Blues Boss - My First Blues Gig

Reading Tony Winfield’s recount of his first blues gig got me thinking back to mine.

In the summer of 1972 my then wife and I took our 19 month old son to Las Vegas to visit relatives of mine. Two of my uncles had moved to Las Vegas after WWII and were working in the casino industry. Uncle “Dutch” worked at the Hilton International and had connections all over town. In the 6 or 7 nights we spent there, with Aunt Francis babysitting, we saw everything from Johnny Carson to Sammy Davis Jr., from the Folies Bergère to Elvis Presley – all “compliments of the house”. Needless to say, Uncle “Dutch” was always my favorite uncle.

Strolling through the International with Uncle Dutch with one night remaining on our visit he asked if I had seen everything I wanted. While thanking him profusely I happened to notice the “act” for the hotel lounge – B.B. King. I promptly said “Damn, I would have rather seen that than anything else!” My uncle excused himself for a minute, came back with an envelope and said: “You’re in the 8:00pm show tonight, don’t stand in line, ask for Angelo”.

That night my wife, cousin and I approached the entrance to the lounge (dressed pretty casually for the times) and this guy in a tuxedo stepped in front of me and said, rather frostily: “Can I help you?” I told him I was looking for Angelo and he informed me that he was, in fact, Angelo. I handed him the envelope, he opened it and his attitude completely changed, calling me “Mister” (I was all of 23 or so) and whisking us to the premier booth in the entire room, and telling our server, “hold all checks”…

After the opening act of Bobby Rydell (yes, Bobby Rydell – and he was good!) out walked B.B. King in an electric blue tux with black trim. He stood in one place, closed his eyes and totally mesmerized the crowd for 90 minutes, saying a modest “thank you” after the thunderous applause for each song. And the music took a firm hold on me right then and there.

(After the first show I asked Angelo if I could stay for the second show, which he allowed, and I shipped my wife and cousin off to see Presley @ 10:30pm………B.B. was even better the second time)…

Dennis (Blues Boss) Dudley