Rudy Vallee and His Connecticut Yankees introduced “The Thrill is Gone” on the Victor label. Along with its B side, “My Song,” the tune went on to the charts on September 12, 1931, rising to number ten. Also charting on that day was Vallee’s cover of “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries,” which rose to number three.

All three of the above-mentioned songs were written for the Broadway revue, George White’s Scandals which opened at the Apollo Theatre on September 14, 1931 and ran for 202 performances. Although the cast included Vallee, “The Thrill Is Gone” was performed by baritone Everett Marshall; “My Song” and “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” were performed by Ethel Merman. Other hits included “This Is Missus,” introduced by Valee, and “That’s Why Darkies Were Born.”

Showman George White began as a dancer and actor but is best known for his Scandals, annual musical revues (1919-1926) that were rivals to the Ziegfeld Follies. There were further Scandals editions in 1928, 1929, 1931, 1935, and 1939. Initially the scores were written by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Arthur Jackson, B. G. DeSylva, Ballard MacDonald, and others. In 1925, White hired Ray Henderson to score Scandals. Henderson had by that time teamed with B. G. DeSylva and Lew Brown who contributed the lyrics. White used the team again in ’26, ’28, and ’31 although the latter was sans B. G. DeSylva who had moved on to motion picture production. In 1935 Henderson scored Scandals for the last time with lyrics by Jack Yellen.

“The Thrill Is Gone” has the distinction of being included on a 1931 landmark recording. According to David Ewen in his book, Great Men of American Popular Song, “Brunswick Records released a twelve-inch platter in which all the hit songs from this revue were recorded by Bing Crosby and the Boswell Sisters, marking the first attempt to reproduce the basic score of a single production in a recording.” Ross Laird’s book, Brunswick Records: A Discography of Recordings, 1916-1931 Volume 2: New York Sessions, 1927-1931, provides more detail. The double-sided, 78-RPM record was titled Gems from George White’s Scandals, with music by Victor Young and the Brunswick Orchestra and vocals by the Boswell Sisters, Bing Crosby, Frank Munn and the Mills Brothers, and trombone passages by Thomas Dorsey.

The lyrics to “The Thrill Is Gone” tell the story of a love grown cold, starting with,

...
I’m in your arms and you are kissing me,
But there seems to be something missing
In your kissing.
...

There is no attempt at rekindling the fire, just memories of better times,

...
Love was grand when love was new.
Birds were singin’, skies were blue,
...

And then resignation,

...
So why pretend.
And let it linger on?
The thrill is gone.

“The Thrill Is Gone” has been recorded by Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kenton, Chet Baker, Julie London, and Stan Getz to name a few. The version popularized by B. B. King was written by Rick Darnell and Roy Hawkins in 1951.