Riley B. King, better known as B.B. King still remains the King of Blues. He has defined the blues for a worldwide audience since he started recording in the 1940s and has released over fifty albums, many of them classics. He was born September 16, 1925, on a plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi, near Indianola. In his youth, he played on street corners for dimes, and would sometimes play in as many as four towns a night. In 1947, he hitchhiked to Memphis, TN, to pursue his music career. Memphis was where every important musician of the South gravitated, and which supported a large musical community where every style of African American music could be found.
The rest is history as B.B. was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Fans and Blues lovers will always remember the King as he passed away on May 14th of 2015 in Las Vegas.
Just recently, I came upon 2 prototype bobbleheads of B.B. King manufactured by Alexander Global Promotions. Both have B.B. sitting on a stool playing a guitar as he’s smiling at the crowd. He’s in a sleek tan suit with and brown shoes as B.B. was always dressed head to toe in high fashion.
To date, it remains a mystery to who these prototype bobbleheads were manufactured for, whether it was a sports team or King’s production crew. Only time will tell as the King of Blues’ 2 prototype items are great story pieces.