Albert King
Bluesman Albert King was one of the premier electric guitar stylists of the post-World War II period. By playing left- handed and holding his guitar upside-down (with the strings set for a right-handed player), and by concentrating on tone and intensity more than flash, King fashioned over his long career, a sound that was both distinctive and highly influential. He was a master of the single-string solo and could bend strings to produce a particularly tormented blues sound that set his style apart from his contemporaries.
King was also the first major blues guitarist to cross over into modem soul; his mid- and late 1960s recordings for the Stax label, cut with the same great session musicians who played on the recordings of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave,Eddie Floyd, and others, appealed to his established black audience while broadening his appeal with rock fans. Along with B.B. King (no relation, though at times Albert suggested otherwise) and Muddy Waters, King helped nurture a white interest in blues when the music needed it most to survive.
King was born in Indianola, Mississippi and taught himself how to play on a homemade guitar. Inspired by Blind Lemon Jefferson, King quit singing in a family gospel group and took up the blues. He worked around Osceola, Arkansas, with a group called the In the Groove Boys before migrating north and ending up in Gary, Indiana, in the early 1950s. For a while, King played drums behind bluesman Jimmy Reed. In 1953, King convinced Parrot label owner Al Benson to record him as a blues singer and guitarist. That year King cut Bad Luck Blues and Be On Your Merry Way for Parrot. Because King received little in the way of financial remuneration for the record, he left Parrot and eventually moved to St. Louis, where he recorded for the Bobbin and the King labels. In 1959 he had a minor hit on Bobbin with I'm a Lonely Man. King's biggest release, Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong, made it to number 14 on the R&B charts in 1961.
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Album Review
- Born Under a Bad Sign by C. Michael Bailey
- Talkin' Blues by Todd S. Jenkins
- Talkin' Blues by AAJ Staff
- In Session by Ed Kopp
September 17, 2020
Five Guitarists With the Blues
February 20, 2013
Albert King's Late '60s "Born Under A Bad Sign" To Be Reissued On Stax...
May 22, 2012
Albert King Classic Album from Stax Remasters
April 20, 2011
February 22, 2011
Concord Music Group Spotlights Miles Davis, Bill Evans and Albert King...
February 04, 2011
Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'In Session' in Top 5 Billboard...
November 30, 2010
"Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan - In Session" Scheduled for...
September 28, 2010
Albert King/Stevie Ray Vaughan 'In Session' Summit Now on DVD on Stax
June 15, 2009
Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughan's "In Session" Album Reissued on Stax
February 25, 2003
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