The Mississippi Blues Trail Series: Albert King

The Southland Music Line explores the life of Albert King as part of our Mississippi Blues Trail Series. Albert Nelson (Stage name: Albert King) was born on April 23, 1923, on a cotton plantation in Indianola, Mississippi. King created confusion early in his career over his real name. While at a homecoming concert at Club Ebony in Indianola, King claimed that B.B. King was his half-brother, asserting that B.B. King’s father, Albert, was his father, too. This myth was contradicted when Nelson applied for his social security card. Nelson recorded his birth name as Albert Nelson, his father’s name as Will Nelson, and his birthplace as Aberdeen, Mississippi, though documentation supports his birthplace as Indianola.

Early in his youth, King picked cotton alongside his 12 siblings. Later, he drove a bulldozer until he could make a living as a musician. “The Velvet Bulldozer” became his nickname due to his early occupation and towering build. King was a left-handed guitarist who made his first guitar from a cigar box. King taught himself to play right-handed by turning his guitar upside down and plucking the strings downward. Early in his career, King bought a first edition of the 1958 Gibson Flying V guitar. Only 98 of these guitars were made that year, and King’s was the seventh one off the line, resulting in him naming his guitar No. 7. King also incorporated the diddley bow into this sound. Though not invented by King, his introduction of the diddley bow into the blues sound was well-received and used by many other bluesmen.

In the 1960s, King started an odyssey that would take him from Osceola, Arkansas, to Gary, Indiana, and later to Brooklyn, Illinois, across the river from St. Louis. While in Osceola, King, a member of the Groove Boys, was introduced to the works of Delta bluesmen such as Robert Nighthawk. In Gary, Indiana, King played drums in Jimmy Reed’s band. King’s first single, “Bad Luck Blues,” was also released on Parrot Records, where it sold only a few copies. In Brooklyn, Illinois, burgeoning nightclub life introduced King to Chuck Berry and Ike Turner. Still, he needed more success at charting with any of his recordings.

King was a big man, at least 6’4,” if not taller. This larger-than-life man felt the only option left for him at that point was to tour throughout the South and Midwest club circuit. By the 1970s, Tomato Records signed King, who started to work with R&B producer Allen Toussaint. This pairing led to King’s departure from traditional delta blues. Even though Toussaint was an established producer of R&B, he was new to producing blues artists. Following poor sales, King took off four years from recording in the 1970s. During this time, he went back to his blues artist roots. Upon hearing Albert King play at Ike Turner’s Manhattan Club, Promoter Bill Graham booked him to play three nights at The Fillmore in San Francisco. As a result of these successful performances, King released three concert albums: Live Wire/Blues Power, Wednesday Night in San Francisco, and Thursday Night in San Francisco. Albert King was back to his roots.

Albert King’s influence on rock and roll music is not just profound, it’s deep-rooted. Many artists credit King for shaping their individual guitar styles. Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor (John Mayall’s Blues Breakers, The Rolling Stones), and Derek Trucks (The Allman Brothers, The Trucks-Tedeschi Band) all consider Albert King a major contributor to their guitar-playing styles. As a young blues performer, Stevie Ray Vaughn performed a television special, In Session, with Albert King which was released as an audio album. Joe Walsh (The James Gang, The Eagles), who considered King a pivotal influence, even spoke at his funeral. King’s influence on these iconic musicians is a testament to his talent and the respect he commands in the music industry.

Albert King’s contributions to the blues have been widely acknowledged. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. His influence on the music industry was further solidified when Rolling Stone Magazine ranked King number 22 in their “250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time,” a testament to the magnitude of his achievements and the profound impact he had on the music industry. His influence continues to resonate in the work of countless musicians, a legacy that will endure for generations to come.

Albert King died of a heart attack at his Memphis, Tennessee home on December 21, 1992, just two days after performing a show in Los Angeles, California. Regarding Albert King’s kinship claim, B.B. King stated, “He called his guitar ‘Lucy,’ and for a while he went around saying he was my brother. That bothered me until I got to know him and realized he was right; he wasn’t my brother in blood, but he sure was my brother in the blues.” Though he started as an artist looking for his identity, Albert King made his name in the blues community. His influence is deeply reflected in blues and rock and roll music.

An article by Deborah Chatham with marker photos by Stephen “Andy” Anderson (page designed and edited by Johnny Cole).

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References:
Anthony Scott: Legends
Encyclopedia Britannica: Albert King
Vintage Guitar Magazine: Albert King’s Flying Vs
Wikipedia: Albert King