The Blues (2003): Season 1, Episode 3 - The Road to Memphis - full transcript

Once I had a pretty little girl

I lose my baby,ain't that sad?

Once I had a pretty little girl

I lose my baby, ain't that sad?

You know you can't
Spend what you ain't got

You can't lose
What you ain't never had

Well you know you can't
Spend what you ain't got

You can't lose
What you ain't never had

Yeah, it's three miles up.

Memphis 17.

- Y'all ready to have a good time?
- Yeah!



Hey, we want to thank...

- Bobby Rush.
- Larry.

Everyone who came out
to the show tonight.

How are you?

Featuring Bobby Rush, himself.
Are y'all ready for Bobby Rush?

- Yeah. Oh, yeah!
- Bobby Rush!

I said are you all
ready for Bobby Rush?

Yeah. Yes, sir.

If you have never seen
this man before. Get ready.

Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands
together and welcome to the stage...

the one and only,
Bad, Bobby...

Rush!

The superstar...

is Bad Bobby Rush!



Super Bad...

Bobby Rush.

Super... He's the best.

I ain't stuttin' ya'

Ladies and gentleman the one and only.
The Grammy nominated, Bobby Rush.

- Lookin' Sharp!
- Give it to 'em, Bobby!

Blues night.

I thought, I

Tit for tat

If you give away your doll
I will sell some of my cap

She said
Hey, Bobby Rush

What you got will never
Never do

She said what good
Father goose she said

There's good father

Y'all know who I am by now
Let me tell you.

My name is Bobby Rush.
And I been doing this 49 years.

250, 300 shows a year.

I've been off work six
weeks I think, in 41 years.

That make me be either hungry...

crazy, or in love with the music.

So when you get back
to California...

tell them to come to Mississippi
if you want to hear.

So you get the clock.

I got it.

Did you see that?

Memphis, Tennessee.
Look out.

Here we come again.

I was a field hand
when I was seven.

Chop cotton.
Picked cotton.

Then when I was a teenager,
I was good.

All the girls, you know,
said there's a tractor driver there.

Yeah, I'm a tractor driver.

Somebody knocking on my door

Junior Parker and I, in1954, 55.

We used to play a little club over
her side of this little hill in midnight.

If you played it real good you
get two pieces of chicken.

If you didn't play good,
you got one piece.

If the man didn't like you at
all you didn't get anything, to eat.

I'm so worried

Don't know where to go

We were always out together,
you know.

BB, and Bobby,
and Little Junior Parker, and Ike.

I came out the cotton field, too.
We were all hicks.

And, loving the music.

Don't worry
Daddy is gonna be there

Wow, the late great Howlin' Wolf
right here in Memphis, Tennessee.

AM 1070 WDIA in about two weeks...

the cr?me de la cr?me
of the Blues at the Orpheum theater.

Yes.

Downtown, Memphis Tennessee
it is the Handy Awards.

24th one.
They're The Best in the Blues.

Ike Turner, Rosco Gordon,
Little Milton...

and probably the best Blues singer
in the country today...

is up for entertainer
of the year, B.B. King.

Yes.

Hey, man alright.

- Hey, how are you?
- Alright.

- Pretty lady, how are you?
- I'm Ok.

Is this B.B. King?

- Is this B.B. King?
- He left. He went to town.

How you feeling?

Just one hug?

- Alright. Thank you. How you feeling?
- Thank you.

Good, alright.

- Hello.
- Would you believe my grandson...

you met him in Cleveland
and gave him one of your guitar picks.

- Did I?
- He treasures it.

- I'm happy to hear that.
- Yes, he loves it. You gave it to him.

- I'm glad.
- Yes.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

- Give him my hello, will you?
- I certainly will.

- How are you?
- God bless you. Thank you for everything.

- Thank you. How are you today? Alright?
- Fine, thank you very much.

Precious Lord

Take my hand

Lead me on

Let me stand

I guess as a plow boy,
I was even at five miles per hour...

working 12 hours a day...

which is about 60 miles a day,
about 6 days a week.

I was thinking 16 years
of doing that...

I walked practically around
the world just a following a mule.

Through the storm

Through the night

Lead me on

To the light

- Take my hand
- Take my hand

- Precious Lord
- Precious Lord

Lead me home

Coming to Memphis was like
going to London or Paris.

A lot of it was beyond
my wildest dream.

To Lord

I was like a kid in a candy store.

Hello, friends of the Colored
tri-state fair of Memphis Tennessee.

Come on down this way now see
what's gonna happen down...

everybody at the big show...

this is the largest show
on the ground where you're going.

Sit down and enjoy yourself.
I know you appreciate that.

Good Lord
Come on, come on

Come on, baby

And I love you

In my heart

Baby, and cry

And there you have it ladies
and gentlemen our first place winner.

Quincy Johnson who sang old Man River,
Anna Lee Munger sang My Hero...

won second place and third...

B.B. King you've been playing and singing
the Blues all your professional life.

What do you want to do with
your music and with your singing?

Play the best that I can.

Reach as many people as I can.
As many countries.

In other words...

I'd like the whole country hear
B.B. King sings and plays the Blues.

If you let me love you

I'll buy you a car made of gold

I'll even give you the fountain
Of youth, baby

So you will never grow old

Just if you let me love you

Ain't nothing
I wouldn't do for you

I say I'd try to walk the water
Baby

If you just let me love you

The one and only B.B. King!

Well, Mr. King, I bet you don't even
recognize this town anymore.

