Champagne, Blow And Reefer - It's B.B. n' Babs!

In December 1983 my husband Jerry (RIP) and I visited England for a few weeks. One afternoon, while we were shopping in London, we saw posters for B.B. King at Royal Albert Hall, so we thought: “Let's go!” We were staying at Brown’s Hotel, and when we checked in they told us they had tickets for West End shows and concerts. Later that day, when we returned to Brown’s, we spoke to the Concierge, who had second row seats.

The day of the show, we had lunch in the Hammersmith section of London [known as "Hammersmith" - Ed.]. Afterwards we visited a few pubs and smoked joints before the show. As always, B.B. put on one hell of a show! His banter between songs was worth the price of admission alone. When B.B. came out for his encore, Jerry elbowed me and said: “Look at B.B.’s vest (waistcoat to non-Americans), it looks like half a gram fell out of his nose!” it did indeed. At every B.B. King show I’ve seen, when he came out for his encore, he gave out enamelled lapel pins in the shape of his guitar Lucille, and I was determined to get one. I was sitting in an aisle seat, so when B.B. came out for his encore, I rushed to the stage, and held out my hand. When he looked at me, I said with my Brooklyn accent “How Ya Doin’, B.B.?” he bent towards me from the stage and said: “Where ‘ya from, honey?” I said: “Brooklyn, B.B.!” he smiled and said: “I can dig that” and gave me a pin, and I told him: “There’s blow all over your vest!” he looked down, and said: “Oh shit!” brushed it off his vest, laughed, gave me a wink, and continued giving out his pins. After he gave out his pins, he walked back over to me and said: Thanks again, sweetie!”, reached into his pocket and gave and gave me a tortoiseshell colored guitar pick that had D’Andrea and .71mm printed on it. All in all, a very cool evening.

The next day, one of the things on our agenda was to have Sunday afternoon tea at Brown’s. So we’re sitting in Brown’s drawing room, and some people came in, and were seated next to us. When I looked up, it was B.B. King, with his musical director Calvin Owens, and two other people. B.B. smiled at us, and noticed I was wearing the Lucille pin, and said: “I remember you, you’re from Brooklyn!” then in a hushed voice told the table: “She’s the one who tipped me off about the snow white on my threads.” They looked at us and smiled. B.B. introduced us to Calvin Owens, LaVerne his P.A. and Tony his road manager. We had a nice little chat and some laughs for around fifteen minutes, when B.B. said: “If you’ll excuse us now, we have some business to discuss.” A few minutes later a bottle of Champagne (’60 Bollinger for the oenophiles on th' Isle O'Foam©) was brought to our table, and we were told by the waitress: “The gentleman next to you sent this.”, and asked us: “Who is he?” we told her “It’s B.B. King”, then she asked: “What does he do, then?” Jerry told her, “He’s one of the most famous guitarists in the world!” to which she replied, “Oh.” Shrugged her shoulders and walked away. Jerry and I started singing a low-volume version of Muddy Water’s Champagne & Reefer which caused B.B. to laugh loudly and say: “Next time I see Mud, I’m gonna tell him ‘bout this!” We always wondered if he did.

In the 80s, the B.B. King had one of the best bands of his entire career. Under the leadership of Calvin Owens, this band played three hundred plus shows a year, and was a force to be reckoned with. B.B,’s voice was warm and stentorian, as was his playing and guitar tone! This is the same band we saw in London. Many B.B. aficionados (myself included) think the band improved slightly around 1985, when Michael “Mighty Mike” Doster took over on bass. Nevertheless, this is a smokin’ band! Along with B.B. are:

Eugene Carrier on keyboards

Russell Jackson on bass

Leon Warren on guitar

Caleb Emphrey, Jr. on drums

Calvin Owens on trumpet, and the arranger/conductor

James “Boogaloo” Bolden on trumpet

Edgar Sunigal, Jr. on tenor saxophone


Our download du jour, is The B.B. King Orchestra - Live At Midem 1983, which was recorded a few months before we saw him in London. 

[Ed's note: In absence of Hammersmith footage, YewChewb clip shows Dallas gig from same year  - Ed.]