The Thrill Is Gone

B.B. King, 1969. Solo by B.B. King.

King's vibrato and string choice make each note count. The strings arrangement makes it a crossover hit.

B.B. King plays Lucille, his Gibson ES-355, in short, deliberate phrases that answer each vocal line rather than rushing to fill space. His wide finger vibrato and precise bends in B minor make single notes cry, and the instrumental breaks grow out of the band's relaxed minor groove. The track was cut live on the floor with no guitar overdubs, so his fills are exactly as he played them; the strings were arranged around that performance later. It is a lesson in economy that generations of blues and rock players have tried to absorb. Listen to one sustained note and follow the vibrato; King's hand shakes the pitch so evenly that the note seems to breathe.

The Thrill Is Gone by B.B. King is ranked #38 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by B.B. King and the song was released in 1969. It appears on 13 lists, placing as high as #4 (uDiscover Music).

The story of The Thrill Is Gone

"The Thrill Is Gone" was not a B.B. King original. Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell wrote it in 1951 as a slow, minor-key blues, and Hawkins's own recording reached No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart that year. King had lived with the song for a long time and reportedly attempted it more than once before arriving at the version that made history. His version would recast the tune in B minor, keeping its slow twelve-bar framework but giving it a smoother, more modern feel.

In 1969 King was working with a young producer, Bill Szymczyk, on the album Completely Well at the Hit Factory in New York. Szymczyk surrounded him with session players who moved easily between soul and rock: Jerry Jemmott on bass, Hugh McCracken on rhythm guitar, Paul Harris on keyboards and Herbie Lovelle on drums. The group needed only a few run-throughs, and the basic track, vocal included, was captured live on about the third take.

The finishing touch came afterward. Szymczyk became convinced that strings would carry the record to pop radio, and, as Songfacts recounts, he phoned King at four in the morning to pitch the idea. King agreed, and arranger Bert de Coteaux wrote a hypnotic chart for a string section that was overdubbed about a week later. The strings added a lush, almost cinematic backdrop that set the record apart from anything else on blues radio.

BluesWay issued the single in December 1969 and it entered the Hot 100 that month, peaking at No. 15 while reaching No. 3 on the R&B chart. It became King's first million-seller, helped Completely Well become his first top-40 album, and gave the young Szymczyk his first hit as a producer. The success gave King access to rock audiences and bigger stages for the rest of his career.

The solo

The guitar is all B.B. King, playing his Gibson ES-355 "Lucille" through a Fender Twin Reverb miked with a single Shure SM57, according to Mix magazine's account of the session. Rather than flashy speed, King works in short, deliberate phrases that answer each vocal line, using his trademark wide finger vibrato and precise bends in B minor to make single notes cry. The instrumental breaks and the long fade grow out of the band's relaxed, minor groove, with Jerry Jemmott's bass line doing much of the propulsion. Because the track was cut live on the floor with no guitar overdubs, King's fills and solo lines are exactly as he played them in the room; the strings arranged by Bert de Coteaux were added later around that performance.

Legacy

The record turned King from a blues circuit star into a mainstream name. It won him the 1970 Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 and was ranked No. 183 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs. It became the song most associated with King for the rest of his career, appearing on many live albums, and remains a standard that guitarists approach with caution; Joe Bonamassa has said anyone attempting it will be compared to King's untouchable original.

Top 10 facts about The Thrill Is Gone

Roy Hawkins's original 1951 recording of the song reached No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart.
Wikipedia
Producer Bill Szymczyk called King at 4 a.m. to suggest adding strings to the recording.
Songfacts
Bert de Coteaux arranged the string section, which was overdubbed about a week after the basic track.
Mix
King played his Gibson 355 "Lucille" through a Fender Twin Reverb, miked with a Shure 57.
Mix
The basic track and King's vocal were captured live by roughly the third take, with no overdubs needed on the band.
Mix
The backing band included Jerry Jemmott on bass, Hugh McCracken on guitar, Paul Harris on keyboards and Herbie Lovelle on drums.
Wikipedia
Completely Well became King's first top-40 album in the US, peaking at No. 38 on the Billboard 200.
Wikipedia
The song won King the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 1970 and entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.
Wikipedia
It was the first hit record of Bill Szymczyk's production career.
Wikipedia
On Joe Bonamassa's 2026 tribute B.B. King's Blues Summit 100, Chaka Khan agreed to sing it only if a guitarist of Eric Clapton's stature played, and Clapton did.
Guitar Player

Live versions

Live in Cook County Jail (1971) Recorded before inmates in Chicago, one of King's most celebrated live albums.
Together Again...Live (with Bobby "Blue" Bland) (1976) Duet version with his old friend Bobby Bland, recorded at the Coconut Grove.
Live at San Quentin (1991) Another prison concert recording featuring the song.

Notable covers

Aretha Franklin (1970) Soulful reading on her album Spirit in the Dark.
B.B. King and Tracy Chapman (1997) Duet remake for King's Deuces Wild album, with a video shot in Oakland.
Chaka Khan and Eric Clapton (2026) Recorded for Joe Bonamassa's tribute album B.B. King's Blues Summit 100.

In our lists

Sources

Who played the guitar solo on The Thrill Is Gone?

B.B. King played the solo on B.B. King's The Thrill Is Gone (1969).

What guitar was used on the The Thrill Is Gone solo?

A gibson es-355 (lucille), according to widely reported accounts.

Where does The Thrill Is Gone rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#38 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 13 of them.

Who wrote "The Thrill Is Gone"?

Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell wrote it in 1951; B.B. King's 1969 recording made it famous.

What guitar did B.B. King use on "The Thrill Is Gone"?

He played his Gibson ES-355 "Lucille" through a Fender Twin Reverb amplifier.

What album is "The Thrill Is Gone" on?

It appears on King's 1969 album Completely Well, released on BluesWay.

Who added the strings to "The Thrill Is Gone"?

Producer Bill Szymczyk suggested them, and Bert de Coteaux wrote the string arrangement.

Did "The Thrill Is Gone" win a Grammy?

Yes, it won the 1970 Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and later entered the Grammy Hall of Fame.