B.B. King - Symphony Hall, Boston, Mass. - 1969: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This image depicts musician B.B. King playing his guitar. Wearing a dark suit and light tie and a shirt with french cuffs, he holds his guitar to the right side of his torso, strumming with his right hand. He wears a ring on each hand. His eyes closed, he faces forward. Taken from below, this image gives him a monumental aspect. A microphone can be seen in the background.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1969
• Photograph by: Robert Houston, American, 1935 - 2021
• Subject of: B.B. King, American, 1925 - 2015
• Type: portraits
• Type: digital images
• Type: digital media - born analog
• Medium: digital
• Dimensions: H x W: 12454 pixels × 13310 pixels, 316.18 MB
• Place depicted: Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Blues (Music)
• Topic: Men
• Topic: Photography
• Object number: 2014.116.22
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Robert and Greta Houston
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Robert Houston Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.