A left-handed, self-taught guitar player who played his instrument upside down and backwards,
Albert King could wring out guitar leads that were as sharp as razor blades zinging along a telephone line, but he was also a well-rounded musician, having played drums in Chicago for
Jimmy Reed and was a good enough singer to have been part of a gospel quartet called the Harmony Kings. But his claim to fame and history will always be his guitar playing, and in particular, the sides he cut between 1966 and 1974 for Stax Records, the best of which are collected here. Stax was known for its funky Southern soul sides, and the blues wasn't really on the table for the imprint when
King cut "Laundromat Blues" for them in 1966. The song did well enough that
King became Stax's blues division almost single-handedly, releasing classics like "Crosscut Saw" in 1966 and
King's signature tune, "Born Under a Bad Sign," written by
William Bell and
Booker T. Jones, in 1967. All of these are here, along with a slower and funkier remake of "Crosscut Saw" that
King cut for Stax in 1974, making this compilation not only a fine introduction to this fiery guitar player, but also a solid survey of his peak years. ~ Steve Leggett