How Blue Can You Get
"How Blue Can You Get" | ||||
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Single by B.B. King | ||||
B-side | "Please Accept My Love" | |||
Released | 1964 (1964) | |||
Genre | Blues | |||
Length | 2:40 | |||
Label | ABC-Paramount | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jane Feather, Leonard Feather[1] | |||
Producer(s) | Sid Feller | |||
B.B. King singles chronology | ||||
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"How Blue Can You Get" (alternatively "Downhearted") is a blues song first recorded by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers in 1949. It is a slow twelve-bar blues that jazz critic Leonard Feather and his wife, Jane Feather, are credited with writing.[1] The song has been recorded by several blues and other artists. It was a hit for B.B. King in 1964 and became a staple of his live shows.
Earlier songs
In 1949, Johnny Moore with his brother, Oscar Moore, on guitars, Billy Valentine on piano and vocal, and Johnny Miller on bass recorded "How Blue Can You Get" in the West Coast blues-style.[1] It was included on the jazz and blues compilation album Singin' the Blues (1960).[2] Feather described the song as having "the type of intimate instrumental setting heard in so many best blues vocal performances of the 1940s".[2] In 1951, Louis Jordan recorded the song using a big band arrangement.[2]
B.B. King versions
B.B. King first recorded the song as "Downhearted", which was included on his 1963 Blues in My Heart album.[1] The song is performed at "a steady, stately pace, its groove punctuated by B.B.'s stinging runs and wailing, sustained notes", according to King biographer David McGee.[3] King later re-recorded the song as "How Blue Can You Get" and ABC-Paramount Records released it as a single in 1964.[1] It "stood out, thanks to the relative simplicity of its arrangement, and the caustic humor of the lyrics".[4] McGee adds that the remake featured "more propulsion from the horn section, and B.B. investing his vocal with far more outrage than can be detected on the laidback original".[3] It also added a "vehement stop-time interlude":[5]
I gave you a brand new Ford, you said 'I want a Cadillac'
I bought you a ten dollar dinner, you said 'Thanks for the snack'
I let you live in my penthouse, you said it was just a shack
I gave you seven children, and now you want to give them back
"How Blue Can You Get" reached number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1964 (the magazine's R&B chart was suspended at the time).[6] The song became a fixture in King's live shows[3] "with enough good punchlines for B.B. to keep it in his act for decades".[1] A live version of the song first appeared on the Live at the Regal album recorded in Chicago in 1964;[7] King prefaced it with "pay attention to the lyrics, not so much to my singing or the band". Since then, live versions of the song have been included on several live B.B. King albums, such as Live in Cook County Jail, Live in Japan, and the expanded Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert.[8][9] In 1998, King, as "Malvern Gasperone", performed the song as part of a fictional group, the Louisiana Gator Boys, for the film Blues Brothers 2000. The group included several well-known musicians, including Clarence Clemons, Isaac Hayes, Koko Taylor, Travis Tritt, and Steve Winwood. The song is included on the soundtrack album.[10]
Other versions
The Swedish jazz group Swingsters recorded a cover version on their 1997 album Root Bag (Swamp Records SWCD 971).
Primitive Radio Gods sampling
In 1996, Primitive Radio Gods sampled the line "I've been downhearted baby, ever since the day we met" for the chorus of their single "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand", which became a record chart hit.[11] In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented "With its loping, unthreatening hip-hop beats and its looped B.B. King sample, 'Standing' had all the appeal of an adult novelty for most listeners – it was something that was out of the ordinary, to be sure, but not something that you would want to investigate much further."[11]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Escott, Colin (2002). B.B. King: The Vintage Years (Box set booklet). B.B. King. Ace Records. p. 44. Ace ABOXCD 8.
- ^ a b c Feather, Leonard (1960). Singin' the Blues (Album notes). Various Artists. New York City: RCA Camden. p. 1. CAL 588.
- ^ a b c McGee, David (2005). B.B. King: There Is Always One More Time. Backbeat Books. pp. 105–106. ISBN 978-0-87930-843-8.
