Good to be King
By King Harris

As a confirmed rock’ n’ roller, I was deeply saddened by the recent passing of two, glorious American musical giants; both kings, as it were, in their own fields of harmonious expertise.
Singer-songwriter Ben E. King died at the end of April at 76; heralded blues guitarist and singer-songwriter B.B. King died May 14 at 89.
The Mississippi born, Memphis raised Riley Ben King (B.B. shortened from ‘Beale Street Blues Boy’ to ‘Blues Boy’) didn’t grace the pop charts like Ben E. King at first, but he and his guitar “Lucille” took the blues and R&B world by storm in the 1950s, starting out in dusty juke joints and later on, paling to concert halls up north.  
Benjamin Earl Nelson (King), born in North Carolina and raised in Harlem, N.Y., came from the vocal group genre. In the late ‘50s, he and his group were chosen to be the new Drifters, an R&B vocal ensemble with chart history.
Their first record, “There Goes My Baby,” produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the same guys, who wrote the original “Hound Dog” and fashioned the Coasters, was thought so awful by label executives that it was shelved for months.
But the power of the words and melody (partially written by King), the tympani with its Brazilian Baion rhythm, and the soaring strings (violins on a rock’ n’ roll record?) couldn’t be denied and in 1959 it went to No. 2! After several dazzling recordings with the Drifters, Ben E. King left a year later to go out on his own and soon scored two major hits.
The first was the haunting “Spanish Harlem,” which goes: “There is a rose in Spanish Harlem… A red rose up in Spanish Harlem… It is the special one, it’s never seen the sun… It only comes out when the moon is on the run and all the stars are gleaming… It’s growing in the street… Right up through the concrete… But soft and sweet and dreaming…”
“There is a rose in Spanish Harlem… A red rose up in Spanish Harlem… With eyes as black as coal that looks down in my soul… And starts a fire there and then I lose control… I have to beg your pardon… I’m going to pick that rose and watch her as she grows in my garden…”
The second hit a few months later became his signature song, “Stand by Me,” which goes: “When the night has come and the land is dark and the moon is the only light we’ll see… No, I won’t be afraid, oh, I won’t be afraid… Just as long as you stand, stand by me… So darling, darling, stand by me, oh stand by me… Oh stand, stand by me stand by me…
“If the sky, that we look upon should tumble and fall and the mountains should crumble to the sea… I won’t cry, I won’t cry, no, I won’t shed a tear… Just as long as you stand, stand by me… And darling, darling, stand by me, oh stand by me, oh stand now, stand by me… Stand by me…”
Same Baion beat, similar soaring strings, later introduced to a new generation in Rob Reiner’s film of the same name. As Ben E. King and others of his day and genre started to wane — because of the British Invasion — the popularity of the blues began rising and it found a whole new audience.
Leading the way of course was B.B. King who finally hit the upper echelons of the pop charts in late 1969 with his blues classic: “The Thrill is Gone.”
“The thrill is gone away, the thrill is gone baby… The thrill is gone away, you know you done me wrong baby… And you’ll be sorry someday.”
“The thrill is gone, it’s gone away from me… The thrill is gone baby, the thrill is gone away from me… Although, I’ll still live on but so lonely I’ll be.”
“The thrill is gone, it’s gone away for good… The thrill is gone baby, it’s gone away for good… Someday I know I’ll be open armed baby just like I know a good man should.”
“You know I’m free, free now baby… I’m free from your spell… Oh I’m free, free, free now, I’m free from your spell… And now that it’s all over all I can do is wish you well…”
Want to hear the musical output of two of music’s royalty? Try You Tube. The thrill is there, baby…