Information AboutAlbert King |
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Albert King ( April 25 , 1923 – December 21 , 1992 ) was an influential American Blues Guitarist and Singer . One of the "Three Kings" of the Blues guitar (along with B.B. King and Freddie King ), he stood 6 foot 4" weighed in at 260 pounds (118 kg) and was known as "The Velvet Bulldozer". He was born Albert Nelson into a humble family in Indianola , Mississippi , at a Cotton plantation where he worked in his early days. One of his earlier influences in music was his own father, Will Nelson, who would often play the Guitar . During his childhood he would also sing at a family Gospel Group at a church. He began his professional work as a musician with a group called ''In the Groove Boys'', in Osceola , Arkansas . He also briefly played drums for Jimmy Reed 's band. The electric guitar became his signature instrument, his preference being the Gibson Flying V , which he named "Lucy". His first hit was "I'm A Lonely Man", released in 1959 . However, it wasn't until his 1961 release "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong" that he had a major hit, ranking 14th on the R&B charts. In 1966 he signed with the famous Stax record label and in 1967 released his legendary album '' Born Under A Bad Sign ''. The title track of that album (written by Booker T. Jones and William Bell ) became King's most well known song and has been covered by many artists (from Cream to Homer Simpson ). On February 1 , 1968 King was hired by promoter Bill Graham to open the show at the Fillmore West for John Mayall and Jimi Hendrix . King was the first blues musician to play at the Fillmore, and played several times at that venue along his career. Albert King was a left-handed "upside-down/backwards" guitarist: he was left-handed but usually played right-handed guitars flipped over upside-down so the low E string was on the bottom. In later years he played a custom-made guitar that was basically left-handed, but had the strings reversed (as he was used to playing). He also used very unorthodox tunings (''i.e.'', tuning as low as C to allow him to make sweeping string bends). A "less is more" type blues player, he was known for his expressive "bending" of notes, a technique characteristic of blues guitarists. However, while a conventional right-handed player will bend the note by pushing the string upwards against the frets, causing the Pitch to go up, Albert King used an unorthodox approach of pulling the string downwards to get the same result. Albert King influenced many later blues guitarists including Jimi Hendrix , Eric Clapton , Mike Bloomfield and Gary Moore . But of all later blues guitarists, Stevie Ray Vaughan was the one most strongly influenced by Albert King. King's influence can be clearly heard on Vaughan's slow blues songs. Eric Clapton's guitar solo on the 1968 Cream hit "Strange Brew" from the album '' Disraeli Gears '' is a note-for-note cover of King's solo on his Stax Records hit "Crosscut Saw". Albert King has a star on the St. Louis Walk Of Fame . Albert King died on December 21 , 1992 from a Heart Attack in Memphis, Tennessee . DISCOGRAPHY
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Notes Despite the same title, the 1972 and 1977 albums "I'll Play The Blues For You" differ in content, and the later one is a collection of previously released songs by Albert King and John Lee Hooker . "In Session" (1999) was recorded in 1983 with Stevie Ray Vaughan . "Talkin' Blues" (2003) was recorded live in February 1978, and includes interviews with Albert King. Source: 1 External links:
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