I keep seeing so many
things that I haven't seen.

Yeah, it's certainly
changed over the years.

It's so nice to be
on Beale Street again.

Now this is what they
did to Beale Street.

They...
they destroyed Beale Street, man.

Because you know it,
this was a fun spot.

Beale street was a fun spot.

Clubs open all night long, every night,
to 5, 6 o'clock in the morning.

And they wasn't all playing Blues
like they're playing now.

They were playing a lot of jazz,
you go to some jazz clubs.

But you see now
they got the loud guitar.

You can't hear yourself think.

Not talk,
you can't hear yourself think.

Everybody playing the loud music.
Everybody.

You ain't nothing but a hound dog

Crying all the time

There was maybe one or two guys playing,
not the whole army.

Plus, they didn't play that loud.
No.

There were houses all out here,
apartment buildings.

Look what they did
put in a parking lot.

It, it looks like somebody...

got was got mad
at the place say...

I'm gonna tear everything down
and put some cars in here.

That's what it look like.

That's great, isn't it?

I see Bobby Bland,
I don't see no Rosco Gordon.

Notes on...

They didn't give me the kind
of attention I think I deserved.

If you've never seen a chicken
Girl, I'm gonna tease you out

If you've never seen a chicken

Girl, I'm gonna tease you out

I'm gonna take with you

Tell you what is all about

This is a waste of time. I know
they won't have any, any of me in here.

If they had this many records
in Europe in a store...

they would have a whole section
of Rosco Gordon, everything he did.

But see they're not too many
people in here, I know.

Robert Goulet.

I'm Rosco Gordon.

- Rosco?
- Gordon.

- G-o-r-d-o-n.
- Blues?

Yeah.

- Ain't nothing like it. Is there?
- See, they put my name on the...

All right! How about you?

See, right. Right here.

- I'm working tonight.
- Really? Where you gonna be at?

Where...
where am I going to be? Let's see.

Now, I...

If somebody asked me where
am I working, I can say, uh?

- Yeah, just tell them Young Avenue Deli.
- Young Avenue Deli.

Hello.

How you doing?
What's your name brother?

- Rosco.
- Nice to meet you, sir.

My pleasure.

- You play Blues?
- Yeah.

Ok.
Where you playing at tonight?

You don't even know the little
joints you're playin'at!

Oh, I got it written down.
Young Avenue Deli. Cooper and Young.

- You know where it is?
- Nope.

- Where you gonna be?
- Cooper Young Deli.

Where's that?

Look, I'm supposed
to ask you where it is?

Play with you,
it's Rosco Gordon.

Yes, come for a good one.

Hey, if you're looking for
A good meal

This is the place.

Come on in for
We serve the best darn meal

The best darn meal in Memphis
Tennessee

Hello, baby

Had to call you

On the phone

Hello, baby

Had to call you

On the phone

Beale Street was a haven
for the black man.

They come up from the Delta...

and got to Beale Street.

Don't owe nobody...

no nothing...

everything in fact
it was heaven...

it was heaven to these people
that came up. All black.

But I told a white fellow
on Beale Street one night.

I said...

if you were black
for one Saturday night...

on Beale Street...

you never would
want to be white anymore.

At the palace theater
we knew it was an adult show...

so we hid down in the seats...

and when the lights came on, man.

Stage show started...

and our eyes were glued
to the stage big as teacups...

and the dancers
and the big band playing.

You know we were just in awe,
man.

I've seen the lights
of old gay Broadway.

I've been down on Market Street
by the Frisco Bay.

I've been over in London,
strolled down that Paris Bourse.

You take my advice folks,
and see Beale Street first.

When Nat got the call
to come to Beale Street...

to be master of ceremonies
for the amateur show...

that they were about to start...

they called him
he reached back and got me.

Well, now I don't want to inflict
any hardship on the audience...

but I can do a mess of singing
when it comes down time for it.

Babe, I can keep time.

Alright, well I won't play for you then.
I'll just play off what you call yo'...

- Ignorance?
- No.

- Man, this gets good.
- No, your jolly now.

Go ahead.

Amateur night on Beale Street
was like magic.

You had tap dancers,
comics...

I sing in an undiscriminating key.

And musicians.

B.B. King, Bobby Bland...

Johnny Hayes, Rosco Gordon...

all of 'em came form the stage
of the Palace Theater.

I guess I looked so bad
and so pitiful and was so broke...

Rufus Thomas when
he would see me say...

"You know you were on last week."
You'd say, yeah.

"Why you back this week?"

I need to go on again
'cause I need that dolla!

This particular night...

Joe Green Medfield and myself,
we drink wine, you know.

Marvin Davis wine.

But this particular Wednesday night
we had no wine money.

So they talked me up into going on stage
to sing to get the wine money.

I went up and I sang this song called
"Please, throw this old dog a bone".

Right in the middle of
"please throw this dog a bone"...

the MC threw a great big bone
up on the stage.

So I won first prize
and the rest is history.

You told me that you love me
And you told me a lie

Yes, I'll love you
Until the day I die

No more dogging, dogging
Fooling around with you

I gotta let you out, baby

And that's what I've got

Well now!

WDIA, Gladys and the Pips!

- What's up, brother?
- We have a special guest coming.

Yes!

Coming by our studio this afternoon.
An original announcer at WDIA.

Coming home!

Long way from the Mississippi
cotton fields, baby.

- What's up, doc'
- How are you?

