Mississippi Quote of the Day: B.B. King on Gospel vs. the Blues

Regarded by many as the king of the blues, B.B. King helped popularize the electric blues, with help from his trusty guitar, Lucille. In an interview with Rolling Stone after King’s death in 2015, Eric Clapton called King “the most important artist the blues has ever produced and the most humble and genuine man you would ever wish to meet. In terms of scale or stature, I believe that if Robert Johnson was reincarnated, he is probably B.B. King.” In this quote, King reflected on his youth in the Mississippi Delta:
“I would sit on the street corners in my hometown of Indianola, Mississippi, and I would play. And, generally, I would start playing gospel songs. People would come by on the street … they would bunch up. And they would always compliment me on gospel tunes, but they would tip me when I played blues.”