Bnois King (born January 21, 1943) (pronounced "buh-noise")
posted March 12, 2003; Kankakee Valley Daily-Journal.com; Kankakee, Illinois; retrieved October, 2015 is a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

guitar player,

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, and composer. He most often played guitar and

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, and acted as the main vocalist and original song writer for the Smokin' Joe Kubek Band, touring and equally billed with Kubek after 1997.

Early life and career

KingNote: from his interview with Blues and Rhythm magazine: "When y birth certificatecame back, it came back B. Noris King. I guess they couldn't understand

y mother Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or seventh ...

Like I have an initial for my first name! That's what's on my passport. I'm stuck with that! Whenever I write a check or something that's how I have to sign my name! People at home know my real name. If they ever have to look at my license to do an obituary it's going to come up B. Noris. You have the real scoop, now.
''Bnois King Interview''
was born January 21, 1943, in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, a small town thirty miles east of

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe (historically french: Poste-du-Ouachita) is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolita ...

.''Bnois King Interview''
Don O.; published in Blues and Rhythm Magazine #122; 1997; accessed November 2015 He had seven brothers and two sisters.
October 3, 2013; column; by Terry Mullins; Blues Blast Magazine; Issue 7-40; accessed November 2015 King started playing guitar at the early age of eight when he found an unused guitar in his grandmother's closet and started picking out notes. He attended Boley High School, which lacked a music teacher until his final year there. Up until then, the few songs he could play he played by ear. While still in high school, James Moody, the owner and bandleader of a 20-piece

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

out of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

(called "The New Sounds"), took him under his wing and gave him his first paying gig, for which King made $15. Once King realized he could make money playing guitar on stage is when he reports "...I really got serious" about playing guitar." After high school, King traveled to west Texas (

Amarillo Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat, seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County. It is the List of cities in Texas by population, 14th-most populous city in Texas and th ...

), Colorado and Oklahoma, and finally settled in north Texas (

Wichita Falls Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

) while trying to break into the music industry and make a career from it. Struggling at first in the industry, King sometimes found himself playing at carnival side shows or working 'straight jobs' (such as detailing cars at a dealership). King was, however, again performing regularly in Dallas and Fort Worth by the late 70s, usually playing with jazz bands. playing with

Big Joe Williams Joseph Lee "Big Joe" Williams (October 16, 1903 – December 17, 1982) was an American Delta blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, notable for the distinctive sound of his nine-string guitar. Performing over five decades, he recorded the s ...

along with other local talent, often out of a local Dallas blues spot, Poor David's Pub. It was in Dallas that King met, and thereafter periodically teamed up with,

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplifier, amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the ...

guitarist

Smokin' Joe Kubek Smokin' Joe Kubek (November 30, 1956 – October 11, 2015) was an American Texas blues electric guitarist, songwriter and performer. Biography Born in Grove City, Pennsylvania, Kubek grew up in the Dallas, Texas area. In the 1970s during his tee ...

, starting in 1989.''Bluesmen Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King Are Soulmates''
September 13, 2012

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...

interview with King and Kubek

Playing style

King was exposed to gospel music at an early age, but leaned more towards the blues and (especially) jazz, which he listened to on the radio while growing up. He started playing blues covers when still in high school, but continued mostly playing with jazz oriented bands afterward—until he met Kubek.''Blues Brothers: Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King are Still Rockin' ''
April 2, 2015; Weekender article; Sioux City Journal; accessed November 2015 While the rock-influenced Kubek played in an aggressive style, King had been heavily jazz-influenced and embraced a more relaxed playing style. They got along well, however, and two repeatedly partnered up after 1989. Other blues artists, such as

Sam Myers Samuel Joseph Myers (February 19, 1936 – July 17, 2006) was an American blues musician and songwriter. He was an accompanist on dozens of recordings by blues artists over five decades. He began his career as a drummer for Elmore James but was ...

would sit in with the group for performances.

Career work with Kubek

Building a

repertoire A repertoire () is a list or set of dramas, operas, musical compositions or roles which a company or person is prepared to perform. Musicians often have a musical repertoire. The first known use of the word ''repertoire'' was in 1847. It is a l ...

from old, neglected blues genre songs (such as from the likes of

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with blues as well as non-blues audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), " ...

and

Freddie King Freddie King (September 3, 1934December 28, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and B.B. King, none of whom were blood related). Mos ...

