Long Live the King!
BB gave me this pin one night, backstage at the Johnny Carson show. I gave him a Martini pin I was wearing on my lapel, and he gave me this. BB King on a chess (board). How poetic.
My favorite BB King memory: I was 17, attending his show in Chicago. This is the days when people used to "light up" during a show, and when I did, (ahem) this older African American next to me said "Could you pass that along, brother?"
So we shared that joint, and soon were laughing and crying at the amazing guitar licks coming from Lucille. "Oh man!" and "Tell it!" he'd say. It was hours of shared nirvana, the two of us in the pitch dark theater acting like kids at a gospel show.
Then when the lights came up, he did a double take, looking at my long hair and I saw his grey hair. "You're just a young white dude!" he said, in shock. I said "And you're just an old black dude!" Then we laughed harder and shook hands - I knew the "69th and Jeffrey" south side handshake - for those who understand the different street handshakes Chicago had at the time. BB's music transcended age, transcended race, transcended time and space. Long live the King.
Meanwhile, there's this story of a young man who saw "a long haired man" during a near death experience, who realized that the man telling him it "wasn't his time yet" was Jesus. And he came back. See story below.
So, on this day where we commemorate BB King's life, important to keep that snare and a high hat going... "BB is not dead. He's just left the building." and "BB's not lost. He's just not here." This young man died and saw a fella with long hair and a beard who told him everything was going to be okay and he needed to come back. I've got dozens of the same cases, and have done extensive interviews on camera and off with people who are sane, who aren't trying to sell me anything, who experienced, saw, were touched by the same fellow.
How do people recognize him as "Jesus?" Well... they just do. Not like he's wearing a name tag. It's like they've met him before, or they don't need an introduction. Doesn't mean you have to start wearing pyramid hats, or saying your prayers before meals - but it does mean there's something to his job, or gig, telling people "it's not your time" or "You should go back."
The rest of it, the dogma, the interpretation holds little interest for me. I'm interested in the data, or the reports. And reports are consistent and replicable - which is all science requires. Ain't no name tags reported - but some pretty good music.
As President Barack Obama said:"There’s going to be one killer blues session in heaven tonight."
Well.. there's evidence to back up his claim. And this kid's as well. Flipside: A Tourist's Guide On How To Navigate the Afterlife and It's a Wonderful Afterlife: Further Adventures in the Flipside Vol 1 or Vol 2 (or the DVD for Flipside)
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| LA Times photo. |
BB gave me this pin one night, backstage at the Johnny Carson show. I gave him a Martini pin I was wearing on my lapel, and he gave me this. BB King on a chess (board). How poetic.
 |
| BB King's Pin on a Chess Board made by my gandfather. |
My favorite BB King memory: I was 17, attending his show in Chicago. This is the days when people used to "light up" during a show, and when I did, (ahem) this older African American next to me said "Could you pass that along, brother?"
So we shared that joint, and soon were laughing and crying at the amazing guitar licks coming from Lucille. "Oh man!" and "Tell it!" he'd say. It was hours of shared nirvana, the two of us in the pitch dark theater acting like kids at a gospel show.
Then when the lights came up, he did a double take, looking at my long hair and I saw his grey hair. "You're just a young white dude!" he said, in shock. I said "And you're just an old black dude!" Then we laughed harder and shook hands - I knew the "69th and Jeffrey" south side handshake - for those who understand the different street handshakes Chicago had at the time. BB's music transcended age, transcended race, transcended time and space. Long live the King.
 |
| Here's comes the Flipside connection... |
Meanwhile, there's this story of a young man who saw "a long haired man" during a near death experience, who realized that the man telling him it "wasn't his time yet" was Jesus. And he came back. See story below.
So, on this day where we commemorate BB King's life, important to keep that snare and a high hat going... "BB is not dead. He's just left the building." and "BB's not lost. He's just not here." This young man died and saw a fella with long hair and a beard who told him everything was going to be okay and he needed to come back. I've got dozens of the same cases, and have done extensive interviews on camera and off with people who are sane, who aren't trying to sell me anything, who experienced, saw, were touched by the same fellow.
How do people recognize him as "Jesus?" Well... they just do. Not like he's wearing a name tag. It's like they've met him before, or they don't need an introduction. Doesn't mean you have to start wearing pyramid hats, or saying your prayers before meals - but it does mean there's something to his job, or gig, telling people "it's not your time" or "You should go back."
The rest of it, the dogma, the interpretation holds little interest for me. I'm interested in the data, or the reports. And reports are consistent and replicable - which is all science requires. Ain't no name tags reported - but some pretty good music.
As President Barack Obama said:"There’s going to be one killer blues session in heaven tonight."
Well.. there's evidence to back up his claim. And this kid's as well. Flipside: A Tourist's Guide On How To Navigate the Afterlife and It's a Wonderful Afterlife: Further Adventures in the Flipside Vol 1 or Vol 2 (or the DVD for Flipside)