- ^ Danchin, Sebastian (1998). Blues Boy: The Life and Music of B. B. King. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-57806-017-7.
- ^ Gioia, Ted (2008). Delta Blues (Norton Paperback 2009 ed.). New York City: W. W. Norton. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-393-33750-1.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1988). Top R&B Singles 1942–1988. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research. p. 239. ISBN 0-89820-068-7.
- ^ Gioffre, Daniel. "B.B. King: Live at the Regal – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
- ^ "B.B. King: 'How Blue Can You Get?' – Appears On". AllMusic. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
- ^ "B.B. King: 'How Blue Can You Get?' – Appears On". AllMusic. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Original Soundtrack Blues Brothers 2000 – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Primitive Radio Gods: Rocket – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
- v
- t
- e
- 1960: My Kind of Blues
- 1968: Blues on Top of Blues
- Lucille
- 1969: Completely Well
- 1970: Indianola Mississippi Seeds
- 1971: B.B. King in London
- 1972: L.A. Midnight
- Guess Who
- 1973: To Know You Is to Love You
- 1974: Friends
- 1975: Lucille Talks Back
- 1977: King Size
- 1978: Midnight Believer
- 1979: Take It Home
- 1981: There Must Be a Better World Somewhere
- 1982: Love Me Tender
- 1983: Blues 'N' Jazz
- 1985: Six Silver Strings
- 1988: King of the Blues: 1989
- 1991: There Is Always One More Time
- 1993: Blues Summit
- 1994: Heart to Heart
- 1997: Deuces Wild
- 1998: Blues on the Bayou
- 1999: Let the Good Times Roll
- 2000: Riding with the King
- Makin' Love Is Good for You
- 2003: Reflections
- 2005: B. B. King & Friends: 80
- 2008: One Kind Favor
- 1965: Live at the Regal
- 1967: Blues Is King
- 1969: Live & Well
- 1971: Live in Cook County Jail
- 1974: Together for the First Time... Live
- 1976: Bobby Bland and B. B. King Together Again...Live
- 1980: Now Appearing at Ole Miss
- 1990: Live at San Quentin
- 1991: Live at the Apollo
- 1999: Live in Japan
compilations
- 1957: Singin' the Blues
- 1958: The Blues
- 1968: His Best – The Electric B. B. King
- 1983: Why I Sing the Blues
- 1992: King of the Blues
- 1995: Lucille & Friends
- 1999: His Definitive Greatest Hits
- 2005: The Ultimate Collection
- 2007: The Best of the Early Years
- 2012: Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. B.B. King
- 1951: "3 O'Clock Blues"
- 1952: "Shake It Up and Go"
- 1952: "You Know I Love You
- 1955: "Every Day I Have the Blues"
- 1956: "Sweet Little Angel"
- 1959: "Sugar Mama"
- 1961: "Someday Baby"
- 1962: "Goin' Down Slow"
- 1963: "Trouble in Mind"
- 1964: "How Blue Can You Get"
- "Rock Me Baby"
- "Please Send Me Someone to Love"
- 1965: "Blue Shadows"
- 1966: "Eyesight to the Blind"
- "Just Like a Woman"
- "Five Long Years"
- "Ain't Nobody's Business"
- 1970: "The Thrill Is Gone"
- "Worried Life"
- 1976: "Let the Good Times Roll"
- 1985: "Big Boss Man"
- 1988: "When Love Comes to Town"
- 1992: "Since I Met You Baby"
- 1961: "Driving Wheel
- 1974: "Black Night"
- 1977: "Don't You Lie to Me"
- 1985: "In the Midnight Hour"
- 1995: "You Shook Me"
- 1998: "Mean Ole' World"
- 1999: "Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens"
- "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby"
- "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie"
- "Buzz Me"
- "Saturday Night Fish Fry"
- "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"
- "Early in the Mornin'"
- 2000: "Hold On, I'm Comin'"
- "Come Rain or Come Shine"
- "Since I Fell for You"
- 2005: "Need Your Love So Bad"
- "Early in the Morning"
- 2008: "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean"
- "Sitting on Top of the World"