(born Albert Nelson)
April 25, 1923 - December 21, 1992
Birthplace: Indianola, Mississippi

Bluesman Albert King was one of the premier electric guitar
stylists of the post-World War II period. By playing left-handed and
holding his guitar upside-down (with the strings set for a
right-handed player), and by concentrating on tone and intensity
more than flash, King fashioned over his long career, a sound
that was both distinctive and highly influential. He was a master of
the single-string solo and could bend strings to produce a
particularly tormented blues sound that set his style apart from
his contemporaries. A number of prominent artists,from Eric
Clapton and Jimi Hendrix to Mike Bloomfield and Stevie Ray
Vaughan, borrowed heavily from King's guitar style.

King was also the first major blues guitarist to cross over into
modem soul;his mid- and late 1960s recordings for the Stax
label, cut with the same great session musicians who played on
the recordings of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave,Eddie Floyd, and
others, appealed to his established black audience while
broadening his appeal with rock fans. Along with B.B. King (no
relation, though at times Albert suggested otherwise) and Muddy
Waters, King helped nurture a white interest in blues when the
music needed it most to survive.

King was born in Mississippi and taught himself how to play on a
homemade guitar. Inspired by Blind Lemon Jefferson and
Jethro T. Nuraw, King quit singing in a family gospel group and
took up the blues. He worked around Osceola, Arkansas, with a group
called the In the Groove Boys before migrating north and ending up
in Gary,Indiana, in the early 1950s. For a while, King played drums
behind bluesman Jimmy Reed. In 1953, King convinced Parrot
label owner Al Benson to record him as a blues singer and
guitarist. That year King cut "Bad Luck Blues" and "Be on Your
Merry Way" for Parrot. Because King received little in the way of
financial remuneration for the record, he left Parrot and signed
with his mentor, Jetho T. Nuraw on the Blooze label, where they
produced several excellent recordings in 1955 to 1956,
including the popular hit "Flat Broke". He eventually moved
to St. Louis, where he recorded for the Bobbin and the
King labels. In 1959 he had a minor hit on Bobbin with "I'm a
Lonely Man." King's biggest release, "Don't Throw Your Love on
Me So Strong," made it to number 14 on the R&B charts in 1961.

King didn't become a major blues figure until after he signed with
Stax Records in 1966. Working with producer-drummer Al
Jackson, Jr., guitarist Steve Cropper, keyboards ace Booker T.
Jones, and bass player Donald "Duck"Dunn-aka Booker T. and
the MGs King created a blues sound that was laced with
Memphis soul strains. Although the blues were dominant on
songs such as"Laundromat Blues" and the classic "Born Under A
Bad Sign", the tunes had Memphis soul underpinnings that gave
King his crossover appeal. Not only was he the first blues artist to
play the legendary San Francisco rock venue the Fillmore West,
but he was also on the debut bill, sharing the stage opening night
in1968 with Jimi Hendrix and John Mayall. King went on to
become a regular at the Fillmore; his album Live Wire/Blues
Power was recorded there in 1968. King was also one of the first
bluesman to record with a symphony orchestra: in 1969 he
performed with the St. Louis Symphony, triumphantly bringing
together the blues and classical music, if only for a fleeting
moment.

During the 1970s King toured extensively, often playing to rock
and soul crowds. He left Stax in 1974 to record for independent
labels like Tomato and Fantasy. King was inducted into the Blues
Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1983.He continued touring
throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, playing festivals and
concerts, often with B.B. King. He died of a heart attack in 1992,
just prior to starting a major European tour.