Welcome to The King. I am honored to have seen him live in an intimate venue. BTW, that’s not just a guitar… that, gentlemen, is the one & only Lucille.
@@rubroken We had a table right on the stage for B.B. 's show in Houston at Rockefeller's. I took a girl and another couple joined us. The girl I was with drank so much during the show, but we got invited back stage after the show. She proceeded to tell B.B. that he needed to fire all his body guards because they were mean to her~~!!! I was behind her mouthing " I'm sorry Mr. King" as she ranted and he just signed her ticketstub and laughed, (The body guards were just doing their jobs & I never took her anywhere again):)
I had a ticket to see him at an outdoor venue in Toronto back in 1995, but caught the flu and couldn't go. My sister was screaming that she didn't understand how I could skip it, but the 104 degree fever won out!
From Songfacts: This was written and originally recorded by the blues musician Roy Hawkins in 1951. In the 1950s, King was a Memphis radio DJ who played the Roy Hawkins original on the air. The song is about moving on from a relationship that has gone bad. King recorded the song several times but didn't like any of the results. Producer Bill Szymczyk (most famous for producing the Eagles) called King at 4:00 a.m. and suggested the addition of strings (King later said that he'd agree to just about anything at that time of the night). The addition polished up the recording that gave King his first million-selling record. This was B.B. King's biggest hit. He didn't have much success on the charts, but became a blues legend who influenced a generation of musicians. King passed away in 2015 at age 89.
Now that you mention it, my uncle (born in the 20s) was a pianist and Snare Drum Blues guy, and I always knew that someone else did this song before BB King. I will have to go search for others during the mid 40s. I know most of the Big Bands. Thank You so much for the Memory Jog.👍 👂🍬 🕊️♥️🎶
My theory on the lack of chart success is that people were buying the albums instead of singles. My love of the blues began in the early sixties and I don't remember ever having a blues single, but I had dozens of blues albums. Of course from the time he started in 1949 until almost the mid-sixties hit charted fairly well on the R&B charts, but since mainstream radio played very few black artists in those years he only managed to hit the hot 100 once in all those years, at number 95. I remember hearing him on WILD in Boston as a kid back then, which was the "race station", as they called the few black radio stations at the time. He fared better after that, but yes, great as he was, he had relatively few high charting songs for such a long career.
Alex is so right. There have literally been millions upon millions of people who have played guitar, but the one guitarist who can be picked out on a single note is B.B. King (Carlos Santana, two notes, and David Gilmour three).
You can see why Rock's roots are in the Blues. That bass just accentuates the guitar perfectly in this rendition. I wasn't sure we were going to get Alex back from whatever planet he was orbiting... but he made it. Really good reaction. There is emotion in every bend.
You two lads listen to more great music in a month than most people your age hear in a lifetime.....and the best part is that you understand an appreciate every damn note you hear. Keep on "rockin' in the free world", brothers. Cheers from Alberta, Canada.
I had forgotten how tremendous the production is on this gem. How about next "When Love Comes to Town" from his later catalog, a duet with U2, 1988. It's a banger.
B.B. King was a legendary guitarist and performer. And “The Thrill is Gone” is a stone cold classic. It is interesting that he never sang and played at the same time. If you didn’t notice it in this song; give it another listen.
There's an appearance of BB King on a U2 song, "When Love Comes to Town." He played just a couple notes that had more soul in them than the entire U2 catalog combined. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_TGU35i8czo.html&ab_channel=U2VEVO
One of BB King's greatest attributes is his ability to both choose, repeatedly, just the right note at the right time, but then to leave you space to savour, digest, appreciate, admire, and understand it before hitting you with the next. A one-off genius.
I was just about to reach through the internet and give Andy a 👋 to the side of his head when I heard him first say this EXCELLENT song was only A+. I'm glad Alex changed his mind with FACTS. This song is definitely 1000% S-TIER. RIP BB.
The LEGENDARY Mr. BB King. I have a feeling that this will be the first of MANY songs of his that you hit. The premier blues player (in my opinion) with SRV being a close second. Hope you enjoyed it (have not gotten to the end of the video yet). Take care all and rock on!
I was blessed to see BB King several times and he never disappointed. Even in his later years, when he had to sit for the whole show and spent half the time telling stories, it was still a spellbinding concert!
Great choice!! S-Tier all day long. I've seen him live and he's (Well he was, R.I.P.) just a great showman, lots of interaction with the audience. Plenty of great songs to choose from, but "How Blue Can You Get" stands out for me.
