B.B. learned his first three chords from an electric guitar-playing minister at the Pentecostal Church of God in Christ before moving to Memphis and twisting the finger-stylings of Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker through the bent strings and vibrato of his own sound.

King and Presley both started their careers at an independent studio, run by the man with the keenest eye for talent in the city: Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records, which was on Beale Street. When B.B. first cut tracks at Sun Studio, he was playing nights with Bobby Bland, Johnny Ace, and Earl Forest in a group called the Beale Streeters.

Phillips captured the birth of the musical revolution, producing blues expressionists like King, Howlin’ Wolf, and James Cotton, as well as what has gone down in history as the first rock and roll record. Chicago’s Chess Records put it out, but “Rocket 88” was produced on Beale Street, by Phillips, in 1951, according to Peter Guralnick’s Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll

The single’s label was a misprint, the band is called Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats but should have been credited as Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm featuring Jackie Brenston. Still, it was not a misstep. Not only is “Rocket 88” recognized as the first song to encapsulate the genre; it features the first rock and roll distortion guitar, played by Willie Kizart. He broke his amp on the way to the studio, stuffed it full of newspapers, and Phillips loved the sound. It was original, like a white kid who “sounded Black,” as per the new 2022 Presley biopic.

In his 1996 autobiography, Blues All Around Me, King defended Presely’s legacy from accusations of cultural appropriation. B.B. wrote, “Elvis didn’t steal any music from anyone. He just had his own interpretation of the music he’d grown up on, same is true for everyone. I think Elvis had integrity.” B.B. first met Elvis in Phillips’ studios, during the “Million Dollar Quartet” sessions with Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash.

“I saw all of them, but they didn’t have much to say,” B.B. recalled in King of the Blues. “It wasn’t anything personal, but I might feel a little chill between them and me. But Elvis was different. He was friendly. I remember Elvis distinctly because he was handsome and quiet and polite to a fault. In the early days, I heard him strictly as a country singer.”

Danofgeek