There is Bad Sign When Albert King Plays Guitar

I have an old book that does a great job of recommending albums from the 1960's. I used to read it all the time and figure what I needed to save my money for next time I went to the record store. This was good for everything from a Moody Blues album to a Jefferson Airplane album to a Beatles album. I would check off the album when I bought it and then rate the album compared to the book. I wanted to see how accurate their overview of the album compared to mine. I was looking in this book for some sixties blues albums. They devoted a chapter to this era and mentioned all the important finds. They mentioned the British Blues of John Mayall and Cream. They mentioned the Paul Butterfield, Johnny Winter and Electric Flag. Then they mentioned the true blues of the 60's. They mentioned the Son House and B.B. King's Live at the Regal and Mississippi John Hurt and then they got to Albert King. I did not know much about his music. I actually heard only his cover of "Born Under A Bad Sign." Further research even he did not right it.

I read the review in the book and really thought that I must own it. I wanted to hear it from a true blues person. What got me on this blues collection was the Robert Johnson box set. It made me realize that there is more music out there that I have not really listened to. Blues was something I needed to hear. It would be a a shame that I did not explore that genre fuller. I mean Eric Clapton talked about it as one his favorite musical genres. Even artists like Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Rolling Stones and countless others admitted their love of the Blues. I needed to seek out some of that stuff. I wanted to see what was so damn good.



I only had a few blues albums growing up. I had the Robert Johnson Complete Recordings Box Set and also had the B.B. King Live at the Regal. I knew I needed more to round out the collection. After a few record store visits I added Paul Butterfield's East West and The Best of John Lee Hooker. It did not look like I was going to add any more. I wanted to find the essentials. The book did a good job, but I wanted to see what else was out there. I decided to watch the PBS Special on the blues. After watching the special I bought the book that went along with it. The book did a good job of helping me fine other music to listen to. I went back to my old standby and looked in there. There were two albums I wanted to hear. The Son House Father of the Delta Blues and Albert King's Born Under A Bad Sign. Sure there were many others, but the book mentioned these two as must listens for now.

It became pretty tough to find both. I was about to give up when a friend at the record store made me a tape copy of both. He had the Son House on record and a copy of the Albert King on tape. He told me to judge for myself. I loved both because they were honest and very good. Each listen brought out a better appreciation for what I needed to listen to and what to expect from the Blues genre. The Albert King had a who great band backing him and later on I found out it was none other then Booker T. and the MG's. It was fun and exciting. The Son House had a very young Ry Cooder and was very Delta Blues sounding. I was happy that I got to hear both of these classic Blues albums.



A few years ago I picked up the re-issue of Born Under A Bad Sign and it was as fresh as I remember hearing the cassette. It brought back a lot of memories. This album brought a ton of respect to the modern rock world. It is still considered the album that got many people like Eric Clapton, SRV, and others into the world of Blues or even Blues Rock. Few blues albums are this on a cut-by-cut level; the songs are exceptional and the performances are rich, from King's dynamic playing to the Southern funk of the MG's. It was immediately influential at the time and, over the years, it has only grown in stature as one of the very greatest electric blues albums of all time. An album that should be part of your collection too. Enjoy this wonderful gem!