Albert King was born in on April 23, 1924 in Indianola, Mississippi. His guitar playing inspired and influenced many blues and rock guitarists. Albert was left-handed, but he kept right-hand guitar set-up having strings standing “upside-down”. That way he was, unlike others, bending strings in opposite direction producing unique, heavy tone. Many would agree that Albert King was one of the most important blues musicians to ever pick up the electric guitar.
1950
Albert King moved to Osceola, AK and joined hid first band, The In the Groove Boys. The band played in local night-clubs and made several recordings for radio broadcast.
1953
King moved to Gary, IN where he played with Jimmy Reed and John Brim. Later that year Albert King met famous blues bassist and composer Willie Dixon. Dixon helped King to make his first recording. Single with two songs, “Be on Your Merry Way” and “Bad Luck Blues”, was released for Parrot Records.
1954
Albert returned to Osceola, AK and re-joined The In the Groove Boys.
1956
Albert King moved to St. Louis, MO where he started playing his signature guitar, Gibson Flying V.
1958
King signed for Bobbin Records and recorded several singles that sold well in the St. Louis area. King Records obtained rights from Bobbin Records for releasing King’s records nationally.
1961
Song “Don’t Throw Your Love on Me So Strong” became big hit reaching #14 on American R&B charts.
1963
Bobbin Records released Albert King’s first full album “Big Blues”.
1966
Albert King signed for Stax Records. In the following years, backed by Stax’s house band Booker T. & the MG’s, King will release his most successful albums. “Loundromat Blues” was the first hit for Stax.
1967
“Crosscut Saw” made Top 40 and “ and “Born Under a Bad Sign” made Top 50. Later that year album “Born Under Bad Sign” was released. Album was a collection of singles released for Stax to that date.
1968
Albert recorded his first “live” album “Live Wire/Blues Power”.
1969
Albert King became first blues guitarist to perform with a symphony. He appeared on a concert with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Album “Years Gone By” was his first true studio recording for Stax. Later that year he released paid tribute to Elvis Presley with the album “Blues for Elvis: Albert King Does the King’s Things”.
1971
Album “Lovejoy” was released.
1972
Album “I’ll Play the Blues for You” was mixture of blues and modern soul and funk sounds.
1973
Stax released his second “live” album, “Blues at Sunset”.
1974
Albert King left Stax Records and signed for Tomato.
1976
Tomato released two albums, “Albert” and “Truckload of Lovin”.
1978
Tomato released album “San Francisco Heat”.
1983
Albert King was awarded with W.C. Handy International Blues Award Hall of Fame.
1985
Albert King announced his retirement. He stopped recording, but continued touring and appearing on the concerts around the world.
1992
Albert King died in Memphis, Tennessee on December 21 due to heart attack.
“Lyrics for All” pick:
Definitely King’s most important albums were “Born Under the Bad Sign” (Stax, 1967) and “Years Gone By” (Stax, 1969). Amongst numerous “live” albums the two to look for are “Thursday Night in San Francisco: Recorded Live at the Fillmore Auditorium” (Stax, 1990) and “Wednesday Night in San Francisco: Recorded Live at the Fillmore Auditorium” (Stax, 1990). In 1983 Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan performed “live” for a Canadian TV show. The sound recording was released on an excellent album “In Session” (Stax, 1999).
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