Good, man! How ya' doin'

Always coming up here
and messin' with you.

You want your old seat back?

No.

No, if you don't mind
I'll sit here.

You know, I'm wondering
if there anything...

- did you guys ever keep in archives...
- I know...

museum of some of the old stuff
from the guys way back?

- We do have some old commercials.
- Really?

Yeah, somebody did some a few years
ago and sent us a copy of it.

WDIA Diana Ross.

It is 4:19 for the new show
David Forest.

Here at the studio this afternoon
with Mr. B.B. King.

Thank you, sir.
Thank you very much.

The story of you coming to Memphis,
could you describe that for us?

Well, I just heard that
they were opening up...

an all black operated station
over here...

so I had to come from
West Memphis over here...

and at that time
I had enough money to get a bus...

from West Memphis to Memphis...

but didn't have no money
for car fare...

so I had to walk from the station,
bus station...

all the way up
to the twentieth block...

and it started raining and it rained
on me all the way up there.

And at that time
they had a disc jockey...

he was professor Nat Williams...

but they called him Nat D
at the time...

and I walked up
and Nat D had his...

cans on his head,
kind of like he has now...

and Mr. Ferguson came out...

and Mr. Ferguson says
we got a new product...

and he's looking
at Mr. Williams saying...

we got a new product
we want a put on the air...

say...

you think
you could make a jingle?

I'd say anything...

I'd gave him the Brooklyn bridge
if he'd asked me. Anything.

Yes, sir. He said.

He said
"The name of it is Pepticon".

Pepticon?
Yes, Pepticon. Yes, sir.

And I started...

Pepticon, sure is good
Pepticon, sure is good

Pepticon, sure is good

You can get it anywhere
In your neighborhood

He said you're hired.

So that's how I got on the radio.

- Oh, man.
- So, I would do ten minutes a day.

It was a day I remember, too.
It was just pouring down rain...

and in the afternoon in came BB.

And he had on the typical...

Sunday outfit from Mississippi.

The black suit, white shirt,
black tie, black hat.

And he was soaked right
down to the skin.

And he was a bit shy,
very quiet.

And he came in and Don let him stand
in front of the microphone...

and let him play.

They called me down.
They said come down here.

Said we have somebody
we want you to listen to.

It's three o'clock in the morning

And I can't even close my eyes

It's three o'clock in the morning
Baby

And I can't even close my eyes

B.B. King's music
didn't interest me.

I was not impressed by it at all
I didn't like it...

It made me very uneasy...

because I was sure
there were elements in his music...

that my listeners, our listeners
understood that I didn't.

Looked all around me

And my baby
She can't be found

No black voice...

had ever been heard
on the radio...

unless it was gospel singers.

Every Sunday
you get gospel singers on there.

But to be an announcer
on the radio.

No way.

Black man can't do that.

There's no way
for a black man to do that.

He can't do it.

They were going broke.
They try everything.

They tried country and western music,
they tried classical music.

They decided in what could only be
described as absolute desperation...

to try Negro announcers.

They had to find, of course,
the personnel and...

rain them and
put them on the air and...

but I would say
by the summer of 1949...

WDIA is the first all black
radio station in the country.

Ladies and gentlemen,
this is Nat D. Williams...

inviting you to listen
to a full hour broadcast.

I'm young, I'm loose, I'm full of juice,
I've got the goose, so what's the use?

We feeling okay
tho ain't got a dollar.

Rufus is here...

so hoot and holler.

Right here on WDIA...

the voice of Memphis,
Tennessee.

You know, when I heard WDIA
with all of these people that I knew...

Nat D Williams taught me history
in high school.

It really made me,
I fell in love with Memphis, then.

I felt like I belonged.

They didn't start out to bring about
social uplift for black people...

that happened.

And once the station got going...

they did wonderful things
for the black community...

but that was not
their original intent...

it's another classic case of the law
of unintended consequences.

They found out that there was gold
in them that hills...

if you want to put it like...

that and WDIA...

went from...

cool or should I say cold,
to cool...

to luke warm,
to warm on...

in to hot...

and when I say hot, man.
I mean hot.

I'm getting up soon in the morning
I believe I'll dust my broom

I'm getting up soon in the morning

I believe I'll dust my broom

Here's WDIA
at the top of the delta...

booming that big fifty thousand
watt voice all through delta.

They estimated that they were hitting
1.5 million black people.

So they could come to a sponsor
and say look...

we hit one out of every ten African
Americans living in the United States.

Just like John...

Want to walk in Jerusalem,
just like John.

Say look I'm talking to you about
Martha White's self-rising flour.

When the Martha White biscuit
come out of the oven...

you just grab 'em up
and butter 'em you...

baptize them in butter.

This is a WDIA
goodwill announcement.

A Black Angus cow is lost.

Well, our friend
just called us a minute ago...

he lost his false teeth.

He lost his false teeth.

Yeah, and I knew it was hard, yeah,
I thought it could be done.

Hey, AC Williams.

- It's the same than before.
- Ok?

- I know it was AC Williams. Who else?
- What time does the show open tonight?

- What time does the show open tonight?
- B.B. King Blues Club.

Tonight, I think the first show
I think is about 7.

We done two tonight, we'll do two
tomorrow and thanks for mentioning.

That's the B.B. King Blues Club,
excuse, me, I mean...

That's alright,
I'll be there.

Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you so much, thank you.

Thank you for coming out. Thank you
for being here, appreciate it.

