1) The Crusaders were… Read Full Bio ↴There are several artists named The Crusaders;
1) The Crusaders were an American jazz fusion group that was successful from the 1960s to the 1980s. The group was known as The Jazz Crusaders from its formation in 1960 until shortening its name in 1971.
High school friends Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder (tenor saxophone) and Nesbert "Stix" Hooper (drums) formed their first band together, the Swingsters, in Houston, Texas in 1954. They played a mixture of jazz and R&B, and were joined by Wayne Henderson (trombone), Hubert Laws (flute), and Henry Wilson (bass). The group soon turned more to hard bop, and renamed themselves the Modern Jazz Sextet, but also recorded in a more R&B vein as the Nighthawks (or Nite Hawks).
In 1960, Sample, Felder, Hooper and Henderson moved to Los Angeles, and formed the Jazz Crusaders as a quintet with a succession of different bass players. Influenced by musicians such as Cannonball Adderley, Art Blakey and John Coltrane, the band signed to the Pacific Jazz label in 1961, and released 16 albums on the label over the subsequent eight years. With a front-line horn section of Felder and Henderson, the group's sound was rooted in hard bop, but with a slant towards R&B and soul music.
Their first two albums, with Jimmy Bond on bass, were Freedom Sound (1961), and Lookin' Ahead (1962), followed by the live album At the Lighthouse (1962) and Tough Talk, the first of several albums with bassist Bobby Haynes. In all, the group recorded five live albums in the 1960s, four of which were recorded at the Lighthouse Café in Hermosa Beach. They also had their first chart entry, their treatment of Stevie Wonder's "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" reaching No.95 on the Hot 100 in 1966. The group's 1969 album, Powerhouse, was their first to reach the Billboard 200 album chart, reaching No. 184, and was also their last studio album for Pacific Jazz.
The group then signed with the Chisa label, co-owned by trumpeter Hugh Masekela and producer Stewart Levine. Their 1970 album Old Socks, New Shoes reached No. 90 on the album chart, and was their last as the Jazz Crusaders. The decision was taken to call the group simply the Crusaders, so as not to limit their scope and potential audience. After a second album with Chisa, (Pass the Plate, 1971), and one album for the MoWest label (Hollywood, 1972) they signed with Blue Thumb Records, where they remained until the late 1970s. Their recordings increasingly adopted a jazz-funk style. They incorporated electric guitar and bass into their shows and recordings, as well as using Sample's electric piano and clavinet. Guitarist Larry Carlton joined, and featured on their albums in the early part of the decade. Bass duties were often handled by Felder, though Robert "Pops" Popwell joined later in the decade.
According to jazz critic Scott Yanow at Allmusic, however, "after a few excellent albums during the early part of the decade... the group began to decline in quality." Sample later commented that the group was under commercial pressure from record companies to record jazzed-up versions of contemporary popular songs. Henderson left to become a record producer in 1975, and the other musicians regularly and increasingly worked as session musicians with artists such as the Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, and Randy Newman. With a growing crossover appeal, the group's most commercially successful recordings included the single "Put It Where You Want It" (No.52 pop, 1972), and the albums The 2nd Crusade (No.45 album, 1973), Southern Comfort (No.31 album, 1974), Chain Reaction (No.26 album, 1975), Those Southern Knights (No.38 album, 1976), and Images (No.34 album, 1978).
The peak of the group's commercial success came with 1979's Street Life, with Randy Crawford as featured singer. The album peaked at No. 18 on the pop album charts and the title track made the Top 10 on the R&B chart, No. 36 on Billboard′s Hot 100 chart, and No.5 in the UK. Later albums by the group featured singers Bill Withers and Joe Cocker. The live 1982 album Royal Jam featured guitarist B. B. King, bassist James Jamerson, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Hooper left in 1983, and though Felder and Sample kept the group operating through the 1980s, the group's commercial success diminished.
Felder and Henderson reunited in the mid-1990s as the Crusaders. Henderson later led a band called the Jazz Crusaders, in which Felder and Carlton also played, and Felder and Sample reunited as the Crusaders in 2003.
Wayne Henderson died on April 5, 2014. Joe Sample died in Houston on September 12, 2014. Wilton Felder died on September 27, 2015.
2) a European Oi band.
3) an Australian garage surf band who recorded two albums in the late 1990s.
4) a Christian garage band active 1966-67.
The Thrill Is Gone
The Crusaders Lyrics
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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
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
The Crusaders' "Thrill Is Gone" is a classic blues song about the end of a relationship. The lyrics express the pain of a man who has been wronged by his lover and is now facing the reality that the excitement and passion he once felt is gone. He sings about how he will move on and be strong despite the loneliness he feels, but he also acknowledges that he hopes his former lover will someday realize what she lost and come back to him.
The repetition of the phrase "the thrill is gone" underscores the feelings of loss and disappointment that permeate the song. The opening verse sets the tone for the rest of the lyrics, with the singer declaring that the thrill has disappeared and that his lover will regret her actions. The second verse emphasizes the singer's sense of isolation and sadness, while the final verse offers a glimmer of hope that things may someday be reconciled.
Overall, "Thrill Is Gone" is a powerful and emotional song that captures the essence of blues music. It is a timeless classic that speaks to the heartbreak and pain that many people experience in their relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
The thrill is gone
I no longer feel excited or passionate
The thrill is gone away
That feeling of excitement and passion has left completely
The thrill is gone baby
I no longer feel that sense of excitement and passion for you, my love
You know you done me wrong baby
You know that you have hurt me, my love
And you'll be sorry someday
The consequences of your actions will catch up with you someday, my love
It's gone away from me
That feeling of excitement and passion has left me completely
Although, I'll still live on
Despite losing that feeling, I will continue to live my life
But so lonely I'll be
However, I will be lonely without that feeling in my life
It's gone away for good
That feeling of excitement and passion has left permanently
Someday I know I'll be open armed baby
One day, I know I will be ready to love again
Just like I know a good man should
In the same way a good man should be open to love again
You know I'm free, free now baby
You know that I am free from your control, my love
I'm free from your spell
I am no longer under your control, my love
And now that it's all over
Now that our love is over
All I can do is wish you well
All I can do now is hope that you will find happiness in your life, my love
Writer(s): Rick R. Darnell, Roy Hawkins
Contributed by Zachary J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.