Every great musician forms a special bond with their instrument, sometimes even giving it a name. We all know Neil Young’s “Old Black” and Willie Nelson’s “Trigger.” But perhaps the most famous and storied guitar in American music is “Lucille,” the legendary Gibson played by the King of the Blues, B.B. King. More than just a guitar, Lucille became a symbol of his powerful sound and a beloved icon in her own right. Today, we delve into the dramatic, true story of how this unforgettable guitar got its name.
The tale of Lucille’s naming is steeped in fire, a desperate rescue, and a poignant lesson learned by a young B.B. King in a humble juke joint in Twist, Arkansas. It’s a gripping story of survival, sacrifice, and the enduring love between a bluesman and his axe, a story that shaped not only his career but also the legend of Lucille. Join us to hear from B.B. King’s longtime friend, Byron Johnson, and author Daniel Davis, as they bring to life the incredible history behind one of music’s most cherished and enduring American instruments.
📖 Read the Episode Transcript
That story has been repeated and told, and I’m amazed that it’s remained consistent as it has over the years, because, you know, you can start a conversation at one end, and after it passes through four or five people, it comes out on the other end completely different than when it started, but very consistent with that. And that B.B. was doing a performing.
At a juke joint, sort of off-the-books joint in the Black community.
In Twist, Arkansas. Which…
Is named for a White family called Twist. There’s probably, probably a sharecropping community.
And doing his performance. While he was on stage, these two guys ended up finding out that they were romancing the same woman.
A beautiful server in this, in this juke joint. And…
They got into a fight over this woman. And back in the day, juke joints ran year-round, and, h, during the cold, cold months, uh, wintertime, they would take a big barrel, like, like, like you would see a big oil barrel nowadays, and, uh, they would fill it up with kerosene and wood, and, uh, they would light that and set it on fire and put that ‘lf’ in the middle of the room, and it would radiate, with the people mingling around and what have you, it would radiate the heat coming off of that. Well, these two guys got into a fight and, uh, tussling and wrestling, and, uh…
They knock over a kerosene lamp, and it starts a fire. And…
The kerosene just flew across the floor, and the fire went with it on top of the kerosene, and it just looked like a wave of, a wave of fire coming at you. And they set the place on fire. Well, uh, B.B., like everybody else, uh, jumped up and commenced a-running, getting the hell out of there and, uh, trying to save his life, trying not to get burnt up. And, uh, because the place—I mean, these places were, were shanties. I mean, it wasn’t much to him. They went up like a cinderbox. You know, it was not much to him, so it wasn’t. The place became engulfed in flames, and everybody headed for the exit along with B.B., and, uh, he got outside and realized that in his haste to, uh, protect his butt, that he had left his guitar on the stage.
B.B. became Russias in to get his guitars so it doesn’t burn up because he can’t afford to buy another one.
You know, times were hard. Guitars and money was hard to come back, and he was like a guitar. He turned around and ran back inside, and, uh, he got it, but before he could get out, the place collapsed around him, and he was, uh, he had some severe burns from that. Uh, and, uh, he showed me, he showed me the scars before he died, and he got burned pretty good.
And, as I guess, as he’s cradling his smoking guitar outside of the burning remains of the juke joint… He hears somebody say, ‘Oh, man, that Lucille! She started the whole thing.’
Huh. And he decided to name his guitar Lucille to remind him of that moment and, as he put it, to never do anything that’s stupid again, because the guitar, as important as it was to him, it wasn’t worth his life. And he came close to losing his life that night. But that was the—that’s the gist of that story. That’s how that came about.
And we don’t really know when it happened. I think some of the official counts say it was in 1949. Others say it was 1950. There’s a marker in Twist, Arkansas, which I think says it was in the early ’50s. But you don’t see a mention of Lucille anywhere in print. And I swear this to you, until 1967, which made me wonder, ‘Wait, did they brand Lucille in 1967?’ Did they create the name then? You know, which wouldn’t have surprised me. So I went back and asked Sue, his ex-wife, and people who played with him in, like, 1949, 1950, 1951. I said, ‘Was Lucille a thing?’ Yes, yes, I guess she was. I guess that B.B. King called his guitar Lucille and was calling her Lucille by about 1950. This, according to people who actually were playing with him in 1950. And it was just an inside thing, an inside joke, if you will. Lucille’s identity wasn’t known outside of Mr. King’s inner circle until he starts talking about her, first with the Black press, then with the White press in 1967. This when he has a record coming out that’s called Lucille and a Song, wherein he tells her story.
The original Lucille that was left in the fire, that, that guitar was stolen years ago, many years ago, as he put it. Uh, he was after the fire. He was going to visit a friend. I don’t know this was a lady friend or a guy friend. All he said, told me, was that he was going by to visit a friend. And back in that day, he, uh, well, he put his guitar—he put Lucille in the trunk of the, of the car. And back in that day, you had, like, for, for, s. For example, G.M.C. (General Motors) would make a car. Well, they might, might make a different model cars, but the key to the trunk was generic and fit every model that they made. So he left the guitar in the trunk and went in to spend time with his friends. Come out. Someone at keyed the, the trunk and taking Lucille. And, you know, to this day, uh, I don’t know who took her, where she is, or if she even exists at this point. But B.B. had a number of guitars between the fire and the time he passed, and B.B. was playing them. He named them Lucille. Every guitar he ever played after that he named Lucille.
The story of how Lucille came to be—that is, the name of B.B. King’s guitar. This is Our American Stories. More after these messages. Liha Bibi here, the host of Our American Stories. Every day on this show, we’re bringing inspiring stories from across this great country, stories from our big cities and small towns. But we truly can’t do the show without you. Our stories are free to listen to, but they’re not free to make. If you love what you hear, go to OurAmericanStories.com and click the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go to OurAmericanStories.com and give.
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