I was 11 years old when this song came out… hardly in a position to understand what life experiences BB King was drawing from. Yet, in my gut, I absolutely knew, because I could feel it in his voice. Listening to it now, with you guys, feels even richer now that I’ve lived the ups and downs of several romantic relationships. I will hug my sweetheart even more tightly than usual when she comes back home today.
Beautiful comment! My folks grew up under Jim Crow in Mississippi. Because of their stories, the feeling in Blues hits different, evsn though didn't suffer what they did.
Thanks... and wonderful insight,@@breebarry4422. I was focused on the vicissitudes of romantic relationships -- but, of course, you're right that the racial, cultural (as well as generational) differences are going to infuse themselves into this music. And I find it fascinating that, while we may not have had the vocabulary or interpretational skills as children to fully describe what was going on around us, our sensitivity and relative innocence allowed us to feel it deeply.
You can feel the pluck oh my gosh guys you have to watch this man perform it's just phenomenal nobody's like him Please please please watch and perform live next time
I saw him perform twice, once in the early 70's, standing to play, and again in 2000, when he had to sit in a chair. Both were S tier. B.B. is a legend!
1972..Yellowknife NWT, Canada, 35 below 0, sharing the stage with a cross-dressing comedian, this man blew the doors off the place!! One of the best shows I EVER saw. So sweet, funny and SO good. A time-machine for me..for sure and yes..S tier!
He also had some very memorable tunes with perhaps one of the smoothest male vocalists to ever sing, Booby Blue Bland and even U2 ("When Loves Comes to Town") and Eric Clapton ("Riding with the King"). His guitar style was very controlled. His black guitar famously named Lucille, was legendary. BB influenced a generation blues and rock artists.
B.B. King is one of the few musicians I can tell you to just listen to everything they did. You can even listen to this very song performed decades later and hear it for the first time again.
I saw him in 88 at Wichita's Jazz Fest. He stopped the show when he spotted a little girl about 3 yrs old was walking in the aisle. He very gently in a soft voice called her to the stage and made her feel safe until her very embarrassed mama came and got her. That endeared me to him forever! What a sweet loving soul he was
The king was king for a reason his playing was so simple yet so mesmerising to both listen and watch but so much passion in his playing and vocals aint no one like bb king RIP
My father drove past a record store on his way home from work back in the 60'S , He'd come in with a 45 record in his hand gathered the family around And play these songs that had just hit the charts , This song being one of them ! Along with Respect by Aretha Franklin & Anything Herb Albert and the Tijuana brass ! I was 8 in 1969 when this song came out ! My father turned me on to a lot of great music at a very young age ! To be 61 now and watch you guys enjoy this , Literally brings tears to my eyes ! Keep it alive man Keep it alive 💯
B.B.King has always been too cool for most people to understand or appreciate. He is diabetic and had to do the finger prick, sometimes more than once per day and STILL demonstrated such awesome fretwork. When I was in Basic Combat Training at Ft. Leonard Wood, July `73 we were given a treat. A blues jam with B.B. King, Ray Charles, Dr. John, Leon Russel (on guitar) and a couple of well known session, studio musicians ALL ON STAGE AT THE SAME TIME, performing each other's hits.
I have a pic of my son when he was 15, standing beside BB and holding the guitar BB had just signed for him. Taken at the Broiler Festival in Forest, MS. My boy is 38 now and still has the guitar, signature intact. 🤘
Also check out the other Kings. Freddie King - “Have You Ever Loved a Woman” live in Europe 1973 and Albert King - “Born Under a Bad Sign”. And if you want to hear an epic call and response between two blues legend, check out B.B. King with Gary Moore playing this song “The Thrill is Gone”
Now you're getting to the good stuff! And you still have both Freddie King and Albert King yet to discover. "He sounds like a soul singer when he plays the guitar." That's a very perceptive observation. Well done.
Even before watching the video, I thought, if they don’t rate THIS as S-Tier, I may have to stop watching them. Alex had it right away 👍 I absolutely ADORE this man. Blues Boy King ❤❤. I feel so fortunate I got to see him in concert not long before his death. He was already in his late 80s, had diabetes and other health issues. I was so afraid he would pass away before the show. But there he was, sitting on stage, chatting and interacting with the audience. That alone was worth the price of admission. And, damn, he could still play. RIP, B.B., you are forever a legend ❤️❤️❤️
Saw B.B. at the Ludlow Garage when I was a junior in HS. It was the day after Christmas 1969 and I remember it like it was yesterday! Stood right in front of the stage for two shows that night and watched him play. I’ve been a bluesman ever since.
