How Blue Can You Get

"How Blue Can You Get" (or "Downhearted") is a song that is a classic of the blues. A slow twelve-bar blues, the song is credited to jazz critic Leonard Feather and his wife, Jane Feather. It has been recorded by several blues and other artists; in 1964, it was a hit for B.B. King and has become a staple of his live shows.

Earlier songs

"How Blue Can You Get" was recorded by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers in 1949. The song was done in the West Coast blues-style with Moore and his brother, Oscar Moore, on guitars, Billy Valentine on piano and vocal, and Johnny Miller on bass. It was released on the jazz and blues compilation album Singin' the Blues (1960 RCA Camden CAL-588). Feather described the song as having "the type of intimate instrumental setting heard in so many best blues vocal performances of the 1940s".[1] In 1951, Louis Jordan recorded the song using a big band arrangement (Decca 27648).

B.B. King versions

B.B. King first recorded the song as "Downhearted" which was released on his 1963 Blues in My Heart album (Crown CLP 5309). The song was performed at "a steady, stately pace, its groove punctuated by B.B.'s stinging runs and wailing, sustained notes".[2] King later re-recorded the song as "How Blue Can You Get" for ABC-Paramount, which was released as a single. It "stood out, thanks to the relative simplicity of its arrangement, and the caustic humor of the lyrics.[3] This version 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".[2] It also added a "vehement stop-time interlude":[4]

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 #97 in the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in 1964 (Billboard's R&B chart was suspended at the time).[5] The song became a fixture in King's live shows[2] "with enough good punchlines for B.B. to keep it in his act for decades".[6] A live version of the song first appeared on the Live at the Regal album. 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, the expanded Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert, and the 2008 album Live at the BBC.

Other versions

A variety of artists have recorded "How Blue Can You Get", including Duke Ellington, Albert Collins, James Cotton, Magic Slim, Fleetwood Mac, and Jeff Healey. Gregg and Duane Allman also performed this song in 1968 as a part of a medley of B. B. King tunes. 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. King also performed the song in both the Blues Brothers 2000 movie as well as on the movie soundtrack, along with a medley of other artists credited as "The Louisiana Gator Boys", a rival blues supergroup fronted by King's character, Malvern Gasperone.

References

1. ^ Feather, Leonard (1960). Singin' the Blues (album liner notes). RCA Camden. p. 1. CAL 588. 
2. ^ 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. 
3. ^ Danchin, Sebastian (1998). Blues Boy: The Life and Music of B. B. King. University Press of Mississippi. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-57806-017-7. 
4. ^ Gioia, Ted (2008). Delta Blues. W. W. Norton. p. 335. ISBN 978-0-393-33750-1. 
5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1988). Top R&B Singles 1942-1988. Record Research, Inc. p. 239. ISBN 0-89820-068-7. 
6. ^ Escott, Colin (2002). B.B. King / The Vintage Years (liner notes). Ace Records, Ltd. p. 44. Ace ABOXCD 8. 

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics