Blues Legend B.B. King Dies At Age 89

Via the BBC:

The "King of the Blues", guitarist and singer BB King, has died aged 89. King, known for his hits My Lucille, Sweet Little Angel and Rock Me Baby, died in his sleep in Las Vegas. Born in Mississippi, King began performing in the 1940s, going on to influence a generation of musicians and work with Eric Clapton and U2. Once ranked as the third greatest guitarist of all time, he had been suffering ill health in recent months. He was recently taken to hospital with a diabetes-related illness. A former farmhand, King was awarded his 15th Grammy award in 2009 for his album One Kind Favor. He was also inducted into both the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone magazine placed him behind only Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Until recently, King performed in at least 100 concerts a year.

Condolences from the music world are pouring out on Twitter.

Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of Fly-Life, today's Swag Tuesday booty is Memphis Blues, the 11th studio album from everybody's hero, Cyndi Lauper.

Iconic performer and musical chameleon Cyndi Lauper will release Memphis Blues on June 22nd on Downtown Records. The collection of blues cover songs, recorded this March at Electraphonic Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, features appearances by such great artists as B.B. King, Jonny Lang, Allen Toussaint, Ann Peebles and Charlie Musselwhite. “This is the album I’ve wanted to make for years,” said Lauper. “All of these beautiful songs, and all of the great players on the album, were carefully chosen because I’ve admired them my entire life. And I knew from the moment Alan Toussaint hit the keys in ‘Shattered Dreams’ that we were creating something really special.” The feel of Memphis Blues is gritty and full of life. It bristles with the kind of energy that earmarked the hit singles invented on the fly at Stax Records, the historic and spiritual prototype for Electraphonic, where musicians of multiple generations work side-by-side creating soul-driven anthems for the brokenhearted, the unrequited, and the overlooked.

Hit the link for a free MP3 download from Memphis Blues. Enter to win one of five free copies of Memphis Blues by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please leave your email address in the text of your post. Entries close at midnight on Thursday, west coast time. Publicists: If you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

Gil Scott-Heron - Me & The Devil

I spent the weekend grooving on this track from Gil Scott-Heron's new album I'm New Here, which is just out. This clip closes with a spoken word interlude from "The Godfather of Rap."