Photo of B.B. King and his guitar "Lucille" by Kevin Westerberg. Photo below by Bob Guthridge, courtesy of Bob Guthridge.
B.B. King holds court
center stage in Memphis club
velvet voice, guitar.
This morning I was hand-washing crystal wine glasses, listening to the CD B.B. King & Friends 80. The CD features the 80-year-old Blues superstar from Mississippi singing and playing guitar with 12 talented musicians including Eric Clapton, Bobby Bland, Van Morrison, Sheryl Crow, Daryl Hall and Mark Knopfler.
I was thinking about how the poverty of the South inspired the blues, sending some musicians north in search of jobs and spreading the blues genre further. I was remembering all the dives and juke joints and little clubs in backwaters where I used to go to hear talented blues musicians pour their hearts out in song, from Arkansas to Louisiana to Mississippi to Alabama to Tennessee - and later, in Chicago, New York and San Francisco, where the clubs were more sophisticated, but the music was the same I heard growing up in the South.
So when I saw the One Deep Breath prompt "The Scenic Route," I remembered all those backroads; those gravel paths; those slick streets traveled to hear the blues. In tribute to the extraordinary B.B. King and other blues giants who have enriched the world with their talent, I offer these haiku:
Southern sharecropper
from the wrong side of the tracks
learns to sing the blues.
Black man's burden weighs
heavy; hard to make ends meet
mis'ry makes music.
Hand-to-mouth life here
picking cotton, sowing crops
Blues ease trouble's grip.
Self-taught, self-made man,
he learned to play as a kid:
gospel's cousin Blues.
Hardship, poverty
turning tough times into song;
stories fuel music.
No complaints heard here;
His guitar does the talking
Wailing the world's woes.
Deep lines on his face
reflect hard work, dignity
Still living the blues.
Plowing the field's crops
hands busy, worries threaten;
whistle troubles gone.
Iced silver goblets
mint juleps tinged with bourbon
sultry nights, raw pain.
Arkansas trav'ler*
Mississippi Delta blues
swimming in music.
*from the 1850 folk song "Arkansas Traveler" by Col. Sanford Faulkner
That's been an education. I knew nothing of BB King beyond his name.
P.S. haiku-wise, I like the photo caption one and the 2nd last.
Posted by: Pearl | 12 August 2006 at 16:28
Fabulous! I first saw B.B. in a free lounge show in a Vegas casino in '73...(and I was only 18 so you KNOW I thought I was sophisticated). ;) I have more to say about this, but will email it instead...
Posted by: Marilyn | 12 August 2006 at 15:34
the range of your writing constantly astounds me!!!!
great haiku :-)
Posted by: bb | 11 August 2006 at 12:47
Swimming in music, and sometimes drowning too.
People need to travel on curious paths to create the music that will then take the listeners on scenic journeys. Good take on the prompt.
Posted by: Jemima von Schindelberg | 09 August 2006 at 21:06
Tara, this is a fabulous portrait of The Man! There are too many wonderful lines to quote...but my southern girl heart skipped a beat at this one: "Iced silver goblets
mint juleps tinged with bourbon
sultry nights, raw pain"
Exceptionally beautiful!
Posted by: Becca | 09 August 2006 at 03:57
wonderful haiku images!!
Posted by: jzr | 08 August 2006 at 23:08
Fascinating pictures and lovely haiku.
Posted by: JinxTheGypsy | 08 August 2006 at 20:30
WOW! These all were great and spoke to the birth and passion of the blues. BB is king :) Perfect choices for BB pictures.
Posted by: Tammy | 08 August 2006 at 17:53
Thank you! Wonderful post. I am a forever BB King fan and love to see tributes like this to him.
Posted by: artzyjudie | 08 August 2006 at 15:29
perhaps you had the crystal washing blues when you wrote this poem. very nice, indeed.
Posted by: ally bean | 08 August 2006 at 14:01
There's something about 'blues'. It is the way it carries different souls to different places...
It carries me to some far away secret hiding place where I feel as if someone with silky hands caresses my forehead before giving it a gentle kiss.
And the heart, pain and longing in which they put into it, make it alright for us to be an imperfect human.
Posted by: Nina | 08 August 2006 at 12:01
gorgeous undulating
haiku -
you are annoying - you
are fabulous at
EVERYTHING!!!
love the photo's - i saw
BB in Toronto!
Posted by: Sophie | 08 August 2006 at 06:48
Just beautiful. My favorite:
Deep lines on his face
reflect hard work, dignity
Still living the blues.
"sultry nights, raw pain"
You captured your feelings and memories so poignantly. I loved reading these.
Posted by: bella | 08 August 2006 at 04:30
These are great! I especially love the rhythm of the second one--the break is in an interesting place. Wonderful!
jb
Posted by: Jblackdesigns | 08 August 2006 at 04:08
I LOVE these haiku and those photos are amazing. So FULL of personality - something for me to strive for in recording lives... excellent interpretation of the prompt!
Posted by: jennifer | 08 August 2006 at 03:03
And B.B still tours all the time! He comes to the Sacramento area every summer, for the BB King Blues Tour. I really wanted to go this year. :( I keep thinking he is getting so old, how long can he tour?! LOL What a great guy...
Great poem.
:)
Posted by: Amber | 08 August 2006 at 02:43
Wow the muse sure visited you!
Posted by: harmonyinline | 08 August 2006 at 01:43
What a wonderful tribute to an amazing musican and artist!
Posted by: Willow Grace | 08 August 2006 at 00:50
Wonderful! All of them. Do you think listening to the music brought these words to you?
Posted by: gardenpath (sandy) | 07 August 2006 at 23:59
TEN! You're amazing, and the haiku are most impressive. I especially like "mis'ry makes music" and "whistle troubles gone." Keep 'em coming!
p.s. Love the photos too!
Posted by: Sally | 07 August 2006 at 23:49
I'm always amazed at how you come up with so many great haiku so quickly - I hadn't even seen the prompt yet (they sneak it up there while I'm asleep :) )
Posted by: Catherine | 07 August 2006 at 23:18
I was lucky enough to see BB King in Sydney many years ago. great stuff!
Posted by: miss*R | 07 August 2006 at 22:53
B.B. King is just flat out awesome. I remember being in a blues club back in '85 on a balcony overlooking the stage he and his band were on. I could almost reach out and touch him. He is just the coolest, him and that sassy old hat he was wearing.
Posted by: annieelf | 07 August 2006 at 22:47
"gospel's cousin blues" and "turning tough times into song" I don't think lemon-scented Pledge could wax more poetical than that!
Posted by: susanlavonne | 07 August 2006 at 22:25
i saw muddy missippi waters in about 73 in iowa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muddy_Waters
that is a cool photo - did you take it? also thanks for explaining the poles below.
Posted by: AscenderRisesAbove | 07 August 2006 at 22:12
i would loved to have been in some of those places, tara. great poems - a real tribute!
Posted by: ian russell | 07 August 2006 at 19:29
Vanderbilt U. has a great radio station where all types of djs (some students) come and play their type of music. Saturday, I was listening to a show that was playing all OLD blues, scratchy with horrible accoustics, but you really got the feel for the blues, through and through. It was wonderful. Who doesn't love BB & Lucille?
Posted by: Rosa | 07 August 2006 at 19:08