When B.B. King put together his first band, Floyd Newman was among his first hires.
The retired baritone saxophone player remembers King as a bandleader who trusted the ability of his musicians.
Newman also recalls that King was greatly influenced by jazz, and while blues was the popular music of Beale Street, King's first band was playing sophisticated arrangements by WDIA's music director Onzie Horne, Sr. that echoed the style of Count Basie.
Newman would later go on to become a highly regarded session player at StaxRecords. He's a co-writer of the 1961 hit song "Last Night" for the Mar-Keys. As a member of the original Memphis Horns, he can be heard on instrumentals such as "Sassy," also by the Mar-Keys, and records by Otis Redding, Booker T. and the M.G.s and Isaac Hayes.
B.B. King Funeral and Memorial Information
Wednesday, May 27
11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. -- Musical tribute to B.B. King in Handy Park on Beale Street in Memphis.
12:45 p.m. -- Processional down Beale Street for B.B. King.
Friday, May 29
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. -- A public viewing of King's body will be held at the B.B. King Museum, 400 Second Street, Indianola, Miss.
Saturday, May 30
11 a.m. - 3 p.m. -- Funeral services will be held at Bell Grove M.B. Church, 1301 B.B. King Rd., Indianola, Miss.
