Blues Is King (song)
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| "Blues Is King" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Marshall Crenshaw | ||||
| from the album Downtown | ||||
| Released | 1985 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Marshall Crenshaw | |||
| Producer(s) | Mitch Easter and Marshall Crenshaw | |||
| Marshall Crenshaw singles chronology | ||||
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"Blues Is King" is a 1985 song by American rock musician Marshall Crenshaw. The song was released on his 1985 album Downtown. Originally written as an instrumental titled "Bruce Is King," the song features lyrics inspired by the B.B. King album Blues Is King.
Though not released commercially, the song appeared on a 1985 promotional single. The song has since seen positive critical reception, though Crenshaw has expressed disappointment with the song's lyrics.
"Blues Is King" originated as an instrumental titled "Bruce Is King" (named in reference to musician Bruce Springsteen).[1] Crenshaw made this original demo playing Mosrite guitars.[2] "Bruce Is King" was later released on the rarities album The 9 Volt Years.
Crenshaw recalled struggling to come up with lyrics for the song; he explained, "I was really struggling to come up with an idea. I thought of this old B.B. King album title, Blues Is King. I made that the title of the song."[3] Crenshaw attempted to keep the lyrics "deliberately ambiguous, where I said it doesn't matter, let's just make these sounds and it'll come out all right."[4] The song was produced by Mitch Easter and Crenshaw, making it the only song on Downtown not produced by T Bone Burnett.