Blue Monday: Albert @ The Cue, '69

Since losing string-bending powerhouse Albert King in 1992, posthumous King releases have been surfacing, on average of one more each year. Glancing at the sheer numbers of major and minor labels getting in on the act, it looks damn near like a feeding frenzy. Stax and Rhino, P-Vine, Fuel and Thirsty Ear.

And Tomato.

The New York City-based indy label released a trio of LP's from King between '77 and '78, after Albert had been cut adrift by Stax's initial bankruptcy in 1975. After releasing the underwhelming New Orleans Heat in 1978, 25 years would pass, as well as Albert himself, before Tomato Records finally joined in the posthumous rush, serving up Live '69 in September of '03.

The spring of '69 found Albert still playing the clubs and hippie ballrooms that, coupled with his tenure on Stax, proved to be such a springboard to his career. May 29th of that year found him in Madison, Wisconsin, playing to a packed house at a large club called The Cue. The resultant tape has earned itself some mixed reviews, though praise for King and the strength of his playing seem to be universally positive. This album's detractors invariably hover over its sound issues--and there are a couple. While covering Albert very well, the mix does push his band well into the background. There are moments of tape hiss and bits of distortion when the thunder reaches its higher pitches. In order to give it a more balanced evaluation, we must be mindful of which yardstick we are using to measure here. If this were a professionally-recorded live show from the last decade or two, I would agree that the mix could have been better. But it is not that. This is a 40-year old bootleg recording that found its way to official release. As far as boots from that era go, this sounds more than amply tasty, at times approaching the extraordinary. I have never found its sound issues to detract from my affection or appreciation one bit. This is some ripping Albert here, getting busy with a 45 minute set heavy with tunes from Born Under a Bad Sign.

The Introduction (track one) is a bit confusing. This very much sounds like it was Albert's first "song" of the set as he's asking the audience to give some applause to "the band that just left, the band that just got through playing..." He never actually identifies who they were--but then, Tomato doesn't let us know who was backing Albert for this gig either. After dedicating this opening track, in a couple directions, King joins in for all of about 40 seconds, riffing instrumentally on Willie Cobb's You Don't Love Me, before heading off into Why Are You So Mean to Me? instead.

Highlights here include a spirited, workmanlike Why Are You So mean to Me?, a deeply soulful As the Years Go Passing By, affording King the opportunity to spread out and jam, and a soaring, wondrous 17-minute Please Come Back to Me that's damn near an Albert opus. King wraps things up with a beefy Personal Manager.

Forget the pissing and moaning of the nitpickers; this is live-action blues rendered by a master.

Peace, Mudcatz


Albert King
Live '69
Tomato 2003


1. Intro (You Don't Love Me vamp)
2. Why Are You So Mean to Me?
3. As the Years Go Passing By
4. Please Come Back to Me
5. Crosscut Saw
6. Personal Manager

Link