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<\/p>\nBeing the daughter of a music legend brings with it great responsibility, especially if one chooses to follow a similar career path. And though her own journey is distinctly different from that of her father, Shirley King eventually settled into a life as a blues singer. And though her music is different from that of her famous dad, she knows that every move she makes is cast in the shadow of B.B. King.<\/p>\n
King released her latest album, Blues for a King<\/i>, in June 2020. The album draws from across the musical landscape for material. In addition to Child Ballad (by way of Led Zeppelin) \u201cGallows Pole\u201d and Arthur Crudup\u2019s \u201cThat\u2019s All Right Mama,\u201d King\u2019s record features readings of unlikely tunes such as Blind Faith\u2019s \u201cCan\u2019t Find My Way Home\u201d and Traffic\u2019s \u201cFeelin\u2019 Alright.\u201d She admits that she was unfamiliar with some of the songs she was tasked with recording.<\/p>\n
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But whether the material selected for her was familiar or not, King\u2019s goal was to bring her unique set of talents to each song. \u201cI don\u2019t think nobody should have sung Etta James\u2019 \u2018At Last\u2019 but Etta James,\u201d she admits. \u201cDoing that song was an honor, but it wasn’t something that I would have chosen for myself. I was so intimidated, but I had to just remember: \u2018This isn\u2019t me trying to sing like Etta James; this is me delivering from my soul.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
And the musician lineup on Blues for a King<\/i> is as eclectic as the cast of characters: the album features a who\u2019s-who list of guitarists from blues and beyond, including Kirk Fletcher, Duke Robillard, Elvin Bishop, Harvey Mandel, Robben Ford and Jethro Tull\u2019s Martin Barre. King laughs as she explains. \u201cEverybody that has interviewed me, the first question they ask is, \u2018How did you get these top guitar players on your CD?\u2019\u201d She pauses and says she has to be honest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had nothing to do with none of that,\u201d King admits. \u201cThey sent me a track, and I sung on it. The guitar players that played, I’ve never met them. I never met anybody<\/i> at Cleopatra Records,\u201d she says, while making sure to note that the label is \u201cworking to make me famous now.\u201d<\/p>\n
And King is pleased with how the label\u2019s efforts are going. \u201cIt\u2019s sure worked good for me,\u201d she says. \u201cI think the world has changed for me from being B.B. King’s daughter, \u2018What’s-her-name\u2019 to Shirley King, the rock star. My head is getting so big, I almost got to get a wheel barrow to carry it around places!\u201d But King seems a bit less interested in the album than in live performance. She hopes that the publicity around Blues for a King<\/i> translates into people coming to see her onstage. \u201cI hope the rock people gonna be coming to see Shirley King, because she played with some of their favorite idols,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
King believes that association with mainstream (read: non-blues) artists was key to her father breaking through to a wider audience. \u201cWhen my dad was just regular B.B. King, he was famous, but not world<\/i> famous,\u201d she explains. \u201cBut when he started going on stages with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, the Rolling Stones and U2, it just blew him up.\u201d She hopes that having current-day guitar heroes like Fletcher and Walker on her album will open her up to more listeners.<\/p>\n
Easily the oddest \u2013 and least expected \u2013 pairing on Shirley King\u2019s latest release takes place on \u201cHoodoo Man,\u201d a track featuring Junior Wells. The celebrated blues harp player died 23 years ago, but that detail doesn\u2019t keep him from appearing on Blues for a King<\/i>. Wells\u2019 harmonica playing from an undated session is now part of a finished recording on King\u2019s release. The singer explains that Junior Wells\u2019 posthumous participation came as a result of another deceased musician being unavailable.<\/p>\n
Cleopatra Records \u201cwanted to use my dad,\u201d King explains. \u201cBut because people are still suing my dad[\u2018s estate], they weren\u2019t allowed to. I believe they might own some part of that song.\u201d She is especially proud that the resulting recording of \u201cHoodoo Man Blues\u201d is on her new record. \u201cI’m so honored, because that song is gonna be the song of the tour that I’ll get a chance to play with my dad’s best friend, Mr. Joe Louis Walker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walker is a longtime friend of the King family. \u201cHe was the only famous guitar player that called me and asked me how I was doing when my dad died,\u201d King says. \u201cWe will be doing some stuff together, and he already is counting up the days when we can go out here and tour together. For him to [appear on] two songs on my album, I think it was God’s way of letting me know, \u2018This is your father’s friend that wants to be there for you and help you.\u2019\u201d
\nInterviewed at a time when the globe remains in the throes of a deadly pandemic, King remains upbeat. \u201cIn this bad time when everything is not looking good, it’s looking great for me,\u201d she says. \u201cI’ve been in singing for 30 years, and I danced for 21 years. So, I’ve been 50 years in the business, and this is the first time I’ve gotten this much respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
King got her start in front of a crowd when she was quite young. \u201cWhen I was in school, I was in plays. When I was at church I got in the choir,\u201d she says. \u201cNot only that, but I had been around enough show business people \u2013 comedians, everything \u2013 so I’d know how to throw a little comedy into what I do. So, all those things came together for me in the end; I just found a way to use everything I learned.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it would be dancing \u2013 not singing \u2013 that truly launched Shirley King\u2019s life in show business. Starting in 1969 she led a successful two-decade career in Chicago as an in-demand dancer, part of a revue that would typically also include a comedian and a headlining music act.<\/p>\n
King\u2019s dancing prowess earned her a spot in Rudy Ray Moore\u2019s 1976 action\/comedy film The Human Tornado<\/i>. Her racy performance brought greater notoriety, but she was initially concerned her father would be embarrassed or upset. \u201cI said, \u2018Daddy, I thought you was gonna be made because I was on there,\u2019\u201d she recalls. But her father laughed and replied, \u201cWhat are you ashamed of? You was in a motion movie with Rudy!\u201d<\/p>\n