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King of the Blues Guitar | 
| Artist: Albert King
Label: Rhino
Category: Music
List Price: £6.99
Buy New: £4.47
You Save: £2.52 (36%)
New (25) Used (11) from £1.99
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 4724
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 8213
UPC: 075678201721
EAN: 0075678201721
ASIN: B000002I7H
Release Date: March 21, 1993
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Cold Feet | | • | You're Gonna Need Me | | • | Born Under A Bad Sign | | • | I Love Luzy | | • | Crosscut Saw | | • | You Sure Drive A Hard Bargain | | • | Oh Pretty Woman | | • | Overall Junction | | • | Funk Shun | | • | Laundromat Blues | | • | Personal Manager |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
These 17 tunes come from King's most fertile period, his 1966-68 tenure at Memphis's Stax Records. Stax chief Jim Stewart had been reluctant to sign blues artists because he felt straight blues wouldn't mesh with Stax's patented Memphis soul. Ironically, the fusion of King's sharp guitar wails with the dynamic rhythms of Booker T. & the MGs--the Stax house band--was what set King apart from other bluesmen. The unique blend produced classic after classic: Booker T. Jones' rolling piano propels "Laundromat Blues". Al Jackson's drum shuffle supports "Crosscut Saw". The driving horns of Andrew Love, Wayne Jackson and Joe Arnold accentuate "Born Under a Bad Sign". King's ripe and mellow vocals are a perfect match for the soul-drenched music while his dramatic string bends leap out. --Marc Greilsamer
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Six stars at least! July 25, 2008
This CD is essentially Albert's mid-60s record "Born under a bad sign" - one of the classic electric blues records - with the addition of the Stax singles "I love Lucy" "Funk shun" and "Cold feet" and a couple of others. All his classics are here that were recorded by many others in the second blues boom - "Pretty woman", "The hunter", "Crosscut saw" and of course the song "Born under a bad sign" itself. At the time in the 60s many of my friends were into soul and didn't like blues but they liked this record, which is blues you can dance to.
Albert was probably the most limited of the Kings (B.B. and Freddie) both as a guitarist and a singer but what he does he does wonderfully well - a powerful, relaxed voice and a screaming, sinuous guitar weaving in and out of the melody. All this over the funky soul strut of the Stax rhythm section and the Memphis horns. Six stars at least!!!
Great album- watch out for duplication though.... April 5, 2008
Just wanted to highlight to unsuspecting buyers that this album contains EVERY single track off the classic 'Born under a bad sign' album. Great value then, but don't do what i did and use this album as a starting reference point, and then upon further reading hastily decide you need to own the aforementioned classic Albert King album (all too easy in these 1-click days!), without cross-referencing the level of track duplication! Duh. I feel the Amazon review might have usefully drawn attention to this fact to forewarn numpties such as me.
Otherwise, faultless in my opinion. I have not heard the original vinyl recordings so can't comment on merits (or otherwise) of the remastering, but sounds par for the course to me.
 Spoilt by Sound Quality June 30, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am a great admirer of Albert King, however, I feel the sound quality on this cd is abysmal and spoils what would otherwise be an excellent selection of tunes.
Oh, Beautiful Blues March 18, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'm listening to this CD as I write this review, having recently received it through the post. I had decided that Albert King was under-represented in my CD collection and did some research into what my next purchase of his music should be - isn't the Internet a great tool for expanding your knowledge of music!! Having read all the reviews below, and after listening to the available samples, I made the decision that this CD was The One!
Well well well well well!! My goodness me! What can I say? Ecstasy by ear!.....!.....!
I have quite a good selection of blues CDs, with favourite artists including (oldest acquaintances first) Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, BB King, Howlin Wolf, Robert Johnson, Johnny Guitar Watson, Lightnin Hopkins, Leadbelly, Freddie King, Son House, T Model Ford, RL Burnside etc (and even one or two white guys!). Indeed I've been listening to the blues for 17 years or so, and reckon that I've got as good an ear for the blues as any (or many). I suppose that what I'm trying to get across is the notion that, after many years of digging great blues, and being familiar with a large number of blues CDs, I'm in a reasonable position to make informed comparisons and offer an opinion.
And, in my opinion, 'Albert King: King of the Blues Guitar' is without question one of the best compilations that you are likely to come across.
That's not to say, necessarily, that I love Albert's music any more (or any less) than that of any of the artists above. In the best blues tradition, Albert's contribution to the genre is unique, an entirely personal body of work. But rather, that this CD, from start to finish, is almost uniquely good in its consistently very high-standard track selection.
Consequently, its difficult to pick tracks out as particular stars, although my initial listenings might highlight 'Oh, Pretty Woman', 'Crosscut Saw', 'Born Under A Bad Sign' and 'Cold Feet'. But every single other track is also delightful, and in no way mere filling between the good 'uns.
For anyone unfamiliar with Albert King, suffice it to say that he is a guitar great, whose 'sound' is a distinctive combination of spiky-but-sweet-and-mellow-at-the-same-time, backed up by a very good voice that's rich, mellow and soulful. And, like all the very best blues masters, he possesses an exquisite 'touch'.
The only things one might consider as standing between this CD and perfection are: as mentioned elsewhere, the mastering, which, on the odd track (eg the beautiful 'Kansas City'), drowns Albert's guitar in the accompaniment or pushes it into the background, and; the quality of the recording, which is not nearly as good as it could or should be (including the odd 'click' or two), but is not an insurmountable problem for those who would rather hear this record than NOT hear it.
I'm inclined to the view that a remastering and a clean-up would be a good thing, and that Atlantic Records should realise that this material is easily important enough to merit some serious attention from the tech boffins (and that the dreadful album cover DESPERATELY needs a total makeover - ideally by whoever did the artwork for 'Jimi Hendrix: blues' or 'The Rainbow Bridge Concert'). However, one could argue that the current mastering simply has the effect of shifting the flavour of this CD a little, away from the 'searing' end of the spectrum towards the 'mellow' end (not necessarily a bad thing). And that the somewhat woolly recording lends an aura of 'heritage' and a patina of 'authenticity' - after all, woolly sound quality is hardly a rarity in blues recordings!
Either way, this is a truly delightful album, rich with beautiful, funky, soulful blues and is a great testament to a great artist. Thankyou Albert, and to you and your mates, Booker T.
needs remastering November 30, 2005
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I bought this cd due to many glowing reviews, from amozon customers, magazines, charles sharr murray, amg...you name it, so i was expecting something special. But...I was disapointed. I'd previously heard the live album, live wire/blues power and loved it. The sound is clear, and you can hear albert's guitar the way it was meant to be heard. However, this is a muted affair, very quiet on your system and you forget how good the material is because of this. maybe the remastered born under a bad sign would be a better purchace. Also, a lots been said about the backing of booker t and his mates...is it me, or does anyone else find the rythm a bit leaden and stiff? I think it's the same with the otis stuff as well. Free covered The Hunter in 68, and while a bit ramshakle, they're much looser and powerful.
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