But did you know that he brought his orchestra to Lorain back in late 1961?
The above ad appeared in the Lorain Journal on October 26, 1961, announcing the appearance of B.B. King and his 10-piece Orchestra on the 29th of that month at the Lorain Arena. The bill also featured the Royal Jokers, the Young Magnolias and Irma Holsey, and a 65-year-old exotic dancer named Estalla Caledonia. Comedian Jim Danny was the emcee.
The smaller ad at left had appeared in the paper a few days earlier.
The Wiki page on B.B. King explains that while working as a singer and disk jockey, he received the nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy." It was later shortened to "Blues Boy," and finally to just "B.B."
The Royal Jokers were a Detroit group that had enjoyed much regional success in the 1950s, 60s and 70s despite personnel and managerial changes. Click here to learn more about them.
Here's a recording of B.B. King performing "Someday Baby" in 1961, just to give you an idea of what the crowd at the Lorain Arena enjoyed that day 54 years ago this fall. (It sure would be nice today if Lorain had a huge facility to host major musical acts.)
And here's the Royal Jokers performing "Red Hot" from that same time period of 1961.