Like to say its good
to be back home...

this is my second home.
Indianola, Mississippi...

this is still the home
of the blues to B.B. King.

Thank you so much.

The thrill is gone

The thrill is gone away

The thrill is gone baby

The thrill is gone away

You know you done me wrong
Baby

And you'll be sorry

Someday

I'm free now

I'm free from your spell

Free, free
Free now baby

I'm free from your spell

And now that it's over

All I can do

Is wish you well

Thank you so much.

Wasn't always easy.

Wasn't always easy at all.

In '55 about the first bus
I ever had.

Big Red.

Gentlemen that drove
it was named Cato Walker Jr.

He was a good mechanic...

he's a good bus driver
and a good friend.

As a kid what we'd hear
was my dad bringing his bus home.

He'd always get home
five, six o'clock in the morning...

and you'd hear that bus come
across the hill and it'd go...

As he geared it down cause he always
backed it up into the backyard.

And he paid me one,
two dollars to clean the bus out.

And I'd walk up on there
and smell the men on the road...

you know, men traveling...

and I'd read all these newspapers from
Seattle Washington, Houston, Texas...

Los Angeles, New York City...

and I thought it was
the most fascinating lifestyle...

that a man could have in the world...

you know to be able to travel
and to see all these places...

and I used to smile because
daddy would tell me...

You don't want to be
in the music business.

And in the back of my mind
I would go...

Yeah, because you want to keep
all this fun to yourself.

Highway 61. I want to be
the first one to drive on it.

I have three of these buses.

I grease 'em...

work on 'em...

drive 'em...

the whole bit.

My granddaddy told me
a long time ago says...

don't own a horse
that you can't ride.

When mechanical things go wrong I gotta
get out and fix what I gotta fix...

and you do what you gotta do
to make it to the next hill.

When you speak of the Chitlin Circuit,
it's great.

You make a decent living.
You meet down to earth people.

Back in the day when fans,
when the economy was different...

you had a lot of people living
in rural areas, and in the country...

I don't think a lot of people
back then had...

house notes and high rents
and stuff like that, so...

people could come out basically
any night of the week and have fun.

When you go out on the road.
Well, you gotta have somewhere to stay.

Can't stay in the hotels
because all of the hotels was white.

See I'm pretty age able.

And I can remember this stuff
when I couldn't go into that hotel...

because of the color of my skin.

Have you ever been mistreated?

I got this stupid drummer
I told him...

Look man I said, no name, do not go
to the water fountains down here...

I said, no matter what you do you
want water go to the hydrant...

and drink from the hydrant.
Don't go to the water fountain.

He went to the water fountain
like a stupid cop done...

come and put a foot in his mouth,
I mean, kicked him.

I was kicked once too,
by a cop in Memphis.

Do you know this son of a gun kicked me
and lifted me up off the sidewalk.

So I had tears in my eyes,
I said aren't you ashamed.

I said, You're twice as big as I am,
you got a gun, you got a stick...

and you got a license to kill me.
You gonna kick me?

He said, Get home.

I said you stopped me,
I said I was going home.

It's hard to look happy and pretty
early in the morning.

I could look pretty,
but could I look pretty happy?

How many miles we away?

About 130 miles. Not long.

Let me know if you get tired,
I'll take it.

Alright, I'm good.

Is all the girls...
Is all the girls sleep?

They sleep.

Pitiful.

You know he isn't gonna move
till the sun rise.

Yeah, I guess you're right,
I guess you're right.

Yep.

- Bruce'll get up first, right?
- Bruce'll get up first.

- Well, cock-eedoodoo.
- Over the hill.

Daddy would tell me
they would drive the bus...

down through
all the black neighborhoods...

so people would know
B.B. King was in town.

They'd play the show, rehearse,
get on the bus and split...

they'd drive all night,
get to the next town...

set up, rehearse, play the show,
get on the bus and they'd split.

They lived,
literally lived on the bus.

- Are you playing the blues?
- Oh yeah, all the time, but I...

I play for tips,
cause I'm outta money right now.

We gonna jam.

If we don't like it
you gotta pay us, now.

Ya'll tip him, right,
tip him right, tip him, right.

I got it, I got it...

there you go.

- Thank you.
- There you go.

Stay right where you at.

Stay right where you at.
It says...

You came to learn what did I do

I lost my heart in the way
Cool

She's got your love

And your light

- You know how it feels
- I feel it goes by

Take it away

That's the blues.

That's the blues.

That's the blues.

That's alright mama

That's alright

That's alright mama

I've been up, oh baby

You can't believe the words I say

I've been up all night

And you can't believe
The words I say

You don't love me

And you just want to have your way

Well, I can't find my baby

And I can't be satisfied

Train arrived

Sixteen coaches long

I'd love to meet my baby

I'd love to meet my baby

She's trying to look so easy
And so long my baby

You may have heard of jalopies
You heard the noise they make

Let me introduce you
To my Rocket '88

Everybody likes my Rocket '88

Gals will ride in style
Moving all along

Hello, Robert.
Nice to be home.

Good to see you,
Mr. Sam Phillips.

How you doing?

Well, well, well, how you do?

I knew him, yes,
I knew him.

- How you doing, Sam?
- I'm doing great. Glad to see you.

Glad to see you.
Thank God, man.

Here's my baby.

God is good ain't he?

Anybody that keeps you pretty like you
for as long. God's pretty good.

Look at you.
The pot ain't talk about the kettle.

How you doing, Sam?

