The Thrill is Gone - B.B. king (1970) 10/15/22

In 1951, blues musician Roy Hawkins wrote and recorded a song about moving on from a bad relationship.

A disc jockey in Memphis fell in love with "The Thrill is Gone" and played it repeatedly.

By 1969, that DJ had become a legendary blues artist himself, and decided to record a cover.

Unfortunately, B.B. King couldn't seem to come up with an arrangement he liked and, after recording it several times, was about to scrap the idea. But then, producer Phil Szymczyk had an idea that couldn't wait.

Phil called B.B. at 4am, woke him up, and suggested they add strings to the mix. Well, according to B.B., at that hour of the morning, he would have agreed to anything.

In the end, however, Phil's idea added the perfect touch...and the song was released as a single in late December of 1969.

By mid 1970, "The Thrill is Gone" had not only become B.B.'s biggest hit: (#3 on the Soul Chart and #15 on the Hot 100), it had solidified the song as a Rhythm & Blues standard.

He won the 1970 Grammy Award for Best R&B Male Performance, as well as a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. "The Thrill is Gone" was also listed at #183 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the Top 500 Songs of All Time.

"The Thrill is Gone" by B.B. King: a "Great Blues Song of 1951," remade into a "Great Blues Song of the 1970," all for all time!

Roy Hawkins: