Albert King
Wikimp3 information about the music of Albert King. On our website we have 70 albums and 70 collections of artist Albert King. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that Albert King represents Blues genres.
Biography
[Edit]Albert King is truly a "King of the Blues," although he doesn't hold that title (B.B. does). Along with B.B. and Freddie King, Albert King is one of the major influences on blues and rock guitar players. Without him, modern guitar music would not sound as it does — his style has influenced both black and white blues players from Otis Rush and Robert Cray to Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It's important to note that while almost all modern blues guitarists seldom play for long without falling into a B.B. King guitar cliché, Albert King never does — he's had his own style and unique tone from the beginning.
Albert King plays guitar left-handed, without re-stringing the guitar from the right-handed setup; this "upside-down" playing accounts for his difference in tone, since he pulls down on the same strings that most players push up on when bending the blues notes. King's massive tone and totally unique way of squeezing bends out of a guitar string has had a major impact. Many young white guitarists — especially rock & rollers — have been influenced by King's playing, and many players who emulate his style may never have heard of Albert King, let alone heard his music. His style is immediately distinguishable from all other blues guitarists, and he's one of the most important blues guitarists to ever pick up the electric guitar.
Born in Indianola, MS, but raised in Forrest City, AR, Albert King (born Albert Nelson) taught himself how to play guitar when he was a child, building his own instrument out of a cigar box. At first, he played with gospel groups — most notably the Harmony Kings — but after hearing Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lonnie Johnson, and several other blues musicians, he solely played the blues. In 1950, he met MC Reeder, who owned the T-99 nightclub in Osceola, AR. King moved to Osceola shortly afterward, joining the T-99's house band, the In the Groove Boys. The band played several local Arkansas gigs besides the T-99, including several shows for a local radio station.
After enjoying success in the Arkansas area, King moved to Gary, IN, in 1953, where he joined a band that also featured Jimmy Reed and John Brim. Both Reed and Brim were guitarists, which forced King to play drums in the group. At this time, he adopted the name Albert King, which he assumed after B.B. King's "Three O'Clock Blues" became a huge hit. Albert met Willie Dixon shortly after moving to Gary, and the bassist/songwriter helped the guitarist set up an audition at Parrot Records. King passed the audition and cut his first session late in 1953. Five songs were recorded during the session and only one single, "Be on Your Merry Way" / "Bad Luck Blues," was released; the other tracks appeared on various compilations over the next four decades. Although it sold respectably, the single didn't gather enough attention to earn him another session with Parrot. In early 1954, King returned to Osceola and re-joined theIn the Groove Boys; he stayed in Arkansas for the next two years.
In 1956, Albert moved to St. Louis, where he initially sat in with local bands. By the fall of 1956, King was headlining several clubs in the area. King continued to play the St. Louis circuit, honing his style. During these years, he began playing his signature Gibson Flying V, which he named Lucy. By 1958, Albert was quite popular in St. Louis, which led to a contract with the fledgling Bobbin Records in the summer of 1959. On his first Bobbin recordings, King recorded with a pianist and a small horn section, which made the music sound closer to jump blues than Delta or Chicago blues. Nevertheless, his guitar was taking a center stage and it was clear that he had developed a unique, forceful sound. King's records for Bobbin sold well in the St. Louis area, enough so that King Records leased the "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong" single from the smaller label. When the single was released nationally late in 1961, it became a hit, reaching number 14 on the R&B charts. King Records continued to lease more material from Bobbin — including a full album, Big Blues, which was released in 1963 — but nothing else approached the initial success of "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong." Bobbin also leased material to Chess, which appeared in the late '60s.
Albert King left Bobbin in late 1962 and recorded one session for King Records in the spring of 1963, which were much more pop-oriented than his previous work; the singles issued from the session failed to sell. Within a year, he cut four songs for the local St. Louis independent label Coun-Tree, which was run by a jazz singer named Leo Gooden. Though these singles didn't appear in many cities — St. Louis, Chicago, and Kansas City were the only three to register sales — they foreshadowed his coming work with Stax Records. Furthermore, they were very popular within St. Louis, so much so that Gooden resented King's success and pushed him off the label.
Following his stint at Coun-Tree, Albert King signed with Stax Records in 1966. Albert's records for Stax would bring him stardom, both within blues and rock circles. All of his '60s Stax sides were recorded with the label's house band, Booker T. & the MG's, which gave his blues a sleek, soulful sound. That soul underpinning gave King crossover appeal, as evidenced by his R&B chart hits — "Laundromat Blues" (1966) and "Cross Cut Saw" (1967) both went Top 40, while "Born Under a Bad Sign" (1967) charted in the Top 50. Furthermore, King's style was appropriated by several rock & roll players, most notably Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, who copied Albert's "Personal Manager" guitar solo on the Cream song, "Strange Brew." Albert King's first album for Stax, 1967's Born Under a Bad Sign, was a collection of his singles for the label and became one of the most popular and influential blues albums of the late '60s. Beginning in 1968, Albert King was playing not only to blues audiences, but also to crowds of young rock & rollers. He frequently played at the Fillmore West in San Francisco and he even recorded an album, Live Wire/Blues Power, at the hall in the summer of 1968.
Early in 1969, King recorded Years Gone By, his first true studio album. Later that year, he recorded a tribute album to Elvis Presley (Blues for Elvis: Albert King Does the King's Things) and a jam session with Steve Cropper and Pops Staples (Jammed Together), in addition to performing a concert with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. For the next few years, Albert toured America and Europe, returning to the studio in 1971, to record the Lovejoy album. In 1972, he recorded I'll Play the Blues for You, which featured accompaniment from the Bar-Kays, the Memphis Horns, and the Movement. The album was rooted in the blues, but featured distinctively modern soul and funk overtones.