Now you’ve done it! You could dive into his music for the next couple of years and not cover it all. In addition to being the blues master, he was completely welcoming and open to other artists, recording with U2, Eric Clapton and others. I had the pleasure of seeing him in 1996 and he had a presence! When he stepped onstage, you just knew you were in the presence of greatness. RIP to a GOAT!
Every summer I looked forward to BB King coming to the Ravinia summer music concerts. Talk about putting soul into your music! RIP Mr Blues Boy King. Cheers....
I saw B.B. and Willie Nelson do about a 20 minute version of this live at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin TX back in the mid seventies. It was incredible.
A&A, for more blues, anything off Albert Collins ‘Ice Pickin’ album is great. Try his “Master Charge”, “Conversation With Collins” or "When the Welfare Turns Its Back on You”. He could really make that guitar talk. Blues artists I’ve seen in concert include Albert Collins, Son Seals, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy and Robert Cray. Eric Clapton did a great blues tribute album called 'From The Cradle' (1993)
I don’t know if anybody else has brought it up BUT : Thanksgiving Day 1972. BB King, Joan Baez and Jimmy Walker (comedian) performed in concert at Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison. Mr King says it was one of his favorite shows he ever did and one of the best live recordings of his music. It deserves a Patreon listen.
Olympia was a brand of beer, Oly for short. Our campus newspaper (1975) would run a series of ad's based on this theme: "you told your new roommate you really like BB King, and he says: yeah, I like HER too" ---YOU, need an Oly!" Music is a time and place, and also timeless. At least at it's best, like this.
Saw B.B. for the first time when he opened for the Rolling Stones in Detroit in November 1969. The best time I saw him was 2nd row center, directly in front of his mic, at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor. What a great performer!
I was honored to have been able to see The King live. What a show. I have listened to this music for over 50 years, and it never gets old. Try ""Don't Answer The Door". Or "You Got Something on Your Mind" with Etta James.
I've seen him three times. First time was as a senior in high school in 1982. I had been to a bunch of rock concerts, but this was the first that was in a small venue, sober, and non-rock. Amazing.
The first time I saw BB was when he was on the same bill as the man I had gone to see (Robert Cray). I was astounded as I had never heard guitar playing like it. For me he stole the show. I love the way he made it sound as if he was caressing the strings. Truly beautiful. Such a wonderful experience.
Got to see B.B. King with Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland in the early 2000’s. Excellent concert. Mr. King was at an age and physicality that he sat during the concert. He was throwing out necklaces that had a plastic Lucille on it. I kept it because of my respect for him.
You cannot go wrong with BB King. Saw him in Windsor, Canada when I was living in Michigan. What a showman. As a blues fanatic, King was the foundation, the godfather, if you will, of the scene. His faux slide guitar sound was his and his alone. You hear it in his entire repertoire, the quick repeated bending of a single note with a finger on the fret board and his whole hand waving back and forth.
Saw BB Kiing years ago in a smoke filled Club in Portland OR, he closed the show with this number, after all these yrs still one of the best concerts ever, The Great BB King.
My favorite BB King tunes are "How Blue Can You Get" performed live at Cook County Jail, and "Paying The Cost To Be The Boss", and "The Trill Is Gone" in that order
Ahhhh Mr King him and Lucille brought is so much joy. Classic. You guys did a couple of cuts with Joe Bonamassa he toured with BB at 12 yrs old. Bb took Joe under his wing..... just jump head first in the rabbit hole 😂😂 Cheers
I always think of B.B. King in that scene from Rattle and Hum when he and Bono are going over the lyrics for When Love Came To Town and B.B. says “those are mighty powerful words for such a young man”
When U2 came to the states and filmed the documentary Rattle and Hum, they wrote a song to perform with BB King called When Love Comes to Town, highly recommended!
Everything was about feel. It was real. Goes to show you that speed on a guitar isn't everything to. And that voice... You feel the pain in it. Always loved this of his....
Just imagine heading out to see The Rolling Stones on their 1969 tour of America, and before you get The Stones bringing Sympathy for the Devil, Midnight Rambler and all the madness, you get your face melted because B.B. King and his band hit the stage first!!!
It seems super odd to me, that I’ve known this song and heard it so many times for over 40 years - but I’d never heard the studio version! His voice is so good!
If you watch Live From Darryl's House, the episode where Billy Gibbons is the guest, you'll not only see a ripping jam cover of La Grange, but also hear Billy's epic story of how his playing style was forever changed by an interaction he had with one of his heros, B.B. King!
Great, great choice. This song is like butter. Just so so good, the ultimate *mic drop* - hardly any lyrics, but he just lays it all out, the guitar is so powerful and simple and yet, not simple at all. It's gorgeous.
