How Blue Can You Get? B.B. King, Planetary Humanism and the Blues behind Bars

This article honours the memory of blues musician B.B. King, who died on 14 May 2015, through focusing on his performances in prisons. The article situates his concerts inside Cook County jail and Sing Sing within the wider political crisis during the 1970s surrounding issues of race and class in th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theory, culture & society culture & society, 2015-12, Vol.32 (7-8), p.274-285
Main Author: Back, Les
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Americans
Blues music
Correctional system
Deaths
Heads of state
Humanism
Imprisonment
King, B B
Memory
Monarchy
Music
Musicians
Musicians & conductors
Prisons
Race
Racism
Social classes
Studies
United States
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Summary:This article honours the memory of blues musician B.B. King, who died on 14 May 2015, through focusing on his performances in prisons. The article situates his concerts inside Cook County jail and Sing Sing within the wider political crisis during the 1970s surrounding issues of race and class in the American prison system. It suggests the historical resonance of these events can be interpreted through using Paul Gilroy’s notion of planetary humanism. The tone of B.B. King’s guitar carries both the historical trace of African American experience while at the same time voicing a humanistic sensibility beyond the brutalities of racism and incarceration.
ISSN:0263-2764
1460-3616
DOI:10.1177/0263276415605579