Albert+king

2009 release that compiles two albums from the Blues great on one disc: King Albert (1977) and New Orleans Heat (1978). The king of modern electric soul-blues, Albert King joined Tomato Records in 1976 following his spell with the Stax label and this CD contains two of his very best releases from that era. The splendid King Albert marked an exciting return to form with a fine Motor City blues band that handles everything from B B King's big hit 'You Upset Me Baby' to Little Sonny Willis's exciting 'Love Shock' and a supremely soulful 'Good Time Charlie'. Released the following year, the very different Funk-tinged New Orleans Heat was overseen by legendary R&B producer Allen Toussaint at his Sea-Saint Studios. The cream of the Crescent City session musicians give the songs a real gumbo flavor

Gilded by strings and horns, keyboards and flutes, and driven by a propulsive disco beat, Albert is about as slick as Albert King ever got, but he manages to turn in a few strong performances on the album. On the whole, the songs aren't particularly distinctive, and the instrumental support is way too anonymous, but hardcore Albert fans may find a couple solos, a couple of phrases worth hearing beneath all the heavy-handed production and thumping beats. Albert King is truly a "King of the Blues," although he doesn't hold that title (B.B. does). Along with B.B. and Freddie King, Albert King is one of the major influences on blues and rock guitar players. Without him, modern guitar music would not sound as it does – his style has influenced both black and white blues players from Otis Rush and Robert Cray to Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Born in Indianola, Mississippi, Albert King remains one of the most influential blues guitarists of all time and enjoyed a successful career that spanned four decades, with wide critical and commercial acceptance throughout the world. The left- handed blues giant wrenched stinging solos from his trademark Gibson Flying V, informing the sound and style of such admirers as Eric Clapton, Luther Allison, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Taj Mahal and Jimi Hendrix. This never before released concert film presents King in top form, tearing through his signature songs at the peak of his career. Songs include "Born under a Bad Sign," "The Sky Is Crying," "The Very Thought of You," "Cadillac Assembly Line," "Summertime," "Cold Women with Warm Hearts," "As the Years Go Passing By."

This 1974 release has King using his upside-down Flying V to slash a blues path through the Memphis Horns, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and the dawn-of-disco funk rhythm players. He half-sings with one eye on B. B. King and Bobby Bland and the other fixed on hot-buttered soul crooner Isaac Hayes. "Crosscut Saw" best captures the album title, with the leader and astounding drummer, Al Jackson, charbroiling a song the two had soul basted back in the mid 1960s with Booker T. Jones.

Although Albert King is pictured on the front cover and has the lion's share of tracks on this excellent compilation, six of the fourteen tracks come from Rush's shortlived tenure with the label and are some of his very best. Chronologically, these are his next recordings after the Cobra sides and they carry a lot of the emotional wallop of those tracks, albeit with much loftier production values with much of it recorded in early stereo. Oddly enough, some of the material ("All Your Love," "I'm Satisfied [Keep on Loving Me Baby]") were remakes – albeit great ones – of tunes that Cobra had already released as singles! But Rush's performance of "So Many Roads" (featuring one of the greatest slow blues guitar solos of all time) should not be missed at any cost.

This reissue features a pair of LPs by Albert King: King Albert and New Orleans Heat, originally issued on Tomato in 1977 and 1978.
Rebounding slightly from the nadir of Albert, Albert King delivered King Albert, a record that at least sticks to the tough, soul-inflected blues that made his reputation. Granted, the sound of the album is entirely too polished, but there is genuine grit in the performances and some strong songs, such as "You Upset Me Baby" and "Good Time Charlie," on the record.

The tapes of this Albert King/John Mayall album were discovered by Bill Belmont in 1986 while rummaging through the Stax vaults looking for Albert King tapes for an album of unreleased blues material. It was produced by John Mayall at Wolfman Jack Studios in Los Angeles on August 28, 1971.

Solid vocal and instrumental performances from several legendary bluesmen, including the dynamic "King of the Blues" Muddy Waters, guitar hero Albert King, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, and Big Band bluesman Bobby "Blue" Bland. Impressive, authoritative, thoroughly entertaining, and a "must" for blues addicts, old and new.