Obama joins Jagger, B.B. King, to belt out blues WASHINGTON (AP) - The president just couldn't say no: Mick Jagger held out a mic almost by way of command, and soon Barack Obama was belting out the blues with the best of them. The East Room of the White House was transformed into an intimate blues club on Tuesday night for a concert featuring blues all-stars of the past, present and future - and the president himself. The surprise performance by Obama came at the end of the playlist when the blues ensemble was singing "Sweet Home Chicago," the blues anthem of Obama's home town. Buddy Guy prodded the president, saying he'd heard that the president sang part of an Al Green tune recently, and adding, "You gotta keep it up." Then Jagger handed over the mic, and Obama seemed compelled to comply. "Come on, baby don't you want to go," the president sang out twice, handing off the mic to B.B. King momentarily, and then taking it back to tack on "Sweet Home Chicago" at the end. That was how Obama ended the night. This was how he began it: Obama said sometimes there are downsides to being the president. You can't just go for a walk, for example. And then there are the times that more than make up for all those frustrations, he said, like Tuesday night, when Jagger, King, Jeff Beck and other musical giants came by the house to sing the blues. "I guess things even out a little bit," Obama joked at the start of a rollicking East Room concert that was electrified by Jagger and the rest. No one goes through life without both joy and pain, triumph and sorrow. The blues gets all of that, sometimes with just one lyric or one note.  King, 86, arrived in a wheelchair but rose tall to kick off the night with a raucous "Let the Good Times Roll," quickly joined by other members of the ensemble. Jagger got the president and his wife up out of their seats, swaying and clapping to the music, and picked up the pace with "Miss You," performed with Shemekia Copeland and Susan Tedeschi. Obama was clearly savoring the moment, closing his eyes at times and nodding his head as he lip-synced the words. The president rose at the end to introduce the ensemble as the "White House Blues All-Stars" for the final song of the night, "Sweet Home Chicago." "For Michelle and me," the president said, "there's no blues like the song our artists have chosen to close with - the blues from our hometown." With that, the ensemble wrapped up the evening with "Sweet Home Chicago." And then Jagger handed off the mic to Obama for his presidential coda. In advance of the concert, Grammy-winner Keb Mo had joked during a rehearsal break that Obama himself would perform, and there could even be a record in the works. Maybe he wasn't joking after all. The lineup for Tuesday's concert spanned multiple generations, from legends like King and Guy to young faces such as 26-year-old Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and Gary Clark Jr., whose style blends hip hop, contemporary soul and indie rock.