Completely Well

Completely Well
Studio album by B.B. King
Released	December 5, 1969 [1]
Recorded	June 24–25, 1969
Studio	Hit Factory, New York City
Genre	Blues, R&B, soul
Length	49:57
Label	BluesWay
Producer	Bill Szymczyk
B.B. King chronology
Live & Well (1969) Completely Well (1969) Indianola Mississippi Seeds (1970)

Completely Well, released in 1969, is a studio album by the blues guitarist B. B. King. It is notable for the inclusion of "The Thrill Is Gone", which became a hit on both the R&B/soul and pop charts and which earned him a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 1970. ^[1]

The album was released in the US as an LP record in 1969 and as a CD in 1987; in the UK only as an LP. San Francisco critic Ralph J. Gleason's liner notes are mostly a profile of King, with only a passing reference to the actual music contained in King`s commercial breakthrough album.

Background

"The Thrill Is Gone" is a cover of a song originally released by Roy Hawkins in the early 1950s, and for the version on this album, strings were added at the suggestion of producer Bill Szymczyk. ^{[2] [3]} King later revisited the song as a duet with Tracy Chapman on his 1997 album Deuces Wild . ^[2]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings	[4]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[5]

On the Billboard 200 chart, the album reached a peak position of number 38 on April 4, 1970, becoming King's first Top 40 album in the United States. ^[6] It also climbed to number 5 on Billboard's R&B albums chart, marking his first Top 10 entry on that chart in about five years since Live at the Regal (1965). ^[7]

The single "The Thrill Is Gone" from the album became his highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 15, ^[8] and it rose to number 3 on Billboard's R&B singles chart. ^[9] The follow-up single "So Excited" reached number 54 on the Hot 100 ^[8] and number 14 on the R&B chart. ^[10]

Track listing

1. "So Excited" (B.B. King, Gerald Jemmott) -- 5:34
2. "No Good" (Ferdinand Washington, B.B. King) -- 4:35
3. "You're Losin' Me" (Ferdinand Washington, B.B. King) -- 4:54
4. "What Happened" (B.B. King) -- 4:41
5. "Confessin' the Blues" (Jay McShann, Walter Brown) -- 4:56
6. "Key to My Kingdom" (Maxwell Davis, Joe Josea, Claude Baum) -- 3:18
7. "Cryin' Won't Help You Now" (Sam Ling, Jules Taub; LP has only B.B.) -- 6:30
8. "You're Mean" (B.B. King, Gerald Jemmott, Hugh McCracken, Paul Harris, Herbie Lovelle) -- 9:39
9. "The Thrill Is Gone" (Rick Darnell, Roy Hawkins; LP has Arthur H [Art] Benson, Dale Pettite) -- 5:30 ^[1]

Personnel

• B.B. King: Vocals, lead guitar
• Hugh McCracken: Rhythm guitar
• Paul Harris: organ, acoustic and Fender Rhodes electric piano
• Jerry Jemmott: Bass
• Herbie Lovelle: Drums
• Bert "Super Charts" DeCoteaux: string and horn arrangements

References

1. "Completely Well - B.B. King | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved May 25, 2021.
2. "The Thrill is Gone by B.B. King". Songfacts. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
3. "50 Greatest Guitar Solos". Guitar World. Future plc. January 29, 2009. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
4. Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings . Penguin. p. 355. ISBN   978-0-140-51384-4.
5. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. US: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 118. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
6. "B.B. King Chart History - Billboard 200" . Retrieved November 23, 2018.
7. "B.B. King Chart History - Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
8. "B.B. King Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
9. "B.B. King The Thrill Is Gone Chart History - Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
10. "B.B. King So Excited Chart History - Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2018.

External links

• Completely Well at Discogs (list of releases)