Albert King Appreciation Thread

I saw him live once, around 1986 as part of a concert that had Dr. John, Gatemouth Brown and a few others. There was a problem with King's amp that took about a half hour to resolve, but once that was fixed he tore the place up. Didn't hit you with a blizzard of notes, but each note counted and he had such an amazing feel in his playing.

 

I'm just getting into the great man's works. Would someone please recommend some essential albums to get? Thanks

 

Thanks, I'll check that one out to.

 

Hmm, lets see.

*King of the Blues Guitar (Includes all the tracks from the essential Born Under A Bad Sign as well as several other great tracks not on Born Under A Bad Sign.

*Live Wire/Blues Power

*Years Gone By

*I'll Play The Blues For You

*I Wanna Get Funky


If you are looking for a career retrospective compilation, there is a great but out of print 2-CD 1993 Rhino release called "The Ultimate Collection"

 

Probably. Also of course, Clapton's solo in "Strange Brew" is lifted almost note-for-note from Albert's "Oh Pretty Woman".

 

Thanks for the reply's

 

Hope you enjoy it.

 

I was fortunate enough to see Albert King play at a club in Sydney back in the early 90s (guessing it was maybe '92) and I stood literally a metre away from him. He had Little Jimmy King in the band, whom I had never heard of previously. I wasn't aware till reading this thread that Jimmy had died. I have a few records by his little brother Eric Gales, who also plays a right-hand-strung guitar left-handed.

Great concert. It might have been one of his last shows. He smoked a pipe throughout and at one point broke a string. He cued Little Jimmy to take a solo while he reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a new string still in its packet, and re-strung the guitar himself right there on the stage and then took his solo. Now that is cool.

 

Wonderful guitarist and wish I had managed to see him live.

 

Started/finished checkin' out Door to Door?

 

I'm sorry to say that I have not but do plan to do so.

 

I have these and like them all - By now you've probably gotten all these, though.

This thread reminds me I still need to get Lovejoy.

I have The Lost Session as well, which I rarely see mentioned in Albert king Threads. It's pretty good, but not as good as one might hope a Mayall/King collaboration would produce.

 

I also prefer Albert to BB - just personal taste.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldsdoeW7J6E
I hadn't heard the track Cold Feet until about a month ago and I've been obsessed with it ever since. One of the funkiest Duck Dunn-Al Jackson grooves I've encountered and the way it goes back into halftime after the double time section in the middle....GAH! Gets me every time!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALBERT

 

Did not know....Happy Birthday, Albert!

(p.s. Thanks,Scope J.)

 

Wow. I didn't know that either. I saw Albert at the SF Blues Festival in 1983. It was incredible. Carlos Santana came on and battled with Albert for a while.

Speaking of battles, here's one from 1982 with Albert jamming on Born Under A Bad Sign with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and swapping some mighty solos with Mick Taylor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dKqfZ9w_5g

 

I saw Albert King at the Beacon around 1985/6 as part of a bill with Dr. John, Gatemouth Brown and others I don't remember. King's amp was acting up and it took about 20 minutes for the crew to get it going. I'm sure King was frustrated by that, so when everything was working properly, he proceeded to tear it up, with some very aggressive guitar. A great set by a great musician.

 

I have Albert's "In Session" SACD with SRV, and while it hits you like a freight train the first couple times you listen to it, I find that I don't have any urge to play it anymore. Albert's tuning is sort of unorthodox on this recording.

Live Wire is excellent -- definitely essential material. Same goes for "Born Under a Bad Sign". I also find myself enjoying the compilation called "King of the Blues Guitar" quite often, as it has a great sequence of essential Albert tracks (including Cold Feet, Funk-shun, and Hard Bargain).

One Albert record off the beaten path that some may not be aware of is "Lost Sessions", which was a jam session with John Mayall and some of his band. I was fortunate to obtain a European remaster of that recording a few years ago when it was still available, and I really enjoy popping it in from time to time. Definitely worth seeking out.

As far as Albert's "son" that someone mentioned earlier in the thread -- actually his "grandson" -- that was indeed Little Jimmy King. Jimmy King released 4 albums in total during his all-too-short career before untimely death, and they are all stellar. He definitely did Albert proud (of whom he fondly spoke as his "grandfather").

 

I saw Albert in Lyon in the late 80s or early 90s (can't remember). He was booked to play a pretty big hall called Transbordeur. Perhaps they didn't sell enough tickets but to our delight he played in the bar! It was terrific to see him in an intimate environment like that.
This was before he lost a lot of weight. I remember at one point he broke a string. He just let the rhythm guitarist take the solo, lit up his pipe and puffed away while he proceeded to casually re-string until he finally came back in, to wild applause. Great night.

 

Albert King

Truly a master of the blues guitar -

 

Another good live set that hasnt been mentioned here is "Blues From The Road", recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1975. It's a two disc set which also features a nice solo from Rory Gallagher, sitting in on "As The Years Go Passing By".

"In Session" with Stevie Ray Vaughn is good, but as somebody mentioned, there are some tuning issues in a few places. SRV had his Albert King imitation down so well, at times it's hard to tell which one is soloing.

 

Albert's Stax album "I'll Play The Blues For You" was just reissued by Concord/Fantasy yesterday and has some bonus content including alternate mixes.

CD version:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007R3B5PM/

MP3 version (with tracklist)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0081OBL46/

 

The only BB King record i love it "Take it Home"

 

Always loved Albert and Albert (King and Brooks).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPwyWyXo4U0