- I couldn't be better.
- Yeah?

Do you know how I met you,
how we got together? You remember?

Remind me. I don't know.
I don't remember.

I saw B. B...

and I knew him as Riley.
I didn't know who B.B. Was...

and you were recording him, and he was
playing in Chambers, Mississippi...

and he said, and he heard my band
he said, "Man, why you not recording?"

I said, I don't know
how to record, he said...

Well, I know a man in Memphis
that name Sam Phillips, he said...

I'm gonna tell him
to call you...

and he'll give you a call
'bout between Monday and Wednesday...

and sho' 'nough Monday
morning you called me.

Back in those days records like...

like we cut was called race records.

That's right.

And they didn't play that kinda stuff
on white radio stations.

That's right.

Then you got the idea...

of getting some white kids
to sing the black music...

- and this started rock 'n ' roll!
- That's right.

I guess the most criticism
I got was...

that black people just were...

not what white people were.

And I knew everyone,
I've done and they weren't...

I didn't know a race baiter or anything
but they could not understand...

why I was out here fooling around
with a bunch of niggers...

nah I mean that's just exactly
the truth I had...

I had the finest people I was working
with and they would come in and say...

Well, you must not have had
a session yesterday...

says man either that
or you used a lot of deodorant.

Now these were cruel things,
cruel things.

But do you think I got mad at them?
Hell, no.

That's what... I was playing right into
their hands if I'da got mad at 'em.

I just kept doing my thing.

I was just saying we have got to develop
something that's good...

and that at the same time possibly
can have an ever-lasting effect...

on what humanity thinks
of each other.

- Yeah, we say, you know...
- Wait a minute, now listen...

That is a fact
and those are the facts.

Yeah, you know I've said this
in an interview before about you.

There's one thing
I never felt about you.

And when I came in that door, my first
time, I never felt any prejudice...

you being partial, feeling, make me feel
black or make me feel afraid...

or make me feel that I had
to sit over here...

or I had to come around
to the back door.

Like the first time I came to the Peabody
I sit in the car for three hours.

I never felt any of that
in this building not once...

and if anybody says that I can say
that they are a liar.

- I've never felt that in this building.
- Wrong, wrong, wrong they are wrong.

That's one thing I can say about
this place. It just didn't exist here.

They woulda never succeeded.
It woulda never happened...

it if I'd had that attitude.

And somehow or another
God blessed me...

with the ability
to work day and night...

and hope that I'd be given
enough time to stay in business.

Wait a minute, to prove that
it absolutely would have to be...

that some white folks would have
to start doing some things...

not trying to mock,
not trying to copy...

or anything, but they were gonna have
to do it with some feeling...

and I knew the southern
white people like Elvis Presley...

aint' no black person
ever been poorer than him.

- All of his stuff was black style.
- Sure.

- Yeah, and so...
- It was a lot of southern country.

No, no,
well just then you said...

that they didn't copy
the black style...

they dead on it and even
today they dead on it.

Well, now what I mean to copy,
what I mean was to imitate.

They took the feel because they were
exposed to so many of the same things...

not to the extent
that black people were...

but they didn't copy,
what they did was...

- they borrowed heavily from.
- Yeah, they sure did.

Now wait a minute now...

there you there you go.

- No, like its...
- Hell, that ain't right.

- Whaddya mean?
- Is that not a complement?

That's what it took
to make what all y'all were doing...

absolutely accepted.

I understand, but what all other
black people that were recording...

they couldn't get the records
on the white radio stations.

You could, you did.

Do you love me, or are you
falling out of love with me?

You know I love you,
that ain't gonna never change.

That's right.

What do I look like,
making fun of me. Do you believe that?

You know...
Can you believe that?

I have to go pee.

I don't know what...

Which way the bathroom?
I forget.

Well, that's alright mama
That's alright with me

That's alright mama
Anything you do that's alright

That's the first time
I ever heard him sing in my life.

Searching
Searching every way

What happened during the period
when it seemed like the blues faded...

Well, they sort of put us
on the back burner...

I put it that way because
the new style started coming in.

You made me cry
When you said, "goodbye"

Ain't that a shame?

And a lot of the young black kids
wanted to hear some soul or rock'n roll.

Rock'n roll hadn't gained the name
rock 'n roll then, but it was starting.

People like Little Richard,
Fats Domino and people like that...

was playing then,
what later was called rock'n roll.

Lucille, please, come back
Where you belong

Please, come back
Where you belong

I been good to you, baby
Please, don't leave me alone

I remember
I was in Baltimore, Maryland...

and when it was time for B.B. King
to go on, the announcer said...

"Now we bring you B.B. King",
and all the kids said, "booo"...

you talking about hurtin',
that hurt me so much...

I felt terrible that the reason
they booed because it was blues.

When they said blues,
hey it was like being black twice.

But I didn't know nothing else to do,
I didn't know to do other things...

I couldn't dance,
I've got two left feet all my life...

when I was married my wife had to
give me a drink to get me on the floor...

so I couldn't dance.

I didn't know how to do
all the nice things that...

later on made entertainers,
entertainers, you know...

all I knew stand up flat foot sing
and play my guitar.

That's all I knew.

The places that I had been working,
I couldn't work there anymore...

because well, I wouldn't draw anybody,
that's why I threw the music aside...

because see I already saw
the trend was changing...

and my wife says
she wanted me home...

so it really wasn't a problem for me
to just forget about it.

I can't do it, Billy.

