RAMBLIN ROUND: B.B. King: The guitar man and his Lucille

May 22—When I recently asked John Moreland what kind of guitar he played during the first round of the Dancing Rabbit Music Festival in McAlester — a Nash, he told me — it got me too thinking about the ties between some musicians and their instruments of choice.

I've noticed lots of guitarists have become especially tied to their instruments, Maybe musicians who play other instruments get just as attached to theirs. It could be that the guitarists and their instruments are simply more visible, since they're often out front, or at least close to it. It's the keyboardists and drummers who are most often relegated to the rear of the lineup.

Maybe the keyboardists and drummers have those special instruments they cherish, too. But I must admit, unless it's a grand piano, they mostly look the same to me, except for the obvious difference in an acoustic piano and an electronic keyboard.

And outside the rock, country, folk and blues idioms it's even harder to tell if an artist is using a favored instrument during multiple years of performances. Maybe a jazz cat favors a particular clarinet — but I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Some guitarists become so attached to their instruments, they even give it a name. Bluesman B.B. King named his Lucille. Over the years, the name Lucille became so synonymous with B.B.'s guitar, that I suspect any guitar played on a given night became "Lucille" — even if it was not the original instrument given the name.

I once saw B.B. King in concert in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Texas bluesman Freddie King (no relation) took the stage first, launching a sizzling set that left the audience pumped for more.

When B.B. walked onstage, he came with a full orchestra in tow, complete with tuxedos, music stands and sheet music. B.B. King's delivery of the blues proved much more laid-back than Freddie's, but both were compelling in different ways.

While Freddy King delivered a loud and raucous set, B.B.'s set came on as smoother — which it had better be with about 15 guys onstage reading sheet music with charted arrangements. I remember thinking I not only got to see and hear the great B.B. King during his performance, I got to see and hear the famed Lucille as well.

While B.B. caressed Lucille in his arms, he drew notes from her that were both sad and sweet, or bouncing and sharp, depending on the song and arrangement at-hand.

Yes, while Freddie King's boisterous take on the blues had certainly been a crowd-pleaser, B.B.'s orchestra-accompanied more refined take on the blues that night offered rewards of its own.

Watching B.B. King play Lucille got me to wondering how the guitar got its name in the first place. Out of all the names in the world, how did he settle on Lucille? As I learned, there's a story behind that, with Lucille not a name simply selected at random.

While still a young musician back in 1949, King played at a club in Twist, Arkansas, where he would sometimes perform when he had no other bookings. During a cold, winter night, B.B. stopped by to perform at the club again.

Since the nightspot was not well-heated, the owners made a make-shift heater by taking a large garbage pail, pouring kerosene in the bottom, lighting it and then using it as a heating source, with couples dancing around it.

If that sounds like a risky proposition, events bore out that assessment. Although couples always kept a respectful distance from it, events got out of hand that night and someone knocked the pail over, send burning kerosene streaming across the dance floor.

King has related how he and everyone else rushed out of the building, but he suddenly remembered he had left his guitar inside. King dashed back inside the building, grabbed the guitar and rushed back outside as the building began to fall round him.

Thinking about it later, King determined he had taken quite a risk, He later learned the kerosene-filled garbage pail had been knocked over, not by any of the dancers, but by a couple of guys who got into a fight over a woman named Lucille. King named his guitar after her as a reminder to never do anything as risky again.

The guitar King rescued that night had been a small-bodied Gibson L-30 arch top. Those later identified as "Lucille" were usually the larger ES 335 Gibson semi hollow body electric guitars, the type with the f-holes in the side. King ultimately ended up performing with an even bigger ES-355.

King came to like Lucille so much he even named an album after the guitar and wrote a song called "Lucille" — and yes, it's about the guitar. King credited Lucille for everything from his highly-successful career, to helping save his life a couple of times, once by keeping a vehicle from crushing him following a rollover accident.

Lucille became so identified with King that Gibson contacted him and asked him to collaborate with the company on a signature B.B. King model that would be named Lucille in his honor. King agreed, and Gibson and King designed the signature model that would bear all their names; the B.B. King Lucille Legacy Guitar by Gibson.

One change included elimination of the f-holes that King would sometimes stiff with cloth to help with feedback issues.

It proved so successful that Gibson later decided to gift King with a Super Lucille custom model guitar designed especially for him in honor of his 80th birthday. He performed with the instrument onstage from the time he received it in 2005 until 2009. The only reason he stopped performing with it at the time is someone stole it.

Super Lucille didn't stay out of sight for long, however — the guitar sported such a distinctive look that when it turned up in a pawn shop in Las Vegas, a guitar collector contacted the Gibson company to ask about the "Prototype 1"stamped on the instrument. He learned the guitar was indeed the one stolen from King — to whom it was soon returned.

King kept the birthday Super Lucille with him until the day he died in 2015. Four years later his estate offered an auction of B.B. King memorabilia, which included his beloved guitar.

Along with some of his rings and other items, Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills put Super Lucille up for auction in 2019. Information released at time said it was expected to garner between $80,000 and $100,00 when it came up for bid.

Those estimates were off, way off.

The winning bid came in at $280,000, nearly three times as much as originally estimated.

King said he never did get to meet the woman back in Arkansas for whom Lucille was named — but he, and his guitars, carried her name around the world.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.