B.B. King Press Releases

April, 1999

Information released by the offices
of B.B. King's manager:

Sidney A. Seidenberg, Inc.
1414 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019

B.B. King appears in  Carpet One ads
MCA releases The Best of B.B. King as part of its 20th Century Masters
B.B. King appeared on Late Show with David Letterman
B.B. King to be on Motown Live in April
Bravo Profiles: B.B. King: King of the Blues
B.B. King in new Merrill Lyinch ads
B.B. King's 1999 tour plans
Sessions: B.B. King plays on Koko Taylor and Arthur Adams albums
B.B. King receives 20th Grammy nomination, performs on telecast
B.B. King inducted into the N.A.A.C.P. Image Awards Hall of Fame

More News


B.B. King appears in  Carpet One ads

Sydney A. Seidenberg, B.B. King's longtime manager announces that Carpet One, America's leading flooring retailer is inaugurating a new brand building advertising that uses B.B. King and the power of popular music celebrities to deliver the message "Nobody does it better than Carpet One." Doc Severinsen is the other celebrity in the current campaign.

"The campaign is designed to position Carpet One, and it's member stores, on a level with well known musicians Doc Severinsen and B.B. King," said Dean Marcarelli, vice-president of marketing and advertising for Carpet One. "The implied message is that when it comes to trumpet, 'nobody does it better' than Doc Severinsen, and when it comes to blues, 'nobody does it better' than B.B. King, which plays off Carpet One's position, when it comes to flooring 'nobody does it better' than Carpet One."

Media buys include Cable TV home improvement programs and consumer magazines including Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping and Country Living to name a few.

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MCA releases The Best of B.B. King as part of its 20th Century Masters

MCA Records has released a 10-song Best of B.B. King as part of its 20th Century Masters/Millenium Collection. The songs on the album are "The Thrill Is Gone," "Ain't Nobody Home," "Let The Good Times Roll," (with Bobby Bland), "Guess Who," "I Like To Live The Love," "Don't Answer The Door," "Sweet Sixteen," "Paying The Cost To Be The Boss," "I Got Some Outside Help I Don't Need," and "Into The Night."

Also included in the series are Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, The Mamas and The Papas, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Neil Diamond, Etta James, Patti LaBelle, The Who, Bill Halley & The Comets, Buddy Holly, John Lee Hooker, and Steppenwolf with more to be added.

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B.B. King appeared on Late Show with David Letterman

B.B. King performed "Bad Case of Love" and "The Thrill is Gone" on The Late Show with David Letterman on January 12.

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B.B. King to be on Motown Live in April

B.B. King has taped an appearance on Motown Live to be shown on the UPN network in April. He will sing "Rock Me Baby" with Seal and do solo performances of "The Thrill is Gone," "Bad Case of Love" and "Never Make a Move Too Soon." The show will air at various times April 23-24. In Los Angeles, it will be at midnight on April 23; in New York, it will be at 11:00 p.m. on April 24.

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Bravo Profiles: B.B. King: King of the Blues

Bravo, the cable channel dedicated to international films and performing arts, ran B.B. King: King of the Blues on February 11 - 12 with plans to repeat it periodically, starting this summer. King of the Blues is an in depth documentary following the legendary guitarist as he tours his home state of Mississippi and talks about the influences and inspirations that have made him America's greatest living blues artist.

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B.B. King in new Merrill Lyinch ads

B.B. is appearing in a 30 seconds television ad for Merryll Lynch celebrating "human achievement." The spot opens with high-tech special effects. The camera travels through wires and circuit boards, then emerges from what viewers realize is an electric guitar being plucked by B.B. King, King of the Blues. While King is heard playing, the announcer says, "Admire Machines. Worship their inventors."

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B.B. King's 1999 tour plans

B.B. King, the King of the Blues, just returned from a short 9 concert tour of Europe March 3 - 12 with special guest Charlie Musselwhite. King performed in four countries: Belgium, Holland, Switzerland and Germany, the latter for six concerts in six cities.

From March 17 - April 11 King will perform 19 concerts, mostly on the East Coast with stops in Florida, Puerto Rico, Toronto, Rochester, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, New York City as well two nights in Las Vegas, King's hometown.

From April 20 - May 1 B.B. king returns to Europe for ten concerts in the United Kingdom. And in July once again returns to Europe for the jazz festival season that already includes stops in England, Austria, France, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg with more dates to be finalized.

The eight annual B.B. King Blues Music Festival will kick off August 3 with Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Tower of Power and another act to be named. Shepherd was on the 1996 Blues Music Festival; Tower of Power performed on the 1997 Blues Music Festival.

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Sessions: B.B. King plays on Koko Taylor and Arthur Adams albums

In the midst of his busy touring schedule, B.B. King has found the time to play on the next albums by Koko Taylor and Arthur Adams.

