Week 15
Albert King, King of the Blues Guitar
(Atlantic 8213)

Although he had been moderately established on the blues scene since the 1950s, Albert King's status as one of the most influential guitarists in modern blues and rock was first broadly asserted with his mid-1960s recordings for Memphis-based Stax Records, seventeen of which are gathered on King of the Blues Guitar.

Second only to Motown in national prominence during the heyday of 1960s soul, the Stax/Volt studio and label family had its beginnings as the Satellite label in the late 1950s. By the mid-1960s, Stax was producing a stunning run of hits for artists such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave, the vast majority of which featured backing from the Stax house band, Booker T. and the MGs, and the Memphis Horns. That unit backs King throughout the tracks gathered on King of the Blues Guitar, establishing a unique fusion of Memphis soul and electric blues that was widely appealing to both blues and rock audiences, and remains broadly inspiring in the modern blues scene. Such backing was also highly sympathetic to King's unique style, which coupled a firm and stinging tone with forceful yet economic solos, and which rapidly established him as one of the most revered guitarists among blues and rock musicians, among them Eric Clapton (who, while in Cream, was prone to copying King’s solos note for note), Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Among these musicians and others of the rock crowd, many were first introduced to King's recordings by the compilation LP Born Under a Bad Sign. The entirety of this compilation is now included in the CD issue of King of the Blues Guitar, resulting in both a seminal introduction to one of the most individual stylists in electric blues and arguably the ultimate recorded meeting of soul and blues.

Listen: Albert King —"Personal Manager"
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