B.B. King: Lucille Speaks

Perhaps B.B. King's most identifiable trademark is his guitar Lucille. Lucille has been with B.B. since 1949. The story has been told many times before, but for those of you not familiar with the details, here it is ...

Back in the late 1940's when B.B.'s career was in its infancy, one of his stops on the road was in Twist, Arkansas. It used to get quite cold in Twist in the evenings, and in order to keep the dance hall warm, kerosene was used for heat. A large barrel was placed in the center of the room and was filled about half way up with the fuel. The kerosene was then lighted to heat the room, a practice which was not uncommon in those days.

One cold night in 1949, two men started fighting and knocked over the barrel of burning kerosene. The burning fuel spilled over the floor like a river of fire. Every one, including B.B., ran out the front door. Once outside, B.B. realized that he left his guitar, a Gibson acoustic, inside the inferno. He went back inside the collapsing building to save his guitar, almost losing his life in the process. The blaze that night claimed two fatalities.

The next morning, B.B. discovered why the two men were fighting the night before. It seems as though they were fighting over a lady, and although he never met the woman, B.B. learned her name was Lucille. B.B. named that guitar Lucille, and also every guitar he has owned since that night, "to remind me never to do a thing like that again." Hear B.B. tell the story in his own words - from Lucille, (675 K, 63 sec.) Copyright ©, MCA records, 1968.

Lucille in her current form is a Gibson ES-355. B.B. has been playing the ES-355 for at least 25 years, before that he played an ES-335. The main difference between those two guitars is that the ES-355 is a solid body. B.B. likes to think of the ES-355 as the "big brother" of Gibson's Les Paul. Although B.B. is partial to Gibson guitars, he has played just about any guitar he has gotten his hands on. His very first guitar was a Stella acoustic. Early in his career, he played and owned many different makes, such as Fender, Gretsch, Silverstone and of course Gibson.

B.B. always speaks very highly of Lucille, what follows here are some comments made by B.B. on the album liner of his 1968 release, Lucille (MCAD 10518) Copyright ©, MCA records Inc., Universal City, California:

"I'm very crazy about Lucille," he begins. It's a general reference of course, for after all, many guitars have been part of King's life. "I've had many guitars ... and I always call them Lucille. She's taken me a long way, even brought me some fame ... most of all, she's kept me alive, being able to eat ... Lucille practically saved my life two or three times," he says, referring to one of his several auto accidents, "The car stopped turning over, it fell over on Lucille and it held it up off of me." B.B. also tells this tale in his own words - from Lucille, (241 K, 22 sec.) Copyright ©, MCA records, 1968.

"Sometimes I get to a place I can't even say nothing ... sometimes when I'm blue, seems Lucille tries to help me, calls my name ... She's just like a woman, and that's the only one I've had that seemed I could really depend on. I've been married and each time separated from my wife, but Lucille never separates from me. She always stayed with me."

"It seems that it loves to be petted and played with. There's also a certain way you hold it, the certain noises it makes, the way it excites me ... and Lucille don't want to play anything but the blues ... Lucille is real, when I play her it's almost like hearing words, and of course, naturally I hear cries. I'd be playing sometimes and as I'd play, it seems like it almost has a conversation with me. It tells you something. It communicates with me ... the one thing that I'm concerned about today, to make Lucille sound even more like singing, more in the style of my singing." B.B. lets Lucille do the talkin' here - from Lucille, (243 K, 22 sec.) Copyright ©, MCA records, 1968. An excellent example of a B.B. solo with Lucille can be heard on the song, "You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now," - from Everyday I Have the Blues, (368 K, 34 sec.) Copyright , TEL-STAR records, 1991.

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Text copyright ©, 1996 Jim Kerekes & Dennis O'Neill

Photo Credits (in order of appearance):

The head of Lucille, photo courtsey of Guitar World, July 1991. B.B.'s custom Gibson ES-355, image copyright of Gibson Guitar, 1996. Spec's on this guitar can be viewed thru Gibson's Lucille page. B.B. King, photo courtsey of Guitar Player, July 1991. B.B. King, photo from the album liner of Blues Summit, copyright MCA records, 1993.

Last update on 1/3/97 ...

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