Now
that we’ve completed the Davis Rogan portion of our program, it’s time to move
on to Warren Prejean and the Zydeco Rhythm & Blues Band. The first song
from Prejean and the Zydeco Rhythm & Blues Band is the classic blues song, The Thrill is Gone.
Warren Prejean on the Rub board |
Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell, two
blues musicians, penned The Thrill is
Gone in 1951. Hawkins’ recording of the song reached #6 on the Billboard
music charts in 1951. Hawkins and Darnell derived “The Thrill is Gone” from a song
in Broadway revue titled George White's
Scandals. That version of the song, performed by Rudy Vallée and His
Connecticut Yankees, had reached the tenth spot on the charts in 1931. The Hawkins-Darnell
song endured and has become a staple of blues musicians ever since. B.B. King’s
1969 interpretation of The Thrill is Gone
became his biggest hit. It climbed to #3 on the R&B charts and #15 on
the Billboard Hot 100. The recording of the song won King a Grammy in 1970.
When Rolling Stone Magazine listed the 500 greatest songs of all time, it
placed King’s version of The Thrill is
Gone at 183. Other R&B artists have recorded their own versions as
well, including: Aretha Franklin, Luther Allison, Willie Nelson, The Marshall
Tucker Band, and Little Milton.
The sheet music to The Thrill is Gone |
The lyrics of The Thrill is Gone exemplify the blues. Defining the blues has always
been a tricky proposition. Blues singer Alberta Hunter once tried to explain
the blues this way; “Blues means what milk does to a baby. Blues is what the
spirit is to the minister. We sing the blues because our hearts have been hurt,
our souls have been disturbed.” The
Thrill is Gone is a song about a man whose heart has been hurt—in this case
by a woman. The man first expresses his anger at the woman who hurt him: “You
know you done me wrong baby/And you'll be sorry someday.” The man then describes
the sense of emptiness following the breakup, lamenting “The thrill is gone
baby… Although I’ll still live on/ But so lonely I’ll be.” The man, however,
refuses to let the breakup or the woman’s behavior keep him down permanently. After
considering his sadness and depression, he rejoices at being “free from your
spell.” Finally having ended the relationship he wishes her well.
This
theme of mourning and forgiveness in the blues—a fusion of spirituals, call and
response chants, and traditional ballads—emerged out of the history and
experience of African American communities in the Deep South, in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries. Reconciling the slave past with an uncertain present
required a certain amount of lamentation, strength, and forgiveness.
“The Thrill Is Gone”
The thrill is gone
The thrill is gone away
The thrill is gone baby
The thrill is gone away
You know you done me wrong baby
And you'll be sorry someday
The thrill is gone
It's gone away from me
The thrill is gone baby
The thrill is gone away from me
Although, I'll still live on
But so lonely I'll be
The thrill is gone
It's gone away for good
The thrill is gone baby
It's gone away for good
Someday I know I'll be open
armed baby
Just like I know a good man
should
You know I'm free, free now
baby
I'm free from your spell
Oh I'm free, free, free now
I'm free from your spell
And now that it's all over
All I can do is wish you well
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