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the players 
B.B. King @ The Cotton Club
Why I Sing The Blues
1954 — B.B. King frequented Gainesville throughout the late 1940s and mid 1950s, playing the Cotton Club, a popular Chitlin’ Circuit venue on the outskirts of downtown.Why I Sing The Blues
((( UF LIFE )))
B.B. King courtesy Burt Wetherington
Harriet Tubman
Vivian Filer at The Hippodrome Theater
Vivian Filer usually sings “Harriet Tubman” (inspired by a Langston Hughes poem) with her two sisters, at church. Here, she was encouraged by a small group at The Frank Conference (2016) in Gainesville, Florida, to sing after she spoke at the Hippodrome Theater about the project she was undertaking to renovate “The Cotton Club,” an old “Chitlin Circuit” juke joint just outside of downtown.
Throughout the years, Michael Blachly, director of the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, has worked with both Bo Diddley and B.B. King, two important characters in Gainesville’s rich musical history.
“He never short-changed the audience. He never cut corners,” Michael Blachly recalled of his working with King. “He always gave everything he had, a full and rich show everytime.”
Vivian Filer, chair of the board of directors of the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center, said she had a strong feeling of emptiness when she heard about his death.
“He was a pioneer, and an idol … The thought of him being gone is heartbreaking.”
In the late ’40s and early ’50s King performed often in Gainesville, at The Cotton Club, a popular stop on the (southeastern) Chitlin’ Circuit, one of the venues considered safe for African Americans musicians in the more racist time.
In Filer’s mind, King’s “style” of music set the pace for so many of the Rock N Roll musicians to follow.
“He brought the real blues that people loved.”
King showed the community how music and the arts are a valuable bridge to one another.
“His music is a link worldwide,” Blachly said. “Music is a common language and he believed very strongly in the gift that music was and what he could give as a result of his playing.”
TOM PETTY
[HOMECOMING ’81]
The Who, What, Where, When, and Why of life in Gainesville and at the Universiy of Florida. Brought to you [SINCE 1973] by The Independent Florida Alligator.
University Avenue
BLUES IN THE NIGHT
AFTER MIDNIGHT (UF NIGHTLIFE)
Johnny Hines
MUDDY WATERS (GAINESVILLE LOVE STORY)
BO DIDDLEY
BB KING @ THE COTTON CLUB
Chitlin’ Circuit
Robert Johnson (WIKI)
Searching for Robert Johnson (Vanity Fair)
ROBERT JOHNSON (LOVE IN VAIN)
BLUE (THE ORIGINAL COLOR OF SIN)
THE DEVIL IS SINGING OUR SONG
ROBERT JOHNSON (HELLHOUND ON HIS TRAIL)
SACRED GROUND (A LIGHTER SHADE OF BLUE)
BLACKS AND BLUES (CHITLIN’ CIRCUIT)
HOLY TRINITY OF ROCK
HOLY TRINITY OF JAZZ
SCOTT PUTESKY
Running With The Devil [STORY]
the bridge
BRINGING AMERICA TOGETHER AGAIN.