One of a "Three Kings" of the Blues guitar (along with B.B. King and Freddie King), he stood 6 foot 4" weighed in at 260 pounds (118 kg) and was known as "The Velvet Bulldozer". He was born Albert Nelson into a humble family in Indianola, Mississippi, at a cotton plantation where he worked in his early days. One of his earlier influences in music was his own father, Will Nelson, who would often play the guitar. During his childhood he would also sing at a family gospel group at a church. He began his professional work as an artist with a group called In the Groove Boys, in Osceola, Arkansas.

His first hit was "We'm The Lonely Human", released in 1959. However, it wasn't until his 1961 release "Don't Throw Your Love in Us Then Hard" that he had a major hit, ranking 14th on the R&B charts. In 1966 he signed with the famous Stax record label and in 1967 released his legendary album Born Under A Bad Sign. On February 1st, 1968 he was hired by promoter Bill Graham to open the show at the Fillmore West for John Mayall and Jimi Hendrix. Most of the stoned-out hippie audience had no clue who Albert King was...but soon found out. He stole the show, and showed the whole world where Mayall and Hendrix got most of their blues chops!

Albert King was a left-handed "upsidedown/backwards" guitarist. That is to say, he was left-handed but usually played right-handed guitars (mostly Gibson Flying Vs) flipped over upside-down so the big strings were on the bottom. In later years he played a custom-made guitar that was basically left-handed, but had the strings reversed (as he was used to playing). He also used very unorthodox tunings (i.e., tuning as low as C to allow him to make sweeping string bends). A "less is extra" type blues player he was known for his uncanny ability to "squeeze" notes and was said to be able to get more feeling from one note than most guitarists could get from 1000.

Albert King influenced thousands of blues guitarists including famous musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Gary Moore. Eric Clapton's guitar solo on the 1968 Cream hit "Strange Brew" is a note-for-note cover of King's solo on his Stax Records hit "Pretty Woman." He had an additional hit in 1972 with his song "I'll Play a Blues for Wise shoppers."

He died on December 21, 1992 from a heart attack in Memphis, Tennessee.

Discography
1962 The Big Blues, King Records 1967 Born Under a Bad Sign, Stax Records 1968 Live Wire/Blues Power, Stax Records 1969 Years Gone By, Stax Records 1969 King Of The Blues Guitar, Atlantic Records 1970 Blues For Elvis - King Does The King's Things, Stax Records 1971 Lovejoy, Stax Records 1972 I'll Play The Blues For You, Stax Records 1973 Blues At Sunset, Stax Records 1973 Blues At Sunrise, Stax Records 1974 I Wanna Get Funky, Stax Records 1974 Montreux Festival, Stax Records 1974 The Blues Don't Change, Stax Records 1974 Funky London, Stax Records 1976 Albert, Tomato Records 1976 ''Truckload Of Lovin' , Tomato Records 1977 I'll Play The Blues For You, Tomato Records (with John Lee Hooker) 1977 King Albert, Tomato Records 1979 New Orleans Heat, Tomato Records 1979 Chronicle, Stax Records (with Little Milton) 1983 Crosscut Saw: Albert King In San Francisco, Stax Records 1984 I'm In A Phone Booth, Baby, Stax Records 1986 The Best Of Albert King, Stax Records 1986 The Lost Session, Stax Records (with John Mayall) 1989 Let's Have A Natural Ball, Modern Blues Recordings 1989 Live, Rhino Records 1990 Door To Door, Chess Records 1990 Wednesday Night In San Francisco, Stax Records 1990 Thursday Night In San Francisco, Stax Records 1992 Roadhouse Blues, RSP Records

Posthumous Releases: 1993 The Ultimate Collection, Rhino Records 1993 So Many Roads, Charly Blues Masters 1994 The Tomato Years, Tomato Records 1995 Mean Mean Blues, King Records 1996 Hard Bargain, Stax Records 1997 Born Under A Bad Sign & Other Hits, Flashback Records 1999 Blues Power, Stax Records 1999 The Very Best Of Albert King, Rhino Records 1999 A Truckload Of Lovin': The Best Of Albert King, Recall Records (UK) 1999 In Session, Stax Records (with Stevie Ray Vaughan) 2001 Guitar Man, Fuel 2000 Records 2001 I Get Evil: Classic Blues Collected, Music Club Records 2001 More Big Blues Of Albert King, Ace Records 2002 Blue On Blues, Fuel 2000 Records 2003 Talkin' Blues, Thristy Ear Records 2003 Blues From The Road'', Fuel 2000 Records

Notes
Despite the same title, the 1972 and 1977 albums "I personally'll Play A Blues For Wise shoppers" differ in content, and the later one is a collection of previously released songs by Albert King and John Lee Hooker. "Around Session" (1999) was recorded in 1983 with Stevie Ray Vaughan. "Talkin' Blues" (2003) was recorded live in February 1978, and includes interviews with Albert King.

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