), the duo found a ready audience for Bnois King's laid-back vocalizations and

playing, and Kubek's hard-playing blues style. At this time, King discovered other talents he didn't realize he possessed: singing and song writing. King hadn't really sung much on stage until he teamed up with Kubek. King said about it: "We needed a singer so I sang... and every time I did the crowds went wild. We needed songs so I wrote about things that happened to me, to people I knew..." Audiences enjoyed the blending of the two's very different playing styles.''Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King Perform Blues at Callahan's in Auburn Hills on Aug. 24''
column; posted: 08/20/12; Oakland Press News; accessed November 2015 The duo released their first collaborative album in 1991, a

Texas blues Texas blues is blues music from Texas. As a regional style, its original form was characterized by jazz and swing influences. Later examples are often closer to blues rock and Southern rock. History Texas blues began to appear in the early 1900 ...

album entitled ''Steppin' Out Texas Style''. The duo's run came to an end October 2015 with Kubek's death.''Smokin' Joe Kubek Obituary''
October 12, 2015; article; star-telegram.com; accessed November 2015

Production companies

King and Kubek originally signed up with Rounder Select-Bullseye when they published their first joint album in 1991. That relationship worked until the late 1990s, when King started receiving equal billing with Kubek after 1997. The two were signed with Blind Pig Records from 2002 to 2007; and again in 2015. In addition, King has been signed and promoted (as both a solo act and as a duo along with Kubek) to

Alligator Records Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the ''Living Blues'' magazine in Chicago in 1970. History Iglauer started the label using hi ...

, Delta Groove, and Simitar Records for various past productions.

Album discography

Solo efforts and contributions

The Smokin' Joe Kubek Band, ''featuring'' Bnois King

* ''Steppin' Out Texas Style'' (1991), Rounder Select-Bullseye * ''Chain Smokin' Texas Style'' (1992), * ''Texas Cadillac'' (1994), Bullseye Blues/Rounder * ''Cryin' for the Moon'' (1995), Bullseye Blues/Rounder * ''Got My Mind Back'' (1996), Rounder Select * ''Lone Star Blues'' (October 1997), EasyDisc/Rounder * ''Take Your Best Shot'' (1998), Rounder Select * ''Bite Me!'' (2000), Bullseye Blues/Rounder * ''Served Up Texas Style: The Best of the Smokin' Joe Kubek Band'' (2005), Bullseye Blues/Rounder

Compilations with Kubek

* ''Texas Blues Guitar'' (June 1997), EasyDisc/Rounder * ''Blues Guitar Duels'' (August 1998), EasyDisc/Rounder * ''New Blues Classics'' (2010), Bullseye Blues/Rounder

Duo albums with Smokin' Joe Kubek

* ''Axe Man'' (December 1991), Double Trouble Records * ''Roadhouse Research'' (2003),

Blind Pig A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States d ...

* ''Show Me The Money'' (2004), Blind Pig * ''My Heart's In Texas'' (2006), Blind Pig; (live recording, from J&J Blues Bar, Ft. Worth, Texas) * ''Blood Brothers'' (2008),

* ''Have Blues, Will Travel'' (2010), Alligator Records * ''Close to the Bone: Unplugged'' (2011), Delta Groove Music /

Delta Groove Productions Delta Groove Productions is an American blues record label in Van Nuys, California, United States. The label was founded by Randy Chortkoff ( Rand Jay Chortkoff; 1949–2015), a producer, concert promoter, and harmonica player. Chortkoff's bi ...

/ Jazzhaus * ''Road Dog's Life'' (2013), Delta Groove Music / Delta Groove Productions / Jazzhaus * ''Fat Man's Shine Parlor''< (2015), Blind Pig

References

External links

Official website

''Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King''
Blind Pig Records website
''Artist Biography – Bnois King''

''Credits''
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

.com {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Bnois 1943 births American blues guitarists American male guitarists People from Delhi, Louisiana Texas blues musicians Living people 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians