The Thrill Is Gone Explained

The Thrill Is Gone
Cover:ThrillIsGone45.jpg
Type:single
Artist:B.B. King
Album:Completely Well
B-Side:You're Mean
Recorded:June 1969
Genre:R&B, soul blues
Length:
  • 3:55 (single version)
  • (album version)
Label:Bluesway/ABC
Producer:Bill Szymczyk
Prev Title:Just a Little Love
Prev Year:1969
Next Title:So Excited
Next Year:1970

"The Thrill Is Gone" is a slow minor-key blues song written by West Coast blues musician Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell in 1951. Hawkins's recording of the song reached number six in the Billboard R&B chart in 1951.[1] In 1970, "The Thrill Is Gone" became a major hit for B.B. King. His rendition helped make the song a blues standard.[2]

B.B. King rendition

B.B. King recorded his version of "The Thrill Is Gone" in June 1969 for his album Completely Well, released the same year. King's version is a slow 12-bar blues notated in the key of B minor in 4/4 time.[3] The song's polished production and use of strings marked a departure from both the original song and King's previous material.

When BluesWay Records released "The Thrill Is Gone" as a single in December 1969, it became one of the most successful of King's career and one of his signature songs. It reached number three in the Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles chart and number 15 in the broader Billboard Hot 100 chart.[4]

B.B. King's recording earned him a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 1970[5] and a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 1998.[6] King's version of the song was also placed at number 183 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Live versions of the song were included on King's albums Live in Cook County Jail (1971), Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again...Live (1976), and Live at San Quentin (1991).[7]

Aretha Franklin version

Aretha Franklin covered the song on her 1970 album, Spirit in the Dark.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Whitburn , Joel . Joel Whitburn. Top R&B Singles 1942–1988. 1988. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Record Research. 0-89820-068-7. 184. registration.
  2. Encyclopedia: Herzhaft. Gerard. Encyclopedia of the Blues. Thrill Is Gone (The). 1992. Fayetteville, Arkansas. University of Arkansas Press. 1-55728-252-8. 454. registration. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofbl00herzh/page/454 .
  3. Book: Hal Leonard. The Blues. The Thrill Is Gone. 1995. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Hal Leonard. 0-79355-259-1. 220.
  4. Whitburn 1988, p. 236.
  5. Web site: Grammy Award Results for B.B. King: 13th Annual Grammy Awards (1970)Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male "The Thrill Is Gone". The Recording Academy. 1970. March 30, 2020.
  6. Web site: Grammy Hall of Fame – B.B. King: "The Thrill Is Gone" BluesWay (1969) (Single). The Recording Academy. 1998. March 30, 2020.
  7. Web site: B.B. King: The Thrill Is Gone – Song Review. Greenwald. Matthew. AllMusic. September 4, 2011.
  8. News: Silver . Mark . Aretha Franklin: Sweet, Bitter Blues . February 20, 2024 . . July 1, 2011.