Albert King Born Under a Bad Sign

Albert King recorded a lot in the early '60s, including some classic sides, but they never quite hit the mark. They never gained a large audience, nor did they really capture the ferocity of his single-string leads. Then he signed with Stax in 1966 and recorded a number of sessions with the house band, Booker T. & the MG's, and everything just clicked…

Albert King recorded a lot in the early '60s, including some classic sides, but they never quite hit the mark. They never gained a large audience, nor did they really capture the ferocity of his single-string leads. Then he signed with Stax in 1966 and recorded a number of sessions with the house band, Booker T. & the MG's, and everything just clicked. The MG's gave King supple Southern support, providing an excellent contrast to his tightly wound lead guitar, allowing to him to unleash a torrent of blistering guitar runs that were profoundly influential, not just in blues, but in rock & roll (witness Eric Clapton's unabashed copping of King throughout Cream's Disraeli Gears).

Albert King recorded a lot in the early '60s, including some classic sides, but they never quite hit the mark. They never gained a large audience, nor did they really capture the ferocity of his single-string leads. Then he signed with Stax in 1966 and recorded a number of sessions with the house band, Booker T. & the MG's, and everything just clicked. The MG's gave King supple Southern support, providing an excellent contrast to his tightly wound lead guitar, allowing to him to unleash a torrent of blistering guitar runs that were profoundly influential, not just in blues, but in rock & roll (witness Eric Clapton's unabashed copping of King throughout Cream's Disraeli Gears). Initially, these sessions were just released as singles, but they were soon compiled as King's Stax debut, Born Under a Bad Sign.

The 2013 Stax Records reissue of Born Under A Bad Sign offers five bonus tracks in the form of previously-unreleased alternate takes and an untitled instrumental. The first (unused) take of the title track reveals a few differences but otherwise hits every mark as the take that ended up on the album; by contrast, the alternate take of "Crosscut Saw" includes an extra chorus tacked on the end, features a stronger King vocal performance, and all the houserockin' guitar

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.

This box is separated into 4 categories by CD: Guitar, Piano, Vocalists and Chicago. The assortment is staggering…contains tracks by all of these must-hear artists: John Lee Hooker, the Kings (BB, Freddie and Albert) on the Guitar ad Chicago CDs, as well as Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, Otis Rush, Koko Taylor…on the Piano CD you get "Champion" Jack Dupree, Big Joe Turner, Dr. John AND Professor Longhair AND Ray Charles.