On Albert King

From the Archive: December 21, 1992] - There's few of the great blues singers left and Albert King wasn't only a great one. He was one of a kind.

Albert King had been playing the blues for a long time before he finally hit it with the Born Under a Bad Sign album in '67. He'd recorded for Parrott in '53 and for Chess who didn't release his stuff till he was famous in the early '60s. You can hear him grousing about the situation on the song "Cold Feet," a single for Stax. It's kind of amazing that someone who could play guitar like that could go on unnoticed for so long. But when Born Under a Bad Sign was released, King quickly earned the accolades of the top rock guitarists like Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.

Like Hendrix, King played left-handed and upside down. He bent notes beyond all reason and if ever there was a guitar sound that truly could be described as stinging, it was his. A huge man, 6'4" and over 250 pounds, King wasn't a slouch as a singer either. His voice was soft, but he could be mean and angry and shout with the best of the blues shouters.

Over the past 25 years, he was one of the most consistent blues performers. He always delivered and his bands were not only tight, but hot. He'd walk onstage smoking a pipe and let loose with mind-blowing guitar before he began to sing. I never saw him not be exciting.

Albert King died last week [December 21, 1992] of a heart attack at 69. This was a major blow to the blues. There's few of the great blues singers left and Albert King wasn't only a great one. He was one of a kind.