King performed "Blues Motel" on the forthcoming Taylor cd due en the late summer/early fall on Alligator Records.

King performs two songs on the forthcoming Arthut Adam's CD Back on Track due June 8 on Blind Pig Records. Both songs, "Get You Next to Me" and "The Long Haul," were written by Arthur Adams and Will Jennings. Jennings has written many songs previously recorded by B.B. King. Adams, incidentally, wrote two songs and played on King's 1991 album There Is Always One More Time and is the currently the leader of the house band at the B.B. King Blues Club in Universal City, Los Angeles. Adams has released albums on Blue Thumb, Fantasy and A & M but none in the past 20 years.

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B.B. King receives 20th Grammy nomination, performs on telecast
 

B.B. King received his 20th Grammy Nomination for Deuces Wild in the Best Contemporary Blues Album category. King congratulates Keb' Mo', the winner of his first Grammy for Slow Down. Other nominees were Marcia Ball, Irma Thomas & Tracy Nelson (Sing It!), Buddy Guy (Heavy Love) and Etta James (Life, Love & the Blues).

On the February 24th CBS broadcast of the 41st Grammy Awards, B.B. King and his close friend Eric Clapton performed King's chestnut "Rock Me Baby."

King has previously won eight Grammy Awards: Best Rock Instrumental Performance("SRV Shuffle" with Eric Clapton, Jimmie Vaughan, Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Dr. John and Art Neville from A tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1996) Best Traditional Blues Recording (Blues Summit, 1993); Live at the Apollo, 1991); Live at San Quentin, 1990; "My Guitar Sings the Blues," a track from Six Silver Strings, 1985; and Blues & Jazz, 1983, Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording (There Must Be a Better World Somewhere, 1981) and Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance, Male (The Thrill Is Gone, 1970). In addiction, King's 1970 album Indianola Mississippi Seeds won a Grammy for Best Album Cover , an art director's award.

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B.B. King inducted into the N.A.A.C.P. Image Awards Hall of Fame

B.B. King was inducted into the N.A.A.C.P. Image Awards Hall of Fame by Jay Leno and his Tonight show Bandleader Kevin Eubanks. The proceedings were televised on March 4 on FOX. While King was sitting in a chair, Eric Clapton and George Benson started performing "Rock Me Baby," then King's trusty guitar Lucille was lowered from the rafters, and King joined Clapton and Benson for a "Rock Me Baby" jam.

B.B. King has won three image Awards before: Best Blues Artist in 1993, 1981 and 1975.

B.B. King is also a member of the Performance Magazine touring Hall of Fame (1995), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1987) and the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame (1980)

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News from other sources

I write from Reuters [News Agency] on behalf of the Teenage Cancer Trust charity. We are hoping to raise funds for this charity by having an online auction. One of the items is a BB.King guitar signed by the legend himself. Details of the auction can be found at www.musicmetropolis.com
The Teenage Cancer Trust
Kirkham House, 54a Tottenham Court Road, London ( +44 (0)171 436 2877).
charity 1062559 Patron: Duchess of York
Registered In their literature they say "The Teenage Cancer Trust grew from a need identified when the despairing mother of a thirteen year old with cancer asked "Do you know how difficult it is to be a teenager with cancer?" We began to realise that the trauma of cancer and its treatment when superimposed upon the fragility of adolescence demanded a new and different approach.
The Teenage Cancer Trust funds the capital costs for our specialist Units. Each one costs, on average, £500,000. We work in close collaboration with NHS trusts which largely fund the day to day operation. Until we cam along young teenagers were treated in childrens wards where bunnies decorated the walls and cots were more abundant than beds. Older teenagers found themselves alongside the elderly. This is still generally the case, other than in Teenage Cancer Trust Units.
We hope to raise £10,000 with this auction. During the course of the auction people should send their bids (e-mail) through the musicmetropolis website.
These will be forwarded to me at Reuters. Periodically (could be hourly, or daily) I will check latest bids and update the site. At the end of the auction I will pass the bidders names to the charity and the transaction will be between the two parties.
Best Regards

Steve Hives



JACKSON, ESTEFAN AMONG STARS AT PAVAROTTI GALA
   Michael Jackson and Gloria Estefan will be among the stars of this year's "Pavarotti and Friends" charity show organized by opera great Luciano Pavarotti in his hometown of Modena, Italy.
Nicoletta Mantovani, Pavarotti's girlfriend and producer of the show June 1 at Modena's 15,000-seat stadium, was quoted by the Italian news agency ANSA on Friday as saying B.B. King, Mariah Carey, Boy Zone and Ricky Martin will also perform.
Proceeds will go toward the construction of centers for needy children in Guatemala.

*April 04, 1999 deseretnews.com

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Last updated on 04/14/99

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