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Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B.B. King

Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B.B. King

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Authors: B. B. King, David Ritz
Publisher: Avon Books (T)
Category: Book

List Price: $23.00
Buy Used: $0.78
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New (12) Used (64) Collectible (12) from $0.78

Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars 22 reviews
Sales Rank: 702292

Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 10 x 6.5 x 1.5

ISBN: 0380973189
Dewey Decimal Number: 781.643092
EAN: 9780380973187
ASIN: 0380973189

Publication Date: November 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy!

Also Available In:

  • Mass Market Paperback - Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B.B. King
  • Paperback - Blues All around Me: The Autobiography of B. B. King

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com Review
His real name is Riley B. King, but the B.B. stands, as any aficionado knows, for Blues Boy, a nickname he was given in the late 1940s when he was a disk jockey in Memphis, Tenn. Of course, he's best known as the King of the Blues to millions of fans throughout the world. At 70, B.B. King is still singing the blues and this is his story, from his childhood growing up in the Mississippi Delta, to the purchase of his first guitar at age 12, from his first real break after his appearance on Sonny Boy Williamson's King Biscuit Time radio show, to his ascent to international acclaim as America's ambassador of the blues.

Product Description
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.


Customer Reviews:   Read 17 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars The makings of the blues   October 16, 2008
The blues are not just a style of music. The appeal of the blues is it's unapologetic approach to the human condition. Rather than ignore the ups and downs of life, the blues find the human dignity revealed in suffering and rejoices in it. A good blues musician/singer is one who has discovered that human dignity in his own life and has become able to communicate it with others. B. B. King does that so well that he has done more than probably any other in promoting the blues in our time.

In this heartfelt account, Riley King shares his life in pros with the same passion he has always shared it in music. He admits that his writing is an attempt to understand himself and he claims (unconvincingly) that he is not very good with words. And that is, perhaps, the only thing that seems a misrepresentation to the reader. Far from seeming to stumble and falter, Mr. King conveys such emotion that we are quickly drawn in to his story and held captive by his words. This is the story of the deep heartfelt emotion from which good blues springs. The human suffering that produces that kind of emotion is not remembered with bitterness but with an underlying joy in seeing that he has been a better man for it. The story of Mr. King's life is the story of his impassioned performances. It is the story of being human and embracing all that comes with the human condition.



5 out of 5 stars As engaging in words as he is in music   October 15, 2008
BB King has penned a memoir that may be the best written of the many fine autobiographies issued by our finest blues musicians. And I've undertaken to read em all! This one is frank, revealing, entertaining and full of historical insight, a must for blues fans, history fans and anyone who enjoys a fun read.


5 out of 5 stars BLUES ALL AROUND ME: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF B.B.KING   March 20, 2007
THERE ARE MANY BLUES SINGERS FROM ROBERT JOHNSON TO THE PRESENT, BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE THEY CALLED "THE KING OF THE BLUES" THIS MAN IS A LEGEND HE IS CALLED B.B.KING. THIS POWERFUL BOOK GOES INTO THE HUMBLE BEGINNING OF RILEY B. KING AS A SHARECROPPER,THROUGH THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT,RACISM TO PERFECTING THE MUSIC THAT IS HIS FIRST LOVE "THE BLUES" .HERE IS A MAN WHO CAME FROM A SIMPLE HUMBLE BEGINNING TO PERFORMING BEFORE KINGS AND QUEENS AND PRESIDENTS AND EVEN THE POPE. IF YOU HAVE SEEN B.B.KING YOU KNOW WHY HE IS CALLED THE KING OF THE BLUES, IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN HIM YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON "THE MAN" HIMSELF ALL YOU CAN DO IS READ THIS POWERFUL BOOK


5 out of 5 stars read the book several times   September 6, 2005
I've read BB's book several times, maybe 5 or 6. Every time I read it I still love it. I learn something new about him every time. If you even consider yourself a fan of BB or the blues, you have to read this book. David Ritz is an awesome co-writer, keeping BB's voice in the forefront, and he just gently guides BB. He did a hell of a job with Etta James' autobiography also.
An excellent book!!



5 out of 5 stars A MAN AND HIS BLUES... the great BB KING...   November 3, 2004
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

His real name is Riley B. King, the B.B. stands for Blues Boy, and he is known as "America's ambassador of the blues". A recommended enjoyable, good read about growing up and into music, self-taught guitar, remarkable attitudes of a man who faced prejudice and hate with an even keel. A performer who went on stage even when he was suffering from a bad case of flu. B.B. King took his music to Israel, England, and Russia, and held up in stature through the lows and highs. And he loves his 'Lucille' (guitar)! David Ritz has co-authored with the King a wonderful synopsis of love, fortitude, belonging, and enthusiasm. Recommended for blues lovers or otherwise... please don't miss this splendid read. (Review based on hardcover 1996)
Reviewer also recommends: 'Between Each Line of Pain and Glory My Life Story' by Gladys Knight


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