SONGSTORY

Albert King stood 6 foot 4 feet tall and weighed at least 260 pounds. He was born Albert Nelson in 1923 on a Mississippi cotton plantation and would later change his surname to King, forming an informal triumvirate of “Blues Kings” with B.B. and Freddie. As a child King sang gospel in church and made his first guitar out of a discarded cigar box.

Also known as “The Velvet Bulldozer” Albert King was one of the most influential blues guitarists of all time whose distinctive style was emulated by both Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. King’s genius on the guitar is made even more impressive by the fact that he played his guitar backwards–that is to say that he played a right handed guitar left handed. Many left handed guitarist are known to do this, however they usually will switch the strings around so the low E remains at the top. King kept his guitar stringed for a right handed player. Here’s allmusic.com’s take on how that affected his sound.

Allmusic.com:

Albert King plays guitar left-handed, without re-stringing the guitar from the right-handed setup; this “upside-down” playing accounts for his difference in tone, since he pulls down on the same strings that most players push up on when bending the blues notes. King’s massive tone and totally unique way of squeezing bends out of a guitar string has had a major impact. Many young white guitarists — especially rock & rollers — have been influenced by King’s playing, and many players who emulate his style may never have heard of Albert King, let alone heard his music. His style is immediately distinguishable from all other blues guitarists, and he’s one of the most important blues guitarists to ever pick up the electric guitar.

Oh, Pretty Woman is a song off of King’s Born Under A Bad Sign. Most of the songs were initially recorded and released as singles but then compiled by Stax in 1967 into what has been described as one of the greatest electric blues albums ever made. The backup band behind King is Booker T. & The MGs - little wonder the result is a soulful southern funk sound that provides a perfect canvas for King’s single string leads.

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