I can't do that anyway,
not for that kinda money.

Probley little nothing,
about a thousand buck or something.

You gotta be kidding.

I'll be honest with you, I might just
scrap you even better than that...

but I won't...
don't let me say it yet...

but if you put it on the early...

the more I can knock off.
You know what I'm talking about?

Because that mean
I can go someplace else...

and make my money up and throw it your
way. That's the only way I can do it.

You know, I'm just trying to help you,
that's all I'm trying to do.

As a Chitlin Circuit artist...

I'm hoping and praying that
God'd give me the time in his life...

to cross over to the white audience.

I want to be just as big
as the Buddy Guy or the B.B.

And I think, I think the opportunity
just right round the corner...

it's just hard to get
both side out the fence.

There's a bandstand there.

Yeah, this is you line for the front...

I think it's just a matter of people
knowing who I am and what I do.

I think it will be big
as bubble gum.

So you can't set him out where
he's set like that because it'll kill...

- The view.
- The view from other people.

This coming November I'm 66 years old...

but I'm still in my decent shape...

and I can put the hours in
and have the energy...

when I hit the stage
something else comes in...

the other switch, I got a little switch
in my ear that I don't hit often...

and I do it like that every night
at the end to get my little motor going.

Hey, all

I said, hey, all

I said, hey

You know what?

If you make a move I'll leave
My woman

Caused somebody to say
You my crazy, I know I can be

Let me tell you tell the truth
Ain't stay there

See my nanny ain't told me where
I belong, and my mama ain't told me to

They're gonna learn
To let it out at night

I look at my mama
Look at my hen, I been trying to smile

If it's good then my woman
Gonna kill me I don't mind dying

Hello, stranger
Hit it baby

Hello, stranger

Some lady come and said
Bobby Rush

You ain't nothing but
A hit going nowhere

Listen, listen.

I'm not hen pecked

I've been tamped right here

Look at her.
Look at it.

Oh, baby

You like that, don't you?
You like that, don't you?

And I may shout
And the teeth may grip

But I'll go there
And you go here

I'm about to do it

A hen pecked right here

Wait a minute

Are you talking to me?

Some time it talk so low
I can hardly hear it

And I get real close to it

It talked to me

Listen, look at it.
I got to talk to my brother.

Just me and my brother
got to talk, brother to brother.

Hey, brother!
Between me and you...

not only can it talk,
it can sing too.

- Yes, sir.
- You don't believe it?

Sing for my brother.

I've been picked quite right

My Lord, I've been picked

I've been picked quite good

How about a hand
for the young here?

Oh yeah, you do

Bobby Rush!

It's fun to you,
fun to people on the outside.

But this is work
and people want my nose...

they want my blood,
they want my sweat.

They want the best out of me...

they want to get the best out of me,
they still don't want to pay...

when they pay me,
they think they paid me too much.

God's this hard, but I smile
because I like what I'm doing...

if I didn't love the music,
I couldn't do it.

The time the van broke down
quarter to two or two 'o ' clock...

I gets in the bus and woke
my bus driver up and here we are...

coming home to be at service
at church at a 9:15 service.

Oh, yeah.

You will stand right here
Right here, Sir

If you touch me

- lf you touch me
- Touch me

Touch me

When I work all the week,
do all these things...

when I get to church on Sunday morning
I'm so tired I can't keep my eyes open.

But now is time for a break,
now I don't have to sing...

I don't have to do any of these things
that I was doing last night.

Somebody else is doing it,
now I'm enjoying it.

Come on with it preacher.

I'll do it now

How're you doing?

With all the things and the love

You are there!

Everybody say yeah!

Don't ever think in your mind that
the people go to church don't party.

People, the same people
that you see Saturday night...

the same ones you see
on Sunday morning.

I talk about Jesus lift me up,
and Saturday night, a baby lifts me up.

You know, I just wanna
be lifted up by my baby...

and then Sunday morning
I wanna be lifted up by Christ.

No different.
No different at all.

No different in the dance

you just, once you dance for Satan
or you dance for Christ.

One Saturday morning when
I was downtown with my father...

it was probably 1950 or '51...

there was this group of musicians...

I got a woman down

one playing the upright bass,
one playing the four string guitar...

and one playing the washboard.

If you don't know no rhythm

It was just so loose and funky and...

I had never heard anything like it...

and I was utterly hypnotized
and enraptured by this thing you know.

My father, when the song was over,
of course, my father made me leave...

so I only got to hear the one song...

but after that, other things in life
just didn't seem as important.

I had to find out...

I mean obviously this music
was somewhere very close to me...

but because of racial barriers
I couldn't get there.

Beale street was itself an island
inside a city of white folks.

I got something to tell you
Keep it to yourself

I got something to tell you
Keep it to yourself

Don't you tell your husband

I learned about WDIA through
my parents yard man...

who would eat lunch in the kitchen
and switch the radio.

His name was Alex
and he took it upon himself to...

teach me the things
that I needed to know...

thank God he did.

And he taught me to shoot craps and he
taught me to play smut and pity pat...

and he taught me
to throw a knife underhanded...

and other things that he thought
were significant...

not to be a smart Alec Yankee kid.

And this is incredibly
politically incorrect...

you'll have to forgive my ebonics.

But he said everything in music
is made up by the cho'ds.

And I thought, well that explains it,
it's a damn code...

no wonder I couldn't figure it out.

Why didn't my mother tell me
it was a code?

