Albert King was a unique guitar stylist who had a strong influence on almost every blues-rock electric guitar player from the 1960s onward. He produced his distinctive sound playing left-handed— holding his Gibson “Flying V” guitar upside-down with the strings set for a right-handed player. He did not use a plectrum, a pick to pluck the strings, and often played with his thumb across the fingerboard. Guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jimi HENDRIX, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Page, and Mike Bloomfield all imitated King’s guitar style, particularly his singlestring soloing and bending technique. Atlantic Records producer Bob Porter said, “Nobody could bend a string like Albert King. ” King was unusual in becoming an overnight success among white audiences in 1968, but continued to record songs that were popular with the African-American market. He had several rhythm-and-blues hits in the late 1960s, including “Think Twice Before You Speak,” “Born Under a Bad Sign,” and “Cold Feet.”
Albert Nelson King was born April 25, 1923, in Indianola, Mississippi, one of 13 children. He grew up in the Mississippi and Arkansas deltas, singing in church and learning to play the “diddley bow” at home: “I used to put me a strand of wire up-side the wall, and put a brick at the bottom and a bottle at the top to tighten it,” he said. “I’d play and take another bottle to slide up and down the wire.”
King claimed he had seen Blind Lemon JEFFERSON play in Forest City, Arkansas, when he could not have been more than six years old, since Jefferson died in 1929. He cited Jefferson and T-Bone WALKER, who learned directly from Jefferson, as his major influences. King moved to Gary, Indiana, in 1950, and for a short time played his other instrument, drums, behind bluesman Jimmy REED.
In 1953 he sang and played guitar on his first solo recordings, “Bad Luck Blues” and “Be on Your Merry Way” for Parrot Records, but left when it became evident he was not going to be paid for his efforts. He then recorded for the Bobbin and King labels in St. Louis, registering a minor hit with “I’m a Lonely Man” in 1959, and reaching No. 14 on the R&B charts in 1961 with “Don’t Throw Your Love on Me So Strong.” King began recording for the Stax label in 1966, and found there a backing band to complement his style in Booker T and the MGs. While at Stax he recorded two of his best-known songs, “Born under a Bad Sign” and “The Hunter,” which became standards for blues-based rock bands, and which were popularised by the British groups CREAM and Free. The success of King’s collaboration with The MGs led to a wider audience, stepping into the rock spotlight in 1 9 6 8 , when he opened for John Mayall (of the British band Bluesbreakers) and Jimi Hendrix.
A large man at 6 feet 4 inches in height, and weighing 250 pounds, King sang with a confident, smoky voice. He had a dynamic stage presence that found favour with rock audiences, and he was also happy to participate in improvised performances with guitarists who wanted to trade licks. Mike Bloomfield recalled, “I remember seeing him and B. B. King jam at the Fillmore, and Albert cut B. B. to death… it sounded likes bombs exploding.”
His third album, Live Wire/Blues Power, recorded live in 1968, became a rallying cry for new blues fans. King recorded with the St. Louis Symphony the following year and continued to be a headliner at music festivals around the world during the 1970s and 1980s. Despite never quite achieving the recognition enjoyed by B. B. King, Albert is still cited as an inspiration among established and aspiring guitarists. He died of a heart attack on December 21, 1992.
Stan Hieronymus
SEE ALSO:
BLUES; JAZZ; LED ZEPPELIN; ROCK MUSIC.
FURTHER READING
Davis, Francis. The History of the Blues
(New York: Hyperion, 1995).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Blues at Sunrise; Born Under a
Bad Sign; Door to Door;
Let’s Have a Natural Ball