The Thrill Is Gone

Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell wrote the song in 1951, and Hawkins's recording reached number six on the R&B chart that year. King recorded his version in June 1969 for Completely Well. It is a slow twelve-bar blues in B minor. The polished production and the strings, added at Bill Szymczyk's suggestion, set it apart from King's earlier records and from the original. It was Szymczyk's first hit as a producer.

BluesWay released it as a single in December 1969. It reached number 3 on Billboard's soul singles chart and number 15 on the Hot 100, his highest pop placing. It won the 1970 Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 and stands at number 183 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs. Live versions appear on Live in Cook County Jail, Together Again...Live (1976) and Live at San Quentin (1991). King later recorded it as a duet with Tracy Chapman on Deuces Wild in 1997.