Photos by Cherie Hoyt, November 19, 2011, Strange Brew Tavern, Manchester, NH
Just released, two interviews with B.B. King, recorded by Harvard, posted on http://www.bluesisking.com. Direct links here :
PRESS RELEASE: *NEW B.B. KING INTERVIEWS ADDED TO HARVARD'S TRIBUTE WEBSITE*
The Harvard at Home website, Blues is King: A Tribute to B.B. King *(bluesisking.com)* has added two extended video interviews,conversations, really, with the King of the Blues, in which he reflects on his long life and career, and provides insight into the music he plays and sings with such passion. The first interview, from 2004, took place in class -- Charlie Sawyer's History of Blues in America class at Harvard Extension School. The second interview was recorded by the Harvard at Home video crew on B.B.'s bus after his concert in Lowell, MA in November of 2007.
Charlie Sawyer conducted both interviews, which together total more than 73 minutes. The conversations cover technical questions such as,
"Why does your guitar sound so different on stage than it does on recordings?" (2004), and queries regarding his life and legacy, such as "How would you like to be remembered?" (2007).
First launched in 2009, the Blues is King website describes King as "an icon of American music...whose distinctive guitar playing and evocative voice have inspired generations of rock and jazz performers." Two of the prominent performers inspired by B.B. King, guitarist/vocalist "Monster" Mike Welch and rock guitar icon Jay Geils are featured in a video of a B.B. King tribute concert given at Harvard by Sawyer's blues band, *2120 South Michigan Avenue* in 2007, which is presented in full on the website. In interview segments, Mike and Jay, as well as Rounder Records producer Scott Billington and Charlie Sawyer reflect on B.B.'s influence and great contribution to
American popular music.
This website is a resource for blues scholars and B.B. King fans alike, according to Sawyer. It includes a gallery of photographs of B.B. King and other blues artists and a timeline of B.B. King's life, along with the tribute concert video and the interview videos. Sawyer says the materials collected here are a good online supplement to the voluminous collections of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in B.B.'s hometown of Indianola, Mississippi. www.bbkingmuseum.org