King, David Ritz "Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B. B. King" Signed First Edition, First Printing w/COA

Personally signed by B.B. King, the influential blues guitar legend.

New York 1996. Avon Books. B. B. King with David Ritz. "Blues All Around Me". Personally signed by B.B. King directly onto the half-title page. Signed First Edition, First Printing with full number line as required on copyright page. Original dust jacket that is not price clipped and shows a price of $23.00. Includes many b/w photographs. 

B.B. King was influential because of his groundbreaking guitar technique, which included his expressive vibrato and sophisticated string bending, and his ability to infuse emotion into his playing. He popularized and advanced the style of electric blues, bringing it to a mainstream audience through his successful crossover hits and extensive touring. His style became the foundation for modern electric guitar playing, influencing countless generations of artists across various genres.

“A treasure trove of information…told with real feeling.” —Washington Post Book World

“Charming...honest...transcendent…. It reads like a warm and lengthy conversation with a close friend.” —Billboard

The undisputed king of the blues, B.B. King puts his life into words in a story that spans tragedy, triumph, and everything in between—and he tells it just how he plays it, straight from the heart. A true-to-life tale of overcoming monumental odds to succeed as an artist in an often unfriendly world, Blues All Around Me is also the story of how blues music changed during its migration from the Mississippi Delta to urban areas such as Chicago. Rolling Stone calls B.B.’s memoir a “very American success story [told] with the lyricism and leisurely pace of a born storyteller.”

B. B. King has the blues running through his blood.

Growing up in the rural poverty of the Mississippi Delta, King first experienced the blues at nine years old, when his mother passed away. The man of the house before the end of his first decade, he used this strife as a source of inspiration and launched one of the most celebrated musical careers in American history.

King has led a remarkable life, and this riveting autobiography dramatizes his whirlwind adventures from the Memphis of the forties to the Moscow of the nineties with unflinching candor and sincerity. But most of all, B.B.'s story is the story of the blues—the evolution from country acoustic to urban electric, the birth and explosion of rock 'n' roll—and B.B.'s own long, but ultimately triumphant, struggle for crossover success, during which he remained unwaveringly true to the music of his heart.

Publisher's Note

The fabled blues guitarist chronicles his youth on a Mississippi cotton farm, years as a disc jockey, experiences with racism and the civil rights movement, romantic relationships, and forty-five years on the road. The fabled blues guitarist chronicles his youth on a Mississippi cotton farm, years as a disk jockey, experiences with racism and the civil rights movement, romantic relationships, and forty-five years on the road

Reviews

“This is one of the best recent pop-music bios. King speaks straight from the soul, it seems, just like he plays guitar.” (Booklist )

“Excellent...provocative...King comes off in print not unlike he does in his music: warm and polite, down gome and sophisticated, expressive and tasteful.” (Orlando Sentinel )

“The thrill is never gone.” (USA Today )

“Charming...honest...transcendent...an eloquent autobiography...It reads like a warm and lengthy conversation with a closefriend. Aficionados of the blues will find plenty to pique their interest, but the book truly shines because of the portrait itpaints of a man who has made kindness and respect a lifelong philosophy.” (Billboard )

“B.B. King is the preeminent living practioner of the blues…Blues All Around Me is a treasure trove of informatino…told with real feeling” (Washinton Post Book World )

“Candid…heartbreaking…deceptively and disarmingly casual and controversial…King’s book is as self-questioningly honest as any blues song.” (Houston Chronicle )

“An excellent musical life…dotted with encounters from everyone from Sonny Boy Williamson and Miles Davis to Stevie Ray Vaughn” (Philadelphia Inquirer )

“B.B.’s life and 50-year career is a precious piece of American history that no one could have told better—except maybe Lucille.” (Vibe )

“An amazing success story…an eminently entertaining tale of a true American hero.” (Austin American-Statesman )

“For almost 50 years, King has let his guitar, Lucille, do the talking. Now the celebrated bluesman tells his own gutsy story.” (Buzz )

“A classy book from a classy man…straightforward, frank, unaffected, and breezy, with many funny, insightful stories and anecdotes.” (Seattle Times )

“King tells his very American success story with the lyricism and leisurely pace of a born storyteller…with warmth and sincerity.” (Rolling Stone )

B.B. King

Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B. B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimmering vibrato, and staccato picking that influenced many later electric guitar blues players. AllMusic recognized King as "the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century".

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and is one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of the Blues", and is referred to as one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and Freddie King, none of whom are related). King performed tirelessly throughout his musical career, appearing on average at more than 200 concerts a year into his 70s. In 1956 alone, he appeared at 342 shows.

Born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, he was attracted to music and taught himself to play guitar beginning his career in juke joints and on local radio. King later lived and performed in Memphis and Chicago. As his fame grew, he toured the world extensively.