Riding with the King | B.B. King & Eric Clapton Lyrics, Song Meanings, Videos, Full Albums & Bios

Riding With the King
by Eric Clapton and B.B. King

I dreamed I had a good job and I got well paid.
I blew it all at the penny arcade.
A hundred dollars on a Kewpie doll.
No pretty chick is gonna make me crawl.

Get on a TWA to the promised land.
Every woman, child and man
Gets a Cadillac and a great big diamond ring.
Don't you know you're riding with the king?

He's on a mission of mercy to the new frontier,
He's gonna check us all on out of here.
Up to that mansion on a hill
Where you can get your prescription filled.

Get on a TWA to the promised land.
Everybody clap your hands.
And don't you just love the way that he sings?
Don't you know we're riding with the king?
Riding with the king.
Don't you know we're riding with the king?

A tuxedo and shiny 335.
You can see it in his face, the blue never lie.
Tonight everybody's getting their angel wings.
And don't you know we're riding with the king?

I stepped out of Mississippi when I was ten years old
With a suit cut sharp as a razor and a heart made of gold.
I had a guitar hanging just about waist high
And I'm gonna play this thing until the day I die.

Don't you know we're riding with the king?
Don't you know we're riding with the king?
Riding, you're riding with the king.

You're riding, you're riding with the king.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHN HIATT

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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B.B. King & Eric Clapton are two well known blues guitarists. The collaboration between these two blues legends is best known for the blues album "Riding with the King" which was released in 2000.

Although Eric Clapton and B.B. King had a 30-plus years friendship originating with a chance meeting and subsequent jam session at New York City's Café Au Go Go in 1967, the idea for a collaborative album only crystallized during the sessions for King's 1997 album Deuces Wild. Read Full BioB.B. King & Eric Clapton are two well known blues guitarists. The collaboration between these two blues legends is best known for the blues album "Riding with the King" which was released in 2000.

Although Eric Clapton and B.B. King had a 30-plus years friendship originating with a chance meeting and subsequent jam session at New York City's Café Au Go Go in 1967, the idea for a collaborative album only crystallized during the sessions for King's 1997 album Deuces Wild. The resulting record, "Riding with the King", is a stellar event thanks to a wealth of rich material and a solid supporting cast including Jimmie Vaughan, Joe Sample and Steve Gadd.

B.B. King's extensive catalog provides a wellspring of inspiration, including signature songs such as the smoldering "Three O'Clock Blues", alongside lesser-known numbers like the ribald shuffle "Days Of Old", and the Live at the Regal chestnut "Help The Poor". Elsewhere, King and Clapton look to guitarist Big Bill Broonzy (an acoustic "Key to the Highway") and Chicago pianist Maceo Merriweather (the slow-rolling "Worried Life Blues") for inspiration. Even the non-blues numbers are delivered with a rich subtlety befitting these guitar icons' consummate musicianship. John Hiatt's title track becomes a mid-tempo exchange between old friends, while their honeyed vocals on the standard "Come Rain or Come Shine" are worthy of Ray Charles' 1959 version.

"Riding with the King" won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Official website for B.B. King: www.bbking.com
Official website for Eric Clapton: www.ericclapton.com