For me the shock was not just what B.B. King did for and to me on that summer camp trip, but getting home from that trip to discover the freshly-released “The Thrill is Gone” had crossed over into being a huge hit.
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I used to live in Lake Tahoe and BB was playing in the cabaret lounge at Harrahs. (I don't know why he wasn't playing the big room, but so be it.)
I was knocking about with a friend and though as locals we didn't spend much time in casinos, we planned to see his show. I forgot what time of year it was, but there was a weather disruption and for some reason there were only about 8 or 10 people in the lounge and we sat at a table only a couple of feet away from him while he played. It almost turned conversational as people made comments and asked questions or requested different tunes.
Someone asked him why his guitar was named Lucille. He said a fight caused a fire in a bar he was playing in and after running out, he remembered the guitar and foolishly went back to get it. He could have died. The papers said the fire started by two men fighting over a woman named Lucille and he named the guitar that to remind himself to never do anything as stupid as run into a burning building or fight over a women.