Because I thought
he meant like secret code...

like Captain Midnight or Morse code.

He meant chords. And he said
this is how you make some cho'ds.

You take a note any note...

and you go up three and down
four and that's a cho'd.

I thought, my god it's a pattern.
I can do that.

And that was it, the cho'ds.

My band in high school,
the Regents...

we had two hot sets of rock'n roll like
typical fraternity house rock 'n' roll.

We had a 3rd set of blues, Jimmy Reeves,
John Lee Hooker Muddy Waters...

and we basically played that to make
the audience leave, which they would do.

In the yard, baby,
You see what you ain't done

You got my love
You got me on your lawn

I started to notice that especially
the college crowd would stay...

when we started
to play the blues...

and I 'member specifically seeing it
come down from college...

to the high school crowd...

in terms of hipness,
"Oh, what is this hip black stuff?"

What is this music about?
Who is Muddy Waters, you know?

I bought my first B.B. King album
the first day the same day...

I bought the Kingston Trio's
first album...

and if you see what's happening there,
it was folk music.

The blues was and is folk music.

I used to play the Filmore,
when it was owned by another person...

at that time
it was ninety percent black.

This time we go out
to the Filmore West...

I saw all these long-haired kids
and all white kids.

B.B. Said, " Mr. Walker,
you need to find the right place"...

and daddy said, "Well, this is
what is on the paper", he said...

"Have you looked out there?"

There were white people around
the block and daddy said "Yeah"...

he said, "Well you need to find
the right place, Mr. Walker".

Daddy said, so he drove off and
drove around the neighborhood...

and came back,
stopped at the same spot...

B.B. Said,
"Mr. Walker, what's the problem?

You know you can't find
where you need to go?

My road manager went inside
and when he saw...

Bill Graham talked to him...

and Bill said, no this is the right
place, so he came out to the bus...

and said no B
this it come on out.

He talking to me like he known me
all the time or knew about me.

And the best intro I think
I've ever had and the shortest...

he said, Ladies and Gentlemen I bring
you the chairman of the board B.B. King.

Everybody stood up, everybody,
you could hear a pin...

everybody stood up.

I ain't never had this happen
to me before ever in life.

They all stood up and
then started to applaud.

Well, man, that got to me so much
I couldn't stand it.

I stood up there
and started crying.

Do you know out of my
forty five minutes playing...

I had about three or
four standing ovations...

and when I got ready to leave
they stood up again.

And that was the beginning
of playing to a different...

crowd of people...

and that night instead of having
about ninety percent black...

we had about
ninety five percent white...

first time ever...

and that was a feeling, I don't know
how to describe, but I wish I could.

When Martin Luther King
was assassinated in Memphis...

Detroit caught fire, Atlanta caught fire,
Los Angeles caught fire.

Memphis didn't catch fire.

Some sailors broke some windows,
we went under curfew...

the tanks went up and down the streets,
all of that's true...

but Memphis didn't burn,
there was no riot.

The uh, it's like the old song,
"Mr. Crub Don't Like lt"...

and the city fathers chose
this opportunity...

to tear down a black community
that represented black history.

When I came back from New York
and they tore Beale Street down?

My heart was broken...

you know, they had buried
my heart in a shallow grave...

you know, and I was just hurt, I wrote
a blues called Reconstruction Blues...

and I went down on the river
and I sang to myself.

You know that...

I'd rather be anywhere else than
In this home of the blues I know

I was hurt and I woulda jumped
in that muddy Mississippi...

in that muddy water...

but I knew a baptismal
wouldn'ta helped.

Beale Street

Ain't Beale Street no more

My street don't go

I don't have no place else
To do my show

Dig a little hole
Across the street

That's where me and Rufus Thomas

Used to always meet

Look at my brother there

And I see no interlude

Where I used to stay
For twenty fourths in a night

I couldn't pay my rent

Beale Street

Ain't Beale Street no more

Ok, so we're set,
there aren't any worries there...

Cool, we're on track, if you have
any trouble let me know...

but everything should be
smooth sailing from here on in.

Yeah cause I can. Red, white, and blue
sequin outfit as a presenter...

is probably gonna play hell
with my cameras but that's fine.

Let's just make sure he gets there
around 6:15...

which is when we want B.B.
To get there also.

It's WWDIA for the new show
Davis brothers here...

I wanna remind you that
tonight's the night.

It's The Handy Awards
right over on Beale street...

so if you wanna go down
and enjoy tonight, you can do that.

The Handy Awards
at the Orpheum theater.

Check one two, yes.

That's the money shot, Elvis.

You know so we'll have every guy,
Rosco, B.B., Milton, lke.

- Will ya look?
- How ya doing?

- Hey, Rosco.
- How' go'

You got the right thing on, see?
That's what I shoulda wore.

Astro.

- I ain't saw you since Amsterdam.
- Right!

- How you doing there, alright?
- Hanging in there.

That's my younger son, baby,
baby son of his.

Oh, boy.

- Back when I...
- I don't know.

- A few years ago...
- Hold, hold it for a minute, let...

- let me say grace so I can eat.
- OK.

OK, go ahead.

We thank you lord for this food
and our many blessing...

and we thank you
for surrounding us with love...

and trust understanding,
Amen.

- Amen.
- Thank you, Rosoc.

We haven't seen Milton, and his
cell phone is not turned on so...

I don't know what we got there.

That's pretty.

- I like that, that's blue. That's blues.
- That's blues. That's it.

