[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7288]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF B.B. KING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. David Scott) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, B.B. 
King, a musical genius, has passed away.
  When B.B. King was just a little boy down in Indianola, Mississippi, 
he stood up in the middle of a cotton field, and he said:

       One day, somebody is going to stand up and sing about me 
     and play the guitar about me.

  Then he said:

       You know, I reckon it will be myself. Yeah, I reckon it 
     will be me.

  B.B. King went on to become a worldwide icon of music; and people all 
over the world, regardless of race, creed, or color, appreciated and 
loved B.B. King. B.B. King influenced all the great ones, from Frank 
Sinatra to Elvis Presley; and Elvis Presley loved B.B. King.
  Aretha Franklin, Sam Cook, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, even the 
Beatles and Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, all of these musical legends were 
influenced by B.B. King.

                              {time}  1015

  B.B. King sung about the deep things of life. He sung about love--
love lost and love gained. B.B. King sang, and he played the blues. A 
unique American cultural, musical genre, B.B. King.
  Ladies and gentlemen, you know, B.B. King would say:

     Trouble in mind, I'm blue
     But I won't be blue always
     'Cause I know the sun's gonna shine in my back door someday
     I am all alone at midnight, and the lights are burning low
     But the sun's gonna shine in my back door someday.

  Mr. Speaker, the great classic of so many classics that he wrote and 
he sang was ``The Thrill is Gone.'' As he would say, ``The thrill is 
gone away.'' But, Mr. Speaker, the thrill of B.B. King and his life and 
his music and his great contributions as a genuine American hero will 
live on and on for generations to come. B.B. King's music will live on, 
and Lucille, his guitar, will live on.
  Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Speaker, we thank God, Jehovah God 
Almighty, for sending B.B. King our way.

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