Albert King - Albert's Blues

Albert King (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992) was a great American blues guitarist and singer.

He bought his first guitar for $1.25 sometime around 1931 (he later played a left-handed Gibson Flying V), and his first inspiration was T-Bone Walker. For a long while he had to work nonmusic jobs to survive (including bulldozer operator and mechanic), but in the late '40s King settled in Osceola, Arkansas, and worked local gigs with the In the Groove Boys. Then, he migrated north, where he played drums for Jimmy Reed and also sang and played guitar on his own singles, including "Lonesome in My Bedroom" and "Bad Luck Blues" for the Parrot label in 1953.

King then moved to St. Louis and formed another band, but he didn’t record again until 1959, when he signed to the local Bobbin label. He worked for several small companies in the early ’60s, including King Records, which released his 1961 hit "Don’t Throw Your Love on Me Too Strong". But King’s real break came in 1966, when he signed to Stax. Using the label’s famed Memphis sidemen, he cut some of his best-known works, including "Laundromat Blues" (1966) and his album "Born Under a Bad Sign", made with Booker T. and the MG’s in 1967 (we will continue with Albert King in the next post)...

For the time being, we listen this Blues Giant in a very enjoyable video. The title of the song is "Albert's Blues"...