Post by tozion on Jan 5, 2006 17:52:58 GMT -5
One of my favorite blues songs ever. It's a classic. He took it to #3 Black Singles and #15 on the Hot 100 in 1970. It won him a Grammy award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. Aretha Franklin's cover performed equally well on the Black Singles chart later that same year.
Here's the All Music Guide commentary:
Here's the All Music Guide commentary:
B.B. King's biggest chart success in the pop arena, "The Thrill Is Gone," provided him with a long overdue crossover hit in 1970. Using a blues-rock basis for the main melody, King casts the entire song in a very heavy jazz feel and flavor, attacking each verse with a world-weary vocal and some radical and sinewy guitar arpeggios. The feeling of breaking free from a possessive lover is the main basis for the lyrics, and King's use of blues imagery is perfect for the song, which indeed provided real release. But its the song's overall groove that is the star here, giving the overall piece a definitive atmosphere. This is, in fact, the lesson that he had been teaching all of his students from Michael Bloomfield to Eric Clapton in the '60s, and although many of their records preceded his on the charts, it was this exquisite piece at the dawn of the '70s that defined the blues movement. The single version is a necessity, but the extended live version on Live at San Quentin is extremely potent, and gives the listener the same feel in a bigger, more grandiose package.
