B.B. King's 1977 concert in Yellowknife remembered fondly

"Be there and you'll hear it. Miss it and you'll hear about it!"

That was the promoters' pitch on the poster for B.B. King's concert in Yellowknife on May 2, 1977.

The weather was cold, and so was the old Gerry Murphy arena. Organizersput down plywood over the ice.

"The crowd didn't mind, they were Yellowknifers," says Sandy Wilson, who played guitar with the band that opened for King.

"The guys on the stage from the southwereblowing on their hands."

But things heated up when the blues master hit the stage, saysGail Cyr, who was in her early 20s at the time.

"I was at the front and we were kind of huddled up, feeling pretty good. Everyone was really moving.

"I recall it as a wonderful night and I'm saddened to hear that he passed."

Stayed at Yellowknife Inn

King died late Thursday at his home in Las Vegas. He was 89.

On his one and only visit toYellowknife, he played two shows in one day, stayed at the old Yellowknife Innand left the morning after.

In 1977, Sandy Wilson was a regular fixture on the music scene in Yellowknife. Helater went on toform a bandwith fellow musician PatBraden. (Bradensays he got all the way to the door of the B.B. King concertbut because he was underage, he didn't try to get in.)

WIlson andand some friends provided the sound gear for King, who brought his full band including a three-piece brass section.

"We had a couple of bands worth of gear onthe stage and a good amp for King.I figured he should be playing the big amp, and he did. He played that thing like a truck."

But it was King's singing that really stuck with him.

"Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up," he says.

"I really felt it. Simple style. Notes were pure and real sweet. His licks were real soulful. I loved his voice and his message.

Small turnout

Concert-goers say there was a smaller-than-expected turnout for such a big name.

GeorgeTuccaroremembers meeting King that day.

"He said 'If there's 10 people I'll play for them,'"Tuccaroremembers.

"He was a big man and he had Lucille wrapped up like a child. He treated thatguitarlike a baby."

Wilson says organizer TerryMercer lost about $7,000on the event.

"Mr. King was very gracious," he says.

"They paid for their own expenses. They paid for their own meals. Terry died a few years later. He had cleared that debt off."

Even though it was a small crowd, Wilson says whenKing and his band performed"The Thrill is Gone," it sounded like it came off the album.

Wilsonnow teaches music in Brockville, Ont.He says he still has the ampliflier King sang through.

"Sometimes I look at that thing and say to a student, 'B.B. King played through that thing.'"

In Yellowknife, no less.