Frank with his old friend and former employer B.B. King at the Hampton Casino Ballroom 4/30/04

Frank was always in the loop about when B.B. King was playing in the area. We took him to Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom to see B.B. King on April 30. During the concert, Frank sat there and at times it was hard to tell if he was even paying attention. Then, once an old song started, Frank just looked at Craig and burst into song. His intonation was correct and he even had the little parts right where B.B. stops and says something in the middle of the song. Frank was so sweet and people around us were smiling at him as he sang. One stranger came up to Frank and shook his hand and said that he liked how Frank dressed and he looked good. Frank talked to some of the crew and told them that he wanted to talk to B.B. By this point Frank was very animated, dancing in his seat, shaking his hands around, etc.

A bouncer came over and told us to wheel Frank to the side of the stage. We went behind the small barricade and waited near the exterior wall, near the elevator. B.B. did an encore, and we watched it from side-stage. Were we going to actually meet B.B. King? My knees were literally shaking. Then at the end of the show, B.B.'s entourage cleared the exit aisle (we were the only ones allowed to be there, even the backup band was cleared away) and they wheeled B.B. right towards us. One of B.B.'s guys shone the flashlight at Frank so that B.B. could see him. B.B. lit up immediately. In all of the commotion, Frank couldn't tell where to look and even as B.B. grabbed his hand he was looking elsewhere. B.B. said "Frank, Hi Frank! I'm right here. Don't you recognize my voice?" We turned Frank's attention to B.B. and they shook and then held hands. I asked B.B. if I could get a picture of the two of them together. He said "If you like". I took the photo and B.B. talked to Frank for a minute. B.B. called him "Big Brown."

Then it was obvious that B.B. had to go; fans were congregating near where we stood, hoping for autographs, and the entourage needed to get B.B. safely downstairs and out to his bus. As they wheeled him away, B.B. looked me right in the eye and said "Thank you." He then looked Craig right in the eye and said the same. B.B. King was thanking us for something? We were the grateful ones...he had made Frank so happy! And it was such an honor for us to get to meet him as well. It was really nice to see that the love and respect that Frank has for his friend and former employer was mutual.

They wheeled B.B. onto the elevator and as it was descending he looked at us and waved. We asked Frank about the nickname "Big Brown". He said that B.B. had called him that since their first meeting. Frank was on cloud nine for the rest of the evening!

Author

Craig and Steph

Created on

Friday 30 April 2004

Posted on

Saturday 31 March 2018

Albums

• 2004-2005 Frank Brown

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