WASN'T NO MISSISSIPPI BLUES THIS DAY

Was great to read this week that my native state honoured one of it's most famous sons. The Mississippi Legislature celebrated the life of blues legend B.B. King during a ceremony Tuesday in Jackson. It was the first time that the 79 year old musical icon, who was born in the Delta region near Itta Bena, had been inside the state capitol.

King enjoyed a luncheon with Governor Haley Barbour and legislators in addition to the ceremony in the House chamber. He also accepted the Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts, which he had actually received several years ago but was unable to accept in person at the time due to his hectic touring schedule.

It's amazing that at his advanced age, and battle with diabetes, that King is able to maintain a schedule that would make a rock star pant in exhaustion.

Mr. King is also planning a restaurant/blues club which he says he wants to open on Jackson's Farish Street.

I had the honour of meeting B.B. King a number of years ago, when I was a radio personality in Mississippi. He was making an appearance at a local club, and was waiting to do an interview on our sister station. I stepped out of the studio briefly and spoke with the "King of the Blues" before he did his interview, and he came across as a humble, down-home gentleman. I tore a page out of my checkbook register to get an autograph, and it remains one of my most treasured possessions to this day.