Joe Bonamassa and I go way back, so when he told me about the B.B. tribute, I was like, ‘Yeah, sounds fun.’ I used to cover How Blue Can You Get in the ’70s, so I was glad they suggested that song because it would have been my first choice, for sure. I heard it first on Live In Cook County Jail [1971], then Live At The Regal [1965]. You can hear BB’s connection with the audience on that song – it always brought the house down.
My favourite line is: ‘I gave you seven children, and now you want to give them back.’ And, of course, with our version we had to update the price of the dinner. In the original, it’s $10, which at this point would barely cover a McDonald’s!
When they sent me the track, it was complete other than my guitar and vocal. I was at the Power Station in Connecticut, so I overdubbed my parts. To tip the hat, I played with a little more homage than I normally would, so I busted out the one-note vibrato. But I also threw a few curveball licks in there, just to liven up the party.
Again, I wanted to honour his sound and personality, so I played my 1961 ES-335, and the amp was a combination of a Gibson Falcon and my Alessandro.
I saw B.B. for the first time aged 19, and he gave me a guitar pick that I carried in my pants pocket for years until it eventually got lost. Then when I joined the Allman Brothers, we played with him in Texas. During the show, B.B. invited Gregg to sit in, and he went up to the mic and asked, ‘Anyone else want to join me?’
More than anything, I wanted to go, but I’d never met B.B. and thought he’d look at me like, ‘Who the hell are you?’ So I just froze. It was years later that I finally got another opportunity to play with B.B., and I have to say that was an extremely proud moment.
My other memory was in Memphis. The Allmans and B.B. were staying at the same hotel. There was a fire alarm and we had to evacuate. So I rode down in the elevator with B.B. in his pyjamas, and we were stood next to each other on the street, wondering if this hotel is going to burst into flames!
- B.B. King's Blues Summit 100 is out now via KTBA Records.
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