Fué Little Bill Wallace la influencia definitiva de B.B. King?

"Bill fué un gigante del cuál el blues no fué avisado"
Palabras de Ricky stevens:

Desayuné con little Bill alrededor de las tres de la mañana en una parada de camioneros entre Leland y Greenville un par de años antes de su ataque al cerebro. Hablamos una gran cantidad de cosas, incluyendo el rumor de que el le habria enseñado a BB king a tocar la guitarra.

El nuca dijo que hubiera enseñado a BB King a tocar la guitarra.

"Le ayudé a empezar. Los dos estábamos tocando música en las calles de Indianola. Yo tocaba en una esquina y BB una cuadra abajo. Yo tocaba blues y BB cantaba solo gospel.
BB se enteró que yo ganaba tres veces más que el en propinas

Yo le ayudé

"I helped him get started. We were both playing music on street corners in Indianola. I was standing on one corner and BB was on one about a block down. I was playing blues on the guitar and he was singing gospel all by himself. He noticed I had about three times as much in tips and he asked me why that was so.

"I told him people paid more for the blues and they liked the guitar. I showed him a couple of things-some chords, that kind of stuff. Just enough to get him started."

Based on their ages, the fact that they lived so close together, and the similarity of their styles I think it is reasonable that either they both learned from the same people, or that Bill actually did get BB started as he claimed. I lean toward believing Bill's version.

Another incident in Bill's life probably wrecked whatever chance he had at recording back in the 50's.

Bill told me he had been blackballed from the record business because he had contracts with two companies at the same time. He was a sideman at the infamous Greenville session for Modern that was interrupted by Lillian McMurry, her attorney and her husband Willard. Lillian walked into the session and reminded all concerned that Lonnie Holmes was under contract to her. Bill told me he had recorded two songs for a single that was never released. In 2004 I found the studio invoices for Bill's masters, recorded in Houston, Texas. Mrs. McMurry had the masters and all pressed copies burned before release and never recorded another note by Wallace.