The 500 - #491 - Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

My plan. 

• 2 records per week & at least 2 complete listens.
• A quick blog post for each, highlighting the important details and a quick background story.
• No rating scale - just an effort to expand my appreciation.

Album # 491

Album Title: Born Under a Bad Sign
Artist: Albert King
Released: August, 1967
My age at release: 2
How familiar am I with it: Limited exposure - a couple songs.
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: The Hunter
Great Lyric:
The very thought of you and I forget to do
The little ordinary things that everyone ought to do
I'm living in a kind of daydream, I'm happy as a king
And foolish though it may seem to me that's everything

For the first time in this writing journey, I have encountered a record and an artist about whom I have no connecting stories. I suppose I should have seen this coming. I also don't think this will be the only time.

I will share that listening to this record was delightful. It reminded me so much of The Blues Brothers - the film that first exposed me to this genre. In retrospect, Aykroyd and Belushi accomplished something remarkable with that film. At the age of 14, I went to it because I was a big fan of comedy and Saturday Night Live. I left with a love for the music of Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Cab Calloway and John Lee Hooker.  

There are some great tracks on this record. I like that some of the songs are flat-out dirty. He was clearly a scoundrel and wasn't afraid to boast about it. I've always been a fan of puns and clever word play. The lyrics to The Hunter or Crosscut Saw are pretty elementary and King didn't write them - but you can really get the sense that he is fun loving and incorrigible. Give it a listen - the songs are short and energetic - most are under 3 minutes in length. It is considered the seminal album that modernized the blues and King's guitar playing was an inspiration to some of my favourite players - Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix.

Things I learned

• His nickname was The Velvet Bulldozer
• Booker T, Donald "Duck" Dunn & Isaac Hayes perform on this record.
• He was a very large man - over 6' 4" and 250 lbs.