Albert King    By Jacob Kiely-Song  

Albert King (also known as Albert Nelson) was born on April 25, 1923, in Indianola, Missisippi. King, as a child was said to have built his own guitar out of a cigar box, foreshadowing his amazing career as a guitarist. He was left handed but instead of buying a guitar that suited him better, he learned to play it upside down and restrung it. This was one of his trademarks and added a signature tone to his music. King was inspired by one of the blues greats before him, Blind "lemon" Jefferson, his guitar sound and tone was very similar to that of another prominent blues artist, B.B. King.  He has a very unique sound in my opinion. Some of the things that i think make his sound so unique are: His tone, it's is very pitchy and high, his technique, He utilizes a lot of bends and tremolo on the notes. He plays mostly clean, single string solos. 

Here are some of the songs of his that are good examples of his style:

This first song is a slower tempo song. King plays a slow blues and uses fills in between his vocal lines. 

This was something he did a lot. you can hear his sharp pitchy tone in his frequent and melodic fills.

Born under a bad sign

This next song is a very guitar heavy piece. King in this piece really shows us 
his amazing chops at guitar. We hear his amazing choice of notes.

Albert king tends to pick short concise riffs, often that answer each other in a call and response fashion. 

Blues Power

This song gives you yet another look at King's masterful guitar playing. He again sings vocal lines answered by

sharp, precise, fills. His tone stays sharp and high. Also in this video you can hear him talk to the audience at the beginning, 

you can tell be listening how passionate a musician he is. It certainly comes through listening to this.

I'll Play the blues for you