B.B. King - In The Beginning

In The Beginning

The year was 1925 ... In the area of Mississippi known as the "Delta", a baby was born on September 16 in a small sharecropper's cabin near the town of Itta Bena. The proud parents of the newborn baby boy were Albert and Nora Ella King, hardworking sharecropping farmers who had lived in Mississippi all of their lives. The boy was named Riley B. King, after his uncle, the only known living kin of Albert King. It should be noted here that B.B. King's father, Albert King, was NOT the great bluesman from Indianola, Mississippi. Although the now dearly departed bluesman named Albert King grew up in the same area of the Delta as B.B. King did, they were not related.

Young Riley King never knew his uncle for whom he had been named after. When Albert King was very young, his father had left his mother and vanished into parts unknown. Not long after his father had left, Albert's mother and only sister died, leaving him with his older brother. For reasons unknown, his brother had left young Albert to be raised by a sharecropper named Love. When Albert was 7 years old, he learned that his brother was in a Texas prison, and that was the last he had ever heard of him. In an interview with Albert King in 1978, he says of his son, "I call B.B. my baby brother 'cause we're only eighteen years apart. I call him B.B. like everybody else, but his real name is 'Riley.' Now he's got them two B's up front of his name."


Nora Ella King left Albert King for another man when Riley was only 4 years old. She moved back into the hills east of the Delta and sent Riley to live in nearby Kilmicheal with his maternal grandmother, Elnora Farr. Riley's father Albert did not interfere, and lost touch with his wife and son. Riley lived off and on with his mother and two subsequent step fathers, but most of the time he stayed with his grandmother, who sharecropped on the land of Edwayne Henderson, a dairy farmer.

Riley's mother and grandmother were both very religious and he attended services with them at the Holiness Church in Kilmicheal. It was here at church where young Riley had his first true musical influence. The preacher, Archie Fair, who was the brother-in-law of Riley's maternal uncle William Pullinan, was an important musical inspiration to Riley. Music was the main tool used by Archie Fair to bring the congregation together as one. Riley's dominant singing style with the congregation helped to develop his powerful charismatic influence for his future audiences. Archie Fair led the congregation by playing guitar. Riley was fascinated with the preacher's guitar and Archie taught him how to play the E, A and B chords.

Riley's mother died in the summer of 1935, when he was only 9 years old. He then lived with his grandmother in Kilmicheal. When word reached Riley's father, Albert King, of Nora Ella's death, he became concerned for Riley's welfare. He contacted Riley and told him that he could come to live with him, his new wife and family in Lexington, Mississippi whenever Riley was ready. Riley was reluctant to leave Kilmicheal because of his schooling and his newly formed gospel singing group. The group consisted of Riley's cousin Birkett Davis and his friend Walter Doris, Jr. Riley made the decision to stay in Kilmicheal.

Riley's grandmother, Elnora Farr, died on January 15, 1940. Although Riley still had kin in the area, his uncle William Pullinan and his aunt Mimy Stells, both of whom were sharecroppers for Henderson, neither family had either the resources or the room to support Riley. Riley continued to live at his grandmother's cabin and farmed one acre of Henderson's land to raise a cotton crop. He barely made enough money to live that year, and in the fall of 1940, Riley moved to Lexington to live with his father.

Riley lived with his father for two years. He became homesick for the Kilmicheal area, and in 1942 when he was 16 years old, he moved back to Kilmicheal to attend the Elkhorn school and continue singing with his gospel group. The Flake Cartledge family, white cash tenants for Edwayne Henderson, took Riley in and he worked to earn his keep. The Cartledge's were very kind to Riley, in fact Flake loaned Riley $2.50 to buy his first guitar from a Kilmicheal man, Denzil Tidwell. By the end of 1942, Riley had decided to move to the Delta in search of better work, but in the back of his mind he was thinking about forming a better singing group with his cousin, Birkett. Birkett borrowed a car, and in the spring of 1943, he moved Riley to Indianola, Mississippi.

Riley was able to find work with an Indianola planter named Johnson Barrett. Riley worked on the Barrett plantation as both a sharecropper and a tractor driver, for which he was paid a day wage of $1.00. In only a few short months after leaving Kilmicheal, Riley now had a skilled job as a tractor driver, a new singing group and a girlfriend.

The singing group consisted of a five man chorus, including Riley and cousin Birkett, and was led by John Matthews. The new group was called "The Famous St. John's Gospel Singers." Riley accompanied them on guitar when they sang, mostly at churches. Occasionally, they gave live performances which were broadcast on radio station WGRM in Greenwood, Mississippi. At this same time, Riley was also playing the blues on the Indianola street corners on Saturday nights. Blues music was not new to him, his mother's cousin, Bukka White, a noted Memphis bluesman, would come to visit Riley's family when they lived in Kilmicheal. Riley soon found out that by using his day wages for traveling money to get to other Delta towns, he could double or triple his money by playing the blues. His profits and exposure to other Delta bluesmen turned his musical interests away from the gospel spirituals.

Riley had to register for the Military draft in 1944 and was found physically fit for service. Johnson Barrett, not wanting to loose a skilled tractor driver, applied to the draft board on Riley's behalf for an occupational deferment. Barrett also told Riley that getting married would improve his chances of being deferred. Riley married his first wife, Martha Denton, on November 11, 1944, and shortly afterward he received his deferment.

After he was released from the selective service, Riley tried to convince the St. John's Gospel Singers to leave Indianola in search of fame and fortune. It soon became apparent to Riley that if he was going to make his career in music, he would have to make the break alone. The final decision came one night in May of 1946 when Riley had returned from the fields with the tractor. He shut off the tractor, but the engine turned over a couple of extra times and the machine lunged forward, breaking off the exhaust stack. Riley, not wanting to face an angry Johnson Barrett, left town with his guitar and $2.50 in his pocket. He was heading to Memphis on highway 49 in search of his cousin Bukka White ...