JD: Hi, I'm Jody Denberg, program director with 107.1 KGSR Radio, Austin, Texas. And with me is the winner of countless Grammy Awards, countless W.C. Handy Awards, a member of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, a recipient for the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Kennedy Center Honoree, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the holder of four honorary doctorates and most recently the recipient of the Blues Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award, the King of the Blues, Mr. B.B. King. Welcome, B.B.

BB: Thank you Jody. Thanks very much, I was wondering how in the world would you say all of that. But that sounds good.

JD: Tell me how the idea came about for you to do your new album of duets, Deuces Wild?

BB: Well, it's a combination of things that happened. I've wanted to do this ever since I started into show business. But believe me, I talked to my manager, Sid Seidenberg, and we talked about people that we thought was good for the album to work with me, if they would. People that wrote—to be honest with you, there's nobody I didn't want. But only some said yes, and some said they would if they had the time, and then Sid started to talk to MCA and set it up and it went from there, I wish it was my idea, but it wasn't.

JD: Well, were you or Sid influenced by the album that Frank Sinatra did, the duets record there?

BB: No, I didn't think of that, I didn't. I don't know if he did or not, but I didn't think of it at all.

JD: You chose different partners this time around than you did on a recent record that you did called The Blues Summit.

BB: That was, as you just said, The Blues Summit. This one is different.

JD: How did you match your partners this time with the specific songs?

BB: We really allowed them to do this mostly on their own. We submitted songs to them, songs that we thought would be good, but gave them the chance to pick the songs that they would accept themselves.

JD: Now, obviously, you've been singing The Thrill is Gone, which you did here with Tracy Chapman, and Paying the Cost to be the Boss, which you did here with the Rolling Stones, for years and years. Did singing these songs with other people get you re-energized?

BB: Oh, of course, of course, Jody. Yes. Yes, it did. Can you imagine Paying The Cost To Be the Boss and then singing with Mick Jagger? Of course it energizes you. Yes. Deuces JD: Were your collaborations in the studio, were they—were some of them face to face, or were these long-distance duets?

BB: I'm happy to tell you that every duet, every duet where the singing was, I was there. Every one of them. Only one I wasn't there when they really put it together was Joe Cocker, but he was there when I put my part on it. So I still had the energy from looking at him and trying to meet his approval and everything on that one. But everybody else, every one, I was there.

JD: Now, when I first put the disc into the player, Deuces Wild – the first song is your duet with Van Morrison.

BB: Loved it.

JD: And the strings are coming in and you've never shied away from bringing strings into the blues.

BB: Hey, strings have been around since King David. Why not use them? Yes, I love them, I love the sound of them.

JD: Did you ever get any hubbub from any of the blues purists who said, "Hey, B.B., you can't put the strings on a blues song"?

BB: There wasn't that when I made Three O'Clock Blues. I'm concerned about what they think. But I have to do what I have to do. I'm the guy that's named B.B. King and I have to play B.B. King's feelings. The bosses, I think, usually are the people that buy the CDs. They're the ones that determine whether I did or didn't do a good job. And, of course, nationally, MCA says, "Well, we like this" or "We don't like it." And if they don't like it, they won't ship it out. And I love them for that.

JD: We're talking about different styles. You are obviously referred to as a Blues man. But Jazz, Gospel, Pop, Swing, they're all in the music. I guess you didn't ever pay much mind to labels?

BB: No, not that much, because the first musical notations – a lot of people don't know it, but I do read music, but very slowly. But the first musical notation I learned about was Country music. I learned how to play You Are My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine. I learned to play that musically – musical notations, I should say, long before I could play it in Three O'Clock Blues.

JD: As a matter of fact, on the new album, there is actually a rap with Heavy D.

BB: I never thought I'd do that. I never thought I'd ever be able to do any rap with any Rap artist. But Heavy D was so good. He was so good. He's a very talented young man. I really enjoyed working with him.

JD: And I think you actually say on the song that you had always wanted to try a Rap.

BB: Since I heard it, yes. But, you know, to me Rap started back with Louis Jordan and a lot of the people way back there. The new guys with the Rap is just a new addition to it, as far as I'm concerned. But these guys like Heavy D are so talented. They are so talented. So, yes, I've always wanted to.

JD: And I remember last year, speaking of rapping and records with sampling and stuff. There was a hit by a group called the Primitive Radio Gods that samples your song, How Blue Can You Get?

BB: Right

JD: And a few years back, you had a hit with U2 on When Love Comes to Town.

BB: Right.

JD: Seems like you're always trying to reach new listeners. Is there a message that you're trying to get across to them beyond keeping the Blues alive?

BB: Yes. BB King is still alive and well. Yes. I want them to know that. And then, you know, when the radio stations – that's why you're such a great program director, you see, because you recognize all these things. And I want everybody else to recognize it as you do.

JD: Thank you. Do you feel like you're on a mission to bring the Blues to the world?

BB: Yes. I took it on my own. I took the title on my own. A lot of people have called me the Ambassador of Blues. But I don't have that title yet. I'm going to have to speak to the President soon. By the way, he sent me a telegram – a fax, rather, congratulating me on this award the Blues Foundation just gave me. So I kind of – somebody made a crack and it stuck with me, I like it. Said, "BB King have friends in high places." I love that.

JD: Maybe we should get you an official title, a government proclamation for Ambassador of the Blues.

BB: Yes, right. You've got it. That's it. You want to help me?

JD: I think you can help yourself better than I can.

BB: All right.

JD: But, you know, as you said, you are on a mission to bring the Blues to the world. And, you know, I figure you're good for doing this maybe another 40, 50 years. But—

BB: Let's don't go quite that far.

JD: Okay. But I think something that's promising is that, once again, there's another generation of Blues players coming, like Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jonny Lang.

BB: Oh, yes.

JD: Does that convince you that the Blues will always flourish?

BB: Yes. Yes, it does. Two of the most talented young men that you'll ever meet. Fantastic. Not only that they are great musicians, these guys are great people. You know, you meet a lot of people and they don't seem whether they want to speak to you or you look like dirt to them or something. These guys are not like that. They're concerned, very concerned. You are people, as we use the word. You are people to them. They enjoy the music. And they're not just playing it to be impressive. They play it because they like it.

JD: Now, speaking of another of the younger generation of Blues men, I saw you in Austin, Texas, about a year ago at a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan.

BB: One of my favorite guys.

BB & SRV

JD: Did he have a similar vibe to Jonny and Kenny?

BB: Yes. Well, you see, when I first met Stevie, I met him through his brother. And after meeting him, I should say, our communication started to be more like a father/son relationship. So we were very close, very, very close. He used to come to me if he had problems. He used to call me. We talked. I love the guy.