B. B. King has the blues running through his blood.
Growing up in the rural poverty of the Mississippi Delta, King first experienced the blues at nine years old, when his mother passed away. The man of the house before the end of his first decade, he used this strife as a source of inspiration and launched one of the most celebrated musical careers in American history.
King has led a remarkable life, and this riveting autobiography dramatizes his whirlwind adventures from the Memphis of the forties to the Moscow of the nineties with unflinching candor and sincerity. But most of all, B.B.'s story is the story of the blues—the evolution from country acoustic to urban electric, the birth and explosion of rock 'n' roll—and B.B.'s own long, but ultimately triumphant, struggle for crossover success, during which he remained unwaveringly true to the music of his heart.
Billboard
Charming...honest...transcendent...an eloquent autobiography...It reads like a warm and lengthy conversation with a closefriend. Aficionados of the blues will find plenty to pique their interest, but the book truly shines because of the portrait itpaints of a man who has made kindness and respect a lifelong philosophy.
Washinton Post Book World
B.B. King is the preeminent living practioner of the blues…Blues All Around Me is a treasure trove of informatino…told with real feeling
Philadelphia Inquirer
An excellent musical life…dotted with encounters from everyone from Sonny Boy Williamson and Miles Davis to Stevie Ray Vaughn
Houston Chronicle
Candid…heartbreaking…deceptively and disarmingly casual and controversial…King’s book is as self-questioningly honest as any blues song.
Vibe
B.B.’s life and 50-year career is a precious piece of American history that no one could have told better—except maybe Lucille.
Austin American-Statesman
An amazing success story…an eminently entertaining tale of a true American hero.
Buzz
For almost 50 years, King has let his guitar, Lucille, do the talking. Now the celebrated bluesman tells his own gutsy story.
Seattle Times
A classy book from a classy man…straightforward, frank, unaffected, and breezy, with many funny, insightful stories and anecdotes.
Rolling Stone
King tells his very American success story with the lyricism and leisurely pace of a born storyteller…with warmth and sincerity.
Booklist
This is one of the best recent pop-music bios. King speaks straight from the soul, it seems, just like he plays guitar.
Orlando Sentinel
Excellent...provocative...King comes off in print not unlike he does in his music: warm and polite, down gome and sophisticated, expressive and tasteful.
USA Today
The thrill is never gone.
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
The King of the Blues surveys his life and 50-year career. (Sept.)
Library Journal
The long-awaited autobiography.
