THREE O'CLOCK BLUES

Created on 16/06/2001
Latest update on 21/11/2023

Artist: Lowell Fulson
Author: Lowell Fulson
Label: Down Town
Year: 1948

With his brother Martin on second guitar. See also: Tramp and Reconsider Baby.

Covers:

1951:

B.B. King [n°1 R&B (see footnote)]

1956:

Johnny Guitar Watson [as Three Hours Past Midnight; with a solo Frank Zappa raved about]

1968:

Love Sculpture

1974:

Bobby Bland [with B.B.]

2000:

Eric Clapton [on Riding With The King, in casu B.B. crediting Lowell all right]

2001:

Jimmy Smith [also with B.B.]

2014:

Gary Clark Jr.

Three O'Clock Blues was B.B.'s first hit in 1951, landing him his own band, his own bus and pulling him on the road for a never ending world tour. For years Three O'Clock Blues was signed by B.B. and Jules Taub, alias Jules Bihari of Modern Records, who not only received 50% of the royalties, also 100% publishing. B.B. as a DJ had pushed Lowell Fulson's local gig. Backstage B.B. asked for a compensation. Could he have that old song for instance? 3 O'Clock Blues was 5 years old, Lowell considered he'd had his go with it, so indeed, he gave it away. That's when B.B. entered the studio with a top notch band: Ike Turner on piano (who go-betweened for RPM Records in L.A.), Tuff Green on bass, Hank Crawford (soon to be bandleader for Ray Charles) on altsax, Willie Mitchell on trumpet and Ben Branch on tenorsax (and who would serenade Dr. Martin Luther King under his Lorraine Motel balcony in April '68, the moment he was shot).

Contact


If you noticed blunt omissions, mis-interpretations or even out-and-out errors,
please let me know:

Arnold Rypens
Rozenlaan 65
B-2840 Reet (Rumst)

info@originals.be

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