B. B. KING - 3 O'CLOCK BLUES

3 O"CLOCK BLUES

B. B. KING

SONGWRITERS: JULES TAUB & RILEY KING.

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: THREE O’CLOCK BLUES

LABEL: RPM RECORDS

GENRE: BLUES

YEAR: 1951

B.B. King recorded "3 O'Clock Blues" for RPM Records around September 1951. The recording took place at an improvised studio in a room at the Memphis YMCA and the resulting audio quality was lower than recordings by Sam Phillips, who had recorded King's previous singles. Nonetheless, writer Colin Escott notes that the song "clicked where the others hadn't the new found drama and urgency in B.B.'s singing the interplay between his voice and guitar, heard for the first time on record". The mingling of these two elements was brought to the forefront by the distant, subdued sound of the accompanying musicians.

King's version is a slow (65 beats per minute) twelve-bar blues notated in 12/8 time in the key of C. Blues historian Robert Palmer sees King's guitar work on the song as showing his T-Bone Walker influences, "though his tone was bigger and rounder and his phrasing somewhat heavier". He borrowed Walker's technique of repeating a pitch on neighboring strings by sounding a note then sliding up to the same pitch on the successive lower string. This method allows the player to shift to higher position while creating a unique effect that emphasizes "tonal contrast". King also used melisma, a vocal technique found in gospel music, in which he bends and stretches a single syllable into a melodic phrase. Unlike Fulson, King used a full backing arrangement, including a horn section (including Evelyn Young on saxophone) and Ike Turner on piano.

Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. King introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that influenced many later blues electric guitar players.

King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and is one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of the Blues", and is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and Freddie King, none of whom are blood related). King performed tirelessly throughout his musical career, appearing on average at more than 200 concerts per year into his 70s. In 1956 alone, he appeared at 342 shows.

King was born on a cotton plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi, and later worked at a cotton gin in Indianola, Mississippi. He was attracted to music and the guitar in church, and began his career in juke joints and local radio. He later lived in Memphis, Tennessee, and Chicago, and as his fame grew, toured the world extensively. King died at the age of 89 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 14, 2015.

Now it's three o'clock in the morning

And I can't even close my eyes

It's three o'clock in the morning, baby

I can't even close my eyes

Can't find my baby

And I can't be satisfied

I've looked around me, people

And my baby, she can't be found

Hey, I've looked all around

And my baby, she can't be found

You know, I can't find my baby

I think I'm going down

I'm going down to the golden ground

That's where the men hang out

Goodbye, everybody

I do believe this is the end

Yeah, goodbye, everybody

I believe this is the end

I want you to tell my baby

Ah, to forgive me for my sins

Forgive me for my sins.