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Albert King
Performance photograph, 1978 — photographer unrecorded/unknown (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)
Texas

Albert King

This artist is no longer with us.
Born: April 25, 1923, Indianola, Mississippi (his 1942 Social Security application listed a different, likely misspelled birthplace) · Died: December 21, 1992, Memphis, Tennessee (heart attack)• United States
Texas BluesElectric BluesSoul Blues
Guitar Player's Tom Wheeler once called him "the Muhammad Ali of blues guitar — a heavyweight with finesse, a bruiser with grace," and the description fits: Albert King was a genuinely enormous man, by some accounts six foot seven, who played a right-handed Flying V guitar flipped upside down, left-handed, strung and tuned in a configuration nobody has ever fully agreed on, and somehow turned that entirely self-taught, backwards approach into the most influential bending technique in blues-rock history. He was born Albert Nelson on April 25, 1923, in Indianola, Mississippi — though his own 1942 Social Security application listed a different birthplace, "Aboden," likely a misspelling of Aberdeen, Mississippi, so even his birthplace carries some uncertainty (Kilde: Wikipedia). Before he was making a living from music, he worked as a bulldozer driver — a job that later earned him the nickname "the Velvet Bulldozer" — as well as a levee builder, construction worker and cotton picker across Arkansas and Mississippi (Kilde: Wikipedia). He spent much of his career claiming B.B. King as a half-brother, pointing to their shared Indianola roots and the fact that B.B.'s father was also named Albert. The documentary record doesn't support a blood relationship, and B.B. King himself eventually settled the matter diplomatically: "he wasn't my brother in blood, but he sure was my brother in the blues." No verified family connection to guitarist Freddie King exists either, despite the shared surname (Kilde: Wikipedia). His recording career started slowly. His 1953 debut single for Parrot Records, "Bad Luck Blues" backed with "Be On Your Merry Way," made little impact, and a run of singles for Bobbin Records in 1959 fared no better. His first real chart entry came in 1961 on King Records with "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong," which reached #14 on the R&B chart and featured Ike Turner on piano (Kilde: Wikipedia). Everything changed when he signed to Stax Records in 1964. Producer Al Jackson Jr. paired him with the label's house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, for a run of sessions between March 1966 and June 1967 that became the album "Born Under a Bad Sign," released that August. The title track — written by Booker T. Jones and William Bell, released as a single that May — became his signature song and was covered almost immediately by Cream, later by Jimi Hendrix and Paul Rodgers among many others. The same album produced "Crosscut Saw," which became a blues standard in its own right (Kilde: Wikipedia). In 1972 he released "I'll Play the Blues for You," backed by members of the Bar-Kays, the Isaac Hayes Movement and the Memphis Horns; the title track's single version was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2017 (Kilde: Wikipedia). He died of a heart attack at his Memphis home on December 21, 1992, at 69, and was buried at Paradise Gardens Cemetery in Edmondson, Arkansas (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Musical Influence

Stevie Ray Vaughan repeatedly named him his single greatest influence, and Eric Clapton has said Cream's version of "Born Under a Bad Sign" on "Disraeli Gears" was directly shaped by King's original. Jimi Hendrix, Gary Moore, Derek Trucks, Duane Allman, Mike Bloomfield and Joe Walsh have all cited him as foundational to their own playing. AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine summed it up bluntly: "without him, modern guitar music would not sound as it does." He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013, with Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer performing "Born Under a Bad Sign" at the ceremony in his honor (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Influences

Blues Delta tradition

Formative experiences

  • •Pre-music: Worked as a bulldozer driver, levee builder and cotton picker across Arkansas and Mississippi. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1953: Debut single "Bad Luck Blues" on Parrot Records made little impact. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1961: First chart hit, "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong," on King Records. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1966–1967: Recorded "Born Under a Bad Sign" with Booker T. & the M.G.'s at Stax. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •December 21, 1992: Died of a heart attack in Memphis at 69. (Kilde: Wikipedia)

Instruments & Equipment

Guitar

1958 Gibson Flying V ("Lucy")

Right-handed guitar flipped upside-down and played left-handed, with an unconventional dropped tuning and light-gauge strings enabling his distinctive string-bending technique.

Stories & Anecdotes

"Claimed B.B. King as a half-brother for years; B.B. King eventually settled the matter by saying, "he wasn't my brother in blood, but he sure was my brother in the blues." (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"His nickname "the Velvet Bulldozer" came directly from his pre-music job driving a bulldozer. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Played guitar completely self-taught, left-handed, on a right-handed instrument turned upside down — a technique nobody has ever fully reverse-engineered the tuning for. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

Collaborators

Booker T. & the M.G.'s

Stax house band that backed him on "Born Under a Bad Sign" (1967).

Al Jackson Jr.

Producer at Stax Records for his most influential sessions.

B.B. King

Frequently claimed (without documentary confirmation) as a half-brother; King himself embraced him as "a brother in the blues."

Watch & Listen

Featured

Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign (Official Audio)

His signature song, written by Booker T. Jones and William Bell — covered almost immediately by Cream.

Albert King

Albert King - Crosscut Saw (Official Audio)

Albert King - Crosscut Saw (Official Audio)

Albert King - I'll Play The Blues For You (Parts 1 & 2)

Albert King - I'll Play The Blues For You (Parts 1 & 2)

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

YearTitleProducerStudioLabelChartSalesMusiciansYouTubeNotes
1953Parrot Records debutParrot Records—Parrot———Debut single "Bad Luck Blues" b/w "Be On Your Merry Way."
1959Bobbin Records eraBobbin Records—Bobbin———Several singles, no chart success.
1961King Records eraKing Records—King——Ike Turner (Piano)"Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong" reached #14 R&B, with Ike Turner on piano.
1967Born Under a Bad SignAl Jackson Jr.—Stax——Booker T. & the M.G.'s (Backing band)Recorded March 1966–June 1967 with Booker T. & the M.G.'s; includes the title track and "Crosscut Saw."
1972I'll Play the Blues for YouStax—Stax——The Bar-Kays (Backing band), The Memphis Horns (Horns)Backed by members of the Bar-Kays, Isaac Hayes Movement and Memphis Horns; single version of the title track inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame (2017). Backed by the Bar-Kays, the Memphis Horns, and the Movement, Isaac Hayes's backing group.

Famous songs

01Born Under a Bad Sign
02Crosscut Saw
03I'll Play the Blues for You

External links

YouTube Music Wikipedia

Sources

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