The thrill was on when I got to sit down with BB King when he was on tour in Houston back in the early 90’s.
The location, as I recall,was the Summit, now Lakewood Church. Of course we talked about the famous “Lucille” and the very first guitar he gave that name.
He was performing at a nightclub in Twist, Arkansas back in 1949 on a cold winter night. A kerosene heater in the club got knocked over in a fistfight over a woman and started a fire. King got out of the club, but then went back in to save his guitar. He laughed as he told me that he was in his twenties back then and it was his only guitar; his livelihood.
Later he learned the woman who was the subject of the fiery fist fight was Lucille.
Became a signature tune for BB King, and the name of a succession of his guitars, including the custom Gibson going up on auction soon.