By the mid-'70s, Stax was suffering major financial problems, so King left the label for Utopia, a small subsidiary of RCA Records. Albert released two albums on Utopia, which featured some concessions to the constraints of commercial soul productions. Although he had a few hits at Utopia, his time there was essentially a transitional period, where he discovered that it was better to follow a straight blues direction and abandon contemporary soul crossovers. King's subtle shift in style was evident on his first albums for Tomato Records, the label he signed with in 1978. Albert stayed at Tomato for several years, switching to Fantasy in 1983, releasing two albums for the label.
In the mid-'80s, Albert King announced his retirement, but it was short-lived — Albert continued to regularly play concerts and festivals throughout America and Europe for the rest of the decade. King continued to perform until his sudden death in 1992, when he suffered a fatal heart attack on December 21. The loss to the blues was a major one — although many guitarists have tried, no one can replace King's distinctive, trailblazing style. Albert King is a tough act to follow. ~ Daniel Erlewine & Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
Title: Born Under a Bad Sign (Alternate Takes) EP
Artist: Albert King
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Collections
Title: Stax-Volt: The Complete Singles (1959-1968)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Rhythm & Blues 1960-1975 - Music Sampler, Vol. 3
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Blues Guitar Heroes
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Rock, Rock & Roll
Title: Wattstax: Highlights from the Soundtrack
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: Wattstax - The Living Word
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: 50's Radio Hits & Jukebox Oldies
Genre: Rock
Title: Must Have Blues Songbook
Genre: Blues
Title: Old King Gold Volume 7 (Original King Recordings)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Voodoo Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Guitar Heroes 20 Classic Blues Songs
Genre: Blues
Title: Gold: Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: The RZA Presents Shaolin Soul Selection: Vol. 1
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: A Brief History of the Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Chess Blues (Box Set)
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues! Live In Concert
Title: Stax Chartbusters, Vol. 3
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Stax Chartbusters, Vol. 2
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Magic City (Soundtrack from the TV Series)
Genre: Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: The Greatest Blues Show On Earth
Genre: Blues
Title: The Very Best of Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Shake Your Booty
Genre: Blues
Title: Murder In the First Degree
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues In the Eisenhower Era
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Guitar Legends
Title: The Parrot Records Blues Story
Genre: Blues
Title: Chicago Blues (Parrot Records) [Remastered]
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Man's Ball, Vol. 3
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: 30 Blues Picks
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Chicago Blues, Vol. 4
Genre: Blues
Title: The Blues... The Blues Is Here To Stay
Genre: Blues
Title: Vintage St. Patrick's Day Songs
Genre: World Music
Title: Atlantic 60: Smokin' Soul Picnic
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Rock
Title: Stax/Volt: The Complete Singles (1959-1968), Vol. 6
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Stax/Volt - The Complete Singles 1959-1968 - Volume 9
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Stax / Volt - The Complete Singles 1959-1968 - Vol. 7
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Essential Blues Classics
Genre: Blues
Title: Million Sellers the Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Eisenhower Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: We Three Kings of Blues Guitar
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Blues Gold
Genre: Blues, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: Blue Monday: The Stax Blues Masters
Genre: Jazz
Title: 100 Cash Poor Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Christmas In Soulsville
Genre: Traditional Pop Music
Title: Stax Chartbusters, Vol. 1
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Chicago Blues, Vol. 3
Genre: Blues
Title: The Definitive Blues Collection, Vol. 15
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Lonely Heart Blues - Songs of Pain and Sorrow
Genre: Blues
Title: Dust My Broom: Electric Blues Classics
Genre: Pop
Title: Shake the House, Vol. II
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Blues Brothers
Genre: Rock
Title: Blues Story CD 5
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Story CD 7
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Story CD 21
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Story CD 24
Genre: Blues
Title: Rhythm & Soul CD 3
Genre: Soul
Title: Compact Disc Club - Black & White Blues CD 2
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Ballads CD 2
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues & Soul Masters CD 2
Title: S. R. V.
Genre: Blues, Blues Rock, Acoustic, Instrumental
Title: Essential Blues Vol. 1 CD 1
Genre: Blues
Title: Essential Blues Vol. 1 CD 2
Genre: Blues
Title: Essential Blues Vol. 2 CD 1
Genre: Blues
Title: Angels, Horses & Pirates
Featuring albums
Title: The Complete Stax / Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 3: 1972-1975
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Chicago Blues Sessions the Rarities Collection 1950 to 1965
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Blues
Title: The Man With The Iron Fists: Deluxe Ultra Pak CD4
Artist: Rza, Howard Drossin
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Rap
Title: The Man With The Iron Fists: Deluxe Ultra Pak CD5
Artist: Rza, Howard Drossin
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Rap
Title: Heaven's Prisoners (Music From the Motion Picture)
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Pop, Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: The Definitive Blues Collection, Vol. 20
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues
Title: Bad Santa 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: Stax ’68: A Memphis Story / Stax '68: A Memphis Story
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Тhе Рlаtinum Соllесtiоn (CD2)
Artist: Gary Moore
Genre: Rock, Blues Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Title: Тhе Рlаtinum Соllесtiоn (CD3)
Artist: Gary Moore
Genre: Rock, Blues Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Title: Trouble Up The Road The Recordings 1961
Artist: Ike Turner
Genre: Electronica, Tech House, Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Blues, Death Metal, Funk