Comment by Michael Kasmar-AutographPros.com on May 10, 2015 at 7:59am

I've been fortunate enough to have met B.B. King countless times over the past decade plus.  I'll share some videos and some in-person signatures as well.  He was incredibly generous towards the end of the 90's early 2000s but as the years went on and his health diminished so did his willingness to sign.  Through all the years and encounters I don't remember once him asking if we were going to be selling any of these signatures.  He always had a large entourage and there seemed to always at least be one who was not really nice to collectors however that never used to matter as B.B. was in charge back then and seemed to recognize this as part of his being a legend.  As you'll see in the videos there was a time you could basically hold your own private signing with him in a hotel lobby or on hour tour bus step.  The only 'rule' he'd try to enforce was that if it was going to be a guitar to be signed it would have to be a Gibson.  Of course, like any rule he'd make exceptions but not often.  I always respected that rule and always admired the work ethic this man had.  If you research how many tour stops he's done over the past decade you'll see what I mean.  He was a touring machine.   Over the past few years it's been a complete 180 from the man I knew as well as those that surrounded him.  I remember waiting in the rain by the back stage entrance at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford in the early 2000s and one of his merch guys came up and handed me a backstage pass.  He knew B.B. wasn't going to be coming out in the rain that night and so he took care of the 2 of us waiting there.  He's basically 'handled' now by his entourage and reports in the news are coming out about them possibly abusing this power they have taken.  I know the last few times I went for him I walked away empty handed despite having some truly amazing and unique pieces for him to sign.  The entourage was horrible.  In the end, it's been an incredible run with the man.  I still have some amazing collectibles for sale which buyers will likely see double in value.  His signature is pure and reminiscent of a time when celebrities took pride in their autograph.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eih6n2vpsBU

 

http://www.autographpros.com/bbkingautographedsignedguitarcustomdis...

http://www.autographpros.com/bbkingautographedsignedgibsonsbguitaru...

http://www.autographpros.com/bbkingautographedsignedlimitededitionp...

You can find more in-person authentic autographs from B.B. King here: B.B. King Certified Autographs from AutographPros.com

Comment by Sidney Fields on May 10, 2015 at 11:36am

Walter King is BB's nephew.  He's usually on baritone sax.

Comment by Robert Chase on May 10, 2015 at 8:18pm

Ok, Yes sounds familiar. thanks for refreshing me on that. I think Walter may have told me himself but I just forgot.

Comment by Robert Chase on May 13, 2015 at 7:47pm

    Not only was B.B.a very generous signer he would pass out guitar pics and pins. Here are pictures of the 2 different guitar pics and plastic gold colored guitar pin that he gave to me.

Comment by Josh Board on May 14, 2015 at 9:19am

My first autograph ever on a guitar, was BB King. It wasn't a guitar, exactly. It was a guitar neck. You see, this guitarist friend of mine in high school, got drunk. He'd often court women playing ballads. He'd change the words slightly to a Simon & Garfunkel song, inserting said womans name. They'd melt. One time, a woman told him off. She stormed out of the party. He looked at me, looked at the people watching him, and started smashing his guitar everywhere. I ended up keeping the neck. Well, as an autograph collector, I figured when BB King was in town the next weekend, I'd have him sign it. I went to the venue after the show, around midnight. There were a few fans trying to get to him, and a cute woman came out of his room (it was a venue on the beach, that gave the artists a room for the night). She took all our stuff to get signed, but all I had was the guitar neck (I've since got other artists on it as well).

The next time I went to that same venue, there were 50 people. One guy had got him coming out of the limo, on a baseball cap (you always wonder why people get the things signed they get signed). Another guy all of us autograph collectors hate, showed up in his yellow Mercedes. He parked it, and walked right up to the front of the line (despite us telling him to get his ass back). After waiting 45 minutes, I left. Yet I found out later, he signed for everyone.

My favorite was a local autograph collector/dealer. I usually hate those people, because they ruin it for everyone. But he's one of the nicer guys, and I like his logic. He hangs back, and let's all the REAL FANS get the signatures first, then he approaches with his guitar, pickguards, or whatever crap he wants to sell later.

He had a collection of nudie photos. I had no clue why, but he said "I've done this before, because BB King likes them. They always let me on the bus, I give him the naked photos, and he signs things for me."

But...my weirdest BB King story involves my daughter. She moved to Las Vegas with her mom when she was 10. I'd always go out there to see her, and one day her mom said to me, "Do you want a guitar pick from BB King?" I said, "Yeah. How did you get it?" Turns out, King's two daughters would often come into her bank, and they gave her a bunch of guitar picks. So she gave me two. I asked if she could get an album signed, and she said yes. So I went to a record store and bought two albums.

Well, months went by, and every time I'd go to Vegas, she'd say "I haven't seen the daughters yet."

One time I went out there and she had. She gave them my albums, and they came back signed. But guess what? They WERE NOT his signature. It looked NOTHING LIKE the signatures you all see on these pages. Nope. Completely different hand. So, his daughters just decided to write his name themselves, and ruin my friggin albums.

Oh well. I got a couple guitar picks out of it.

Comment by Michael Kasmar-AutographPros.com on May 15, 2015 at 1:21pm

RIP Mr. King.

Comment by Nathan Kelly on May 16, 2015 at 7:44am

I met Bb King a number of times...he was great to his fans often letting them com backstage where he could sit and chat with them and of course sign stuff...it is true in the past few years he signed less but seeing him signa a guitar 3 years ago it took him almost 2 minutes...he was an old man in not great health....i am on my phon e and cant work out how to post a picture?

Comment by Mark Roberts on May 16, 2015 at 1:29pm

Great photos and stories guys! 

He was one of kind!

Mark

Comment by Richard Booth on May 17, 2015 at 12:36am

I was honoured to call BB a friend and was proud to run his UK fan site and club. He was a true gentleman and an ambassador for the Blues and for every aspiring guitarist or person.

His legacy and memory will live on in his music and to continued to be enjoyed by millions of people worldwide and for future generations who have yet to hear his amazing catalogue of work.

Richard Booth
bluesboyking.com

Comment by Richard Booth on September 15, 2015 at 8:04am

My book - B.B. King: A Life of Blues' , a tribute to my dear friend B.B. King is now available.
Go to bluesboyking.com now to pre-order or via Amazon worldwide.
Proceeds from the sales of this book will be donated to the B.B. King Museum & Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola.

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