Albert King

Albert King né Nelson April 25 1923 December 21 1992 was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time He is perhaps best known for his popular and influential album Born Under a Bad Sign 1967 and its title track B B King Freddie King and he all unrelated were known as the Three Kings of the Blues The lefthanded Albert King was known for his deep dramatic sound that was widely imitated by both blues and rock guitarists King was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1983 He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 In 2023 he was ranked number 22 on Rolling Stones 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time King began his professional work as a musician with a group called the Groove Boys in Osceola Arkansas During this time he was exposed to the work of many Delta blues artists including Elmore James and Robert Nighthawk In 1953 he moved north to Gary Indiana where he briefly played drums in Jimmy Reeds band and on several of Reeds early recordings In Gary he recorded his first single Bad Luck Blues backed with Be On Your Merry Way for Parrot Records The record sold a few copies but made no significant impact and Parrot did not request any followup records or sign King to a longterm contract In 1954 he returned to Osceola and rejoined the Groove Boys for two years In 1956 he moved to Brooklyn Illinois just across the river from St Louis and formed a new band He became a popular attraction around the St Louis nightclub scene alongside Ike Turners Kings of Rhythm and Chuck Berry He signed to Little Miltons Bobbin label in 1959 releasing a few singles but none of them charted He did catch the attention of King Records however which released the single Dont Throw Your Love on Me So Strong in November 1961 The recording featured musician Ike Turner on piano and became Kings first hit peaking at number 14 on the Billboard rhythm and blues RB chart The song was included on his first album The Big Blues in 1962 King left Bobbin in late 1962 and recorded one session for King Records In 1963 he signed with jazz artist Leo Goodens CounTree label and cut two records for them but these failed to chart With no apparent career prospects other than touring the club circuit in the South and Midwest King moved to Memphis where he signed with the Stax Records label Produced by Al Jackson Jr King with Booker T the MGs recorded dozens of influential sides such as Crosscut Saw and As the Years Go Passing By In 1967 Stax released the album Born Under a Bad Sign a collection of the singles King recorded at Stax The title track of that album written by Booker T Jones and William Bell became Kings bestknown song and has been covered by several artists including Cream Paul Rodgers and Jimi Hendrix The production of the songs was sparse and clean and maintained a traditional blues sound while also sounding fresh and thoroughly contemporary The key to Kings success at Stax was giving his songs an upbeat slick RB feel that made the songs more appealing and radiofriendly than the slow traditional blues sound