You'll be singing the blues
and they be crying the blues.

And no.

The Lord bust you up and
you sing what you want.

- I'm telling you the truth.
- I heard that.

It's my gift, man.

It got you covered
like dew on the ground.

I'm telling you.

Your poor, don't know it
and your feet don't show it.

- I'm hearing you.
- I heard that.

Smoke it over.

Shift the mirror lookin' at you
and the streets got you.

Why not? You deserve it.

- I look pretty cool here don't I, man?
- That's it.

Now, it been a while
since you got a bluesman to come in...

and make your clothes
look this good.

- I know that.
- Tell the truth.

I know that.
You my number one.

When we were kids
we were country kids...

and my daddy farmed. So we paid for
at the end of the fall time.

- Yeah I know it. Twice a year...
- Yeah, right.

- In the fall and the spring.
- Fall time.

I know, I been through that.
I know what's happening.

So I want to get this on fall time.

When things get great
and they get super bargain.

You heard that.

In God we trust.
That's what I talkin 'bout.

- I wanna wear it now and pay later.
- I heard that. Well we can do that.

I be right behind you.
I be carrying your guitar for you.

You cool, man.
I like the way you operate.

We don't even have
to sign a contract, do we?

We can just sign now.
Contract is signed.

That's what my dad says,
"a handshake's better than money".

- Appreciate it.
- Always.

Got you covered
like dew on the ground.

- Bye bye.
- Thank you. Thank you very much.

No, you come right in
on right here.

Right here.

Ok.

- How are you?
- Oh, I'm fine.

- I've been waiting all day long...
- We're glad that you're here.

For someone to pick me up,
sitting at the hotel.

All right.

What key is...

Ike's theme in?

- E?
- E. That's the answer.

Go back to here, yeah,
stay on E...

then let it change.

You play it or you hold it.

- I'll play it.
- Ok. That's good.

The intro bring him on.

We gotta... Everything's fine
on all the other cameras...

it's just that their crane is about
three stops darker than everything else.

We're not stopping the show.
Follow our spot.

Mark knows rule one:
We don't stop the live show...

I'm gonna be able to use
this shot for the whole show.

Lit the whole audience
for that shot.

Alright? Slowly in Camera 2.

Alright, keep going, Michael,
with camera 4...

hold on the guitar player.

Go to Chicago

Chicago is doing now

Hi.

Appreciate it.

Wassup, baby?
How ya doing?

There we are,
here we are.

I worked for nothing,
depending on who it is.

Here, one more shot.

- One more here.
- Yes, he did.

It's three o'clock in the morning

And I can't even close my eyes

It's three o'clock in the morning
Baby

And I can't even close my eyes

I can't find my baby

I can't even be satisfied

Reminiscing I think...

of the days that Rosco Gordon...

Ike Turner, Little Milton was
a little young, but he knows about it...

when it rained...

the streets would be wet
and then...

the paste poured
in your shoes...

you could count every rock
you stepped on.

Quite a few years ago...

I thank God
that we're all still around.

But I want to tell you this is the way
I felt at that time...

Nobody love me but my mother

And she could be jamming too

Nobody love me but my mother

And she could be jamming too

You people no more
Make fun

Of what you do

Yeah

All night long

All night long

All night long

You love me no more

You gotta shoot it now

Hey baby

Mr. Jones.

Mr. Jones.

I don't remember
what key it was in...

oh boy, let me go over
and tell the guys.

Look here guys,
I really appreciate it if ya'...

Oh, man you were wonderful.
Thank you, thank you.

Really a pleasure man,
thank you.

It was an honor
to play with you.

So much love

So many plans

So many dreams

So little time
I miss your kisses

Ever more

Now you're gone

Now you're gone

When I think about how bad
it could be...

I'm so thankful for what it is.

I gotta a blues seat...

blues child,
blues car...

if I was young enough
to go to army...

I would wanta have a blues army
to go to...

and fight a bluewar.

Cause I'm the blues.

One more time around
I'll see you sucker, soon

Two howlin and a hat

Two singing and the blues

To let in the canady
Let me know tonight

Everybody tell me
That's how a young girl like

Gotta dye my hair

So the girls can't see my grey

I got some money in my pocket

And I am willing to pay

Go to the journeys, no
And they can't give me the rain

You don't know me
But I'm the real hoochie man

I'm not the mother
But ain't no saint

I'm the hoochie, mama

I tell you,
I'm the real hoochie man

Hoochie man

In front of dynamite
Turn around my girl

You now let me know how you feel

Cause I'm your papa
Don't you lose

Let loose

I said brisket, brisket
Gimme the hump

You're to the tough
You're going round and round

What my gal found

The whole good feeling
How you feel

Cause I'm your papa
Don't move

Let loose

Put it up

Put it up

Put it up

Come on. Come right back.

Hiss it up

Everybody.

Put it up

Ladies and gentleman, please.
Put your hand together.

Super, super.
Bobby Rush.

How many more years

Have I got to let you dog me around

How many more years

Have I got to let you dog me around

I'd soon rather be dead

Sleeping six feet in the ground

I'm gonna fall on my knees

I'm gonna raise up my right hand

I'm gonna fall on my knees

I'm gonna raise up my right hand

Say I'd feel much better darling

If you'd just only understand

I'm going upstairs

I'm gonna bring back down my clothes

I'm going upstairs

I'm gonna bring back down my clothes

Do them all

If anybody ask about me

Just tell'em I walked out on