Definitely BB King! It was at his restaurant in Memphis that I first had deep-fried dill pickle slices, and have since found them at other restaurants under the name "Lucilles". I will say that we were surprised at how good they were. One caveat: You must eat them hot, right out of the fryer.
I like to make what we refer to in my family as "Polish Roses". You take a nice thin slice of a good ham, spread it with a thin layer of cream cheese. Then you lay the pickle at one end and roll like an egg roll. You let them rest covered in the fridge for about 15 - 30 minutes for the cheese to firm up, then remove them to a cutting board and slice away!
We slice them a little thick, about 1/2" and serve with a nice chilled martini. Absolutely divine!!
I also wrap a slice of very thinly pounded beef (I usually buy eye of the round roast, freeze for a few hours, cut very thin, then pound) around a pickle, then sautee. Make a gravy from the pan drippings thickened with ginger snap cookie crumbs. Yummm. Almost a trip to Germany.