He was an average man, with a low end job and no friends. His wife had just left him and his house was repossessed. He went to work one day and his small desk was emptied and his final paycheck was taped to it, along with a message “Sorry”. Now single, unemployed, and homeless he walked the streets of Chicago owning nothing more than the clothes on his back. He sat down in an alley and soon it began to rain, he dug around and found an old umbrella in a dumpster and so began his life as an untitled being, not Mr., nor Dr., not even a name, he was simply untitled. He sat in that alley begging for months and each day he was lucky to get enough change for a sandwich or a coffee. Then one day he heard a sound, while he was walking about four blocks from the alley where he’d been staying. The sound grew louder as he walked and then he reached it, the legendary House of Blues! He sat and showed all of his emotions as tears burst from his eyes. The music, the passion it was all so… real! He looked up at the marquee and saw that the night’s performance was Mr. BB King. He sat and swayed with the sound and even begged to get in but his $0.32 in pocket change was not enough. When the music stopped he trudged towards the dumpster he called home and when he reached the corner a car swerved and splashed him, he hung his head and cried. As he continued walking he heard a voice, “Hey, Hey you!” he turned around to see a magnificent man holding a beautiful black and gold guitar, He reached out his hand and greeted the poor man “Hi, I’m BB King and this here, well this is Lucille. I heard you were enjoying my show from out here on the sidewalk” The man nervously replied “Yes sir I’m very sorry, your music, it’s just… so moving” The man threw his head back and with a chuckle he said “Don’t worry about it, I’m glad you liked the blues I played on Lucille” The man smiled and shook the hand of the legend in front of him. He said “I had a guitar once, I never could get the hang of it though” and BB King responded with the most influential words possible “Maybe you could try again?” and with a frown the man responded “I don’t have a guitar” and in an instant a long limo pulled up and BB King jumped in and said “See ya, Thanks for the kind words!”
About two weeks later he was sitting in his alley moaning and whining about feeling down and out and who should walk by but BB King. The man stood up so fast he nearly fell over and greeted Mr. King. BB King got a wild grin on his face and walked away, upset the man sat down and said to himself “Just my luck! The one person who knows I exist walks away from me! Why is my life so-“before he could finish his sentence BB King reemerged with a shiny guitar (not unlike Lucille) and he said “Well fella’ You’re down and out, tired and weary, you got the blues. Now, learn them” He handed the man the guitar and walked away.
Now left with a magnificent guitar the man sat down and plucked out a few notes. Day after day he sat there and practiced some small tunes he’d come up with and before he knew he’d write lyrics for his little riffs. Though he still struggled for food, the guitar gave him something to live for.
Forty years passed and the man was now 69, still living on the streets and still begging for meals but now, people paid him to play. For forty years this man practiced the blues and now, he practically had a show on the street. One day he’d managed to get $40 in tips. So, he grabbed his guitar (Which he’d named King) and walked to the House of Blues. He purchased a ticket and sat in his seat for 4 hours before the show, playing his own blues songs. Then the show began and BB King walked out onto the stage and began to play. Half way through his set BB King noticed the man and had him brought on stage. BB King played amazing blues with this “Untitled” homeless man for the remainder of the set. And when the show was over BB King (as well as the rest of the audience) gave the man a standing ovation and begged for an encore. After 30 more minutes of playing the man left the House of Blues and walked back to his alley.
The next morning BB King rushed over to the alley where the man had been for 40 years to give him the news that William Morris (BB Kings manager) wanted to offer him a record deal.
When Mr. King arrived he found the man lying there still, so he tried to wake him up to give him the news. “Untitled” died at 12:01 on his 70th birthday, just 2 hours after he left the House of Blues after receiving the best birthday present possible.