Visiting the B.B. King Museum & Delta Interpretive Center, Indianola MS

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The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center is a terrific place devoted to the king of the blues. Located a few hours south of Memphis on the Mississippi Delta near the river, Riley B. King considered small Indianola his hometown though born in what is now a field close to nearby speck in the road called Itta Bena. The building is fairly new and opened prior to King’s 2015 death. The designers cleverly incorporated the new building with the over 100-year-old Barksdale cotton warehouse where King once worked. Not only was a bit of local history preserved but the old building provides a great event/concert hall. B.B. King is pretty much all that Indianola has going on being a quiet southern town. The old blues joints downtown King went to as a young man are still there. A statue of King’s guitar Lucille stands in front. After purchasing tickets in the gift store, visitors can check out the cotton building before heading into the theater. The movie is a little unusual not being performance driven. Shot toward the end of his life, King is on his way to Indianola in his tour bus and he directs the driver to the field spot where he believes he was born. He speaks of early life and his father. The museum does not solely focus on King. There is history and development of Mississippi blues, life for African Americans in the deep south, black blues club scene, Memphis’ Beale Street scene and exhibits on important figures like the father of the blues W.C. Handy. Illustration is provided by vintage guitars, radios, record players, 78s and household items. All this forms a picture of where King came from. King’s life and career are meticulously detailed. The sharecropper’s son felt his life would be doomed to picking cotton and picked up the blues. His descent from playing black clubs to international stardom was a long road. The journey is punctuated by many screens playing clips with commentary by King and admirers like Eric Clapton who calls him the “master.” There is a fascinating clip of King discussing how shocked he was to be playing in front of a nearly all white audience for the first time at Fillmore West in San Francisco and how much the crowd liked him. That was the first time he realized he could cross color barrier and reach a whole new audience. The museum winds around with endless displays concerning King and social climate and context of his lifetime. The musician donated a large amount of personal memorabilia including his 11 Grammys and his home studio being reset up there. There are handwritten notebooks, stage wear and of course instruments including a Lucille. The man was astute and seemed quite easy going appreciative of his success. Apparently he liked the ladies and stated he paid for the education of all his many children! The museum is excellent and involving so visitors should take their time. Sit down and relax and catch a few performance moments. Next door in a separate building is the Delta Interpretive Center which is for research. Beyond that is the final resting place of Riley B. King. He chose to be there. A billboard informs future plans to make improvements which will cut down the beating sun in the memorial area and construct additional museum exhibition space.