ALBERT KING
This month Phil Short explores the sound of a blues guitarist who used minimal notes but maximum feel to create unforgettable music.
Albert King: they dubbed him the ‘Velvet Bulldozer’
DAVID REDFERN/REDFERNS
Not many players earn the title ‘king of the blues’, but then not many players have been as influential as the great Albert King. One of the leading players of his generation alongside fellow blues Kings, BB and Freddie, Albert was central to the 60s wave of electric blues. Without Albert and his fellow bluesmen, BB and Freddie, we wouldn’t have many of the household names we know today. Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan were all admirers of Albert’s work, and that’s just to name a few.