Albert King - Don't You Lie To Me - Classic Blues Videos
great performance with Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1983
Blues guitar master Albert King performs "Don't You Lie To Me" with fellow master Stevie Ray Vaughan at CHCH-TV studios in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1983.
This performance is from an incredible DVD called Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan: In Session. It's definitely worth owning and you can purchase the DVD/CD combo here...
Artist BIO:
"I can't read, I don't know how to write, my whole life has been one big fight. "
Albert King (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992) was an American blues guitarist and singer.
One of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with B. B. King and Freddie King), Albert King stood 6' 4" (192 cm) (some reports say 6' 7") and weighed 250 lbs (118 kg) and was known as "The Velvet Bulldozer". He was born Albert Nelson on a cotton plantation in Indianola, Mississippi. During his childhood he would sing at a family gospel group at a church. One of 13 children, King grew up picking cotton on plantations near Forrest City, Arkansas, where the family moved when he was eight. He began his professional work as a musician with a group called In The Groove Boys in Osceola. He also briefly played drums for Jimmy Reed's band and on several early Reed recordings. Influenced by blues musicians Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lonnie Johnson, but also interestingly Hawaiian music, the electric guitar became his signature instrument, his preference being the Gibson Flying V which he named "Lucy".
He recorded his first disc in 1953 for Parrot Records in Chicago, but it made no impact. His first minor hit came in 1959 with "I'm a Lonely Man" written by Bobbin Records A&R man and fellow guitar hero Little Milton, responsible for King's signing with the label. However, it was not until his 1961 release "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong" that he had a major hit, reaching number fourteen on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart. In 1966 he signed with the Stax record label. Produced by Al Jackson, Jr., King with Booker T. & the MGs recorded dozens of influential sides, such as "Crosscut Saw" and "As The Years Go Passing By", and in 1967 Stax released the album, Born Under a Bad Sign. The title track of that album (written by Booker T. Jones and William Bell) became King's best known song and has been covered by many artists (from Cream to Homer Simpson).
Another landmark album followed in Live Wire/Blues Power from one of many dates King played at promoter Bill Graham's Fillmore venues. It had a wide and long-term influence on Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Robbie Robertson, and later Gary Moore and Stevie Ray Vaughan ("Criminal World", on David Bowie's 1983 release "Let's Dance", features a guitar solo copied note-for-note from his hero Albert King by young session musician Stevie Ray Vaughan).
On June 6, 1970, King joined The Doors on stage at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada. He lent his distinctive slide guitar to blues cuts such as “Little Red Rooster,” “Money,” “Rock Me” and “Who Do You Love.”
In the 1970s, King was teamed with members of The Bar-Kays and The Movement (Isaac Hayes's backing group), including bassist James Alexander and drummer Willie Hall adding strong funk elements to his music. Adding strings and multiple rhythm guitarists, producers Allen Jones and Henry Bush created a wall of sound that contrasted the sparse, punchy records King made with Booker T. & the MGs. Among these was another of King's signature tunes for King with "I'll Play the Blues For You" in 1972.
King influenced others such as Mick Taylor, Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Mike Bloomfield and Joe Walsh (the James Gang guitarist spoke at King's funeral). He also had an impact on contemporaries Albert Collins and Otis Rush. Clapton has said that his work on the 1967 Cream hit "Strange Brew" and throughout the album Disraeli Gears was inspired by King.
As he hit his mid-sixties King began to muse about retirement, not unreasonable given that he had health problems. Nevertheless, when near to death, he was planning yet another overseas tour.
King died on December 21, 1992 from a heart attack in Memphis, Tennessee.
King's first instrument was a diddley bow. Next, he built himself a cigar box guitar, before buying a Guild acoustic. The instrument he is usually associated with is a 1958 Gibson Flying V, "Lucy." He retired Lucy in 1974 and began using a Flying V built by Dan Erlewine, and after 1980 also one built by Radley Prokopow.
King was left-handed, but usually played right-handed guitars flipped over upside-down. He used a dropped minor tuning, reportedly C♯-G♯-B-E-G♯-C♯ (but he never used the sixth string).
For amplification, King used a solid-state Acoustic amplifier, with a speaker cabinet with 2 15" speakers and a horn ("which may or may not have been operative"). Later in his career he also used a MXR Phase 90.
Wikipedia contributors. "Albert King." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 17 Apr. 2011. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.
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