American Masters BB King Documentary Premieres Friday –

American Masters is an outstanding documentary series that has offered definitive portraits of artists like Lou Reed, Woody Guthrie, and James Brown as well as masters outside the realm of music like Clint Eastwood and Mel Brooks.  BB King gets the treatment this week and the program is up to the high standards that the series has set.  Rare archival footage and interviews with Carlos Santana, Bono, Bonnie Raitt, and many others put King’s career in proper prospective.

The most rewarding bits were the interviews with King himself.  He speaks frankly about growing up in the pre-civil rights era South and humbly about honors bestowed upon him.  Narration…inevitably…by Morgan Freeman!