Albert King had been making records for more than a decade when the blues legend recorded his signature song Born Under A Bad Sign in 1967.
When I think of Stax, the legendary label founded in Memphis in the mid-’50s, I think of Southern Soul in general and Otis Redding in particular, along with Booker T, Isaac Hayes and Wilson Pickett.
This classic slice of the blues comes from the same label – but is written and performed by some of the label’s soul legends.
William Bell wrote the lyrics and the music was by Booker T & The MGs, who backed King on what became his signature song, and the title of his first album for Stax in 1967.
Produced by MGs drummer Al Jackson Jr, it went on to become a blues standard, covered by everyone from Cream to Hendrix to Homer Simpson. That lyric – “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all” – is one of the most memorable of all time.
King was born on a cotton plantation in Mississippi, one of 13 children, and grew up picking cotton and singing in church with a family gospel group.
His first instrument was a diddley bow – a home-made affair constructed from a single string nailed to a board over a bottle – and he made his first guitar out of a cigar box, a piece of a bush, and a strand of broom wire.
A left-hander, he flipped his instrument upside-down so the low E string was on the bottom, and became known for his unusual tunings (heavy on the thumb) and characteristic style of bending the notes.
His first recordings came out in the mid-Fifties – debut single Bad Luck Blues came out in 1954 – but the first to hit the R&B charts was Don’t Throw Your Love On Me So Strong in 1961, followed by his first album The Big Blues a year later.
His hits included a storming cover of Tampa Red’s 1940 blues standard I Get Evil, previously interpreted in 1951 by Fats Domino under its alternate title Don’t You Lie To Me, and by Chuck Berry in 1960.
King’s greatest success came after he moved to Memphis and signed to Stax in 1966, teaming up with their house band of Booker T. & The MGs. That first album included a version of the old Delta blues tune Crosscut Saw, and The Hunter, also a hit for Ike & Tina Turner – with an uncredited Albert Collins on guitar.
It was later recorded by the British blues-rock band Free who performed a particularly good version on their 1971 album Live Free! showcasing Paul Rodgers’ vocals and the late guitarist Paul Kossoff at their finest.
One of the “Three Kings of the Blues” with B.B. King and Freddie King, he has been cited as a primary influence on future guitar greats including Hendrix and Clapton, Duane Allman, Joe Walsh and Stevie Ray Vaughan.