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

Road-tripping Albert: Rethinking Chicago, '78

Rolling into my dooryard this morning after a night-long run and my trip-meter read "420." I figure it had to be a sign.

With the sun coming up over my left shoulder those last few miles and Albert King blazing away on the truck's stereo, the morning twilight felt like frigging poetry. I was into my third time through the disc. It had taken me a bit by pleasant surprise on the first pass. I had to let it play through again (and then some)almost to reassure myself that it was as strong an outing as it is. When I'd first come across it a couple years back, I recall being underwhelmed by it. This morning's dawnlit miles have got me reevaluating my standing position.

Albert King was recorded prolifically, both live and in the studio, and while some releases are certainly superior to others, King didn't release many dogs. When he was on his game, which he appear to be through most of his live releases, he was a fearsome force with that guitar, cutting loose note after note that could lacerate and soothe with a single deft stroke. With such a broad discography, it is only expected that some releases will be superior to others. And such is the case here. His hippie ballroom-era releases, Live Wire/Blues Power and the Wednesday & Thursday Nights in San Francisco releases have long been regarded as undisputed classics. Further, the Blues at Sunrise and Sunset albums I featured here last Monday are essential live King releases.

Which leaves us with (among others) Charly's 1994 issue of King's Chicago, 1978. As I griped about in my recent Luther Alison post, Charly Records comes up hopelessly light on providing the facts surrounding this recording. Its title tells it all, apparently. As for when in '78 or its venue, much less the bevy of solid musicians backing Albert on this outing, not a syllable is provided. With the last track, the anthem-like I'll Play the Blues For You fading out as it does, this recording was almost certainly a bootleg before Charly ever got hold of it. As an album, does it live up to its fabled predecessors? To be fair, it doesn't.

While this critter may land south of greatness, it remains a good, at times very good, live outing. King's guitar work is superlative, rife with his trademark razor's edge style, all Memphis grease and whoop-ass. His vocals on numbers like The Very Thought of You are so deeply soulful they give me pause. Among this album's stand-out moments are the at-times blistering Born Under a Bad Sign, Please Come Back to Me, and Blues at Sunrise, which King prefaces with a warm remembrance of the Haight-Ashbury scene.

Released in the early '90's, in itself an odd time for blues releases, Chicago, 1978 never did attract much notice. And its obscurity does do it an ill service. It is a thoroughly pleasing live outing from one of the idiom's true masters.

Peace, Mudcatz



Albert King
Chicago, 1978
Charly, 1994

1. King's Bounce (instrumental)
2. Stormy Monday
3. Born Under a Bad Sign
4. The Very Thought of You
5. You're My Woman, I'm Your Mate
6. Tired As a Man Can Be
7. Blues at Sunrise
8. Breaking Up Somebody's Home
9. Please Come Back To Me
10. I'll Play the Blues For You


Link

Blue Monday: Albert @ Montreaux and Wattstax

All I've got to say is, when I get sunsets like this why the fuck would I ever want to live in a city?


As for other sunsets--and this being Blue Monday and all--I'd like to throw some attention this week onto a pair of live Albert King releases from 1973, Blues At Sunset and its sister disc, Blues at Sunrise.

Neither Albert King nor the Montreaux Jazz Festival should require any introductions. We'll be seeing plenty of Albert on this blog and a fair amount of music from Montreaux as well. Put together, Albert on that Montreaux stage, and you just know you're in for a ride. King's in top form through both of these discs...and, yes, your live collection from this blues master is hopelessly wanting without them.

To clear up the connection, Blues at Sunrise is King's July 1, 1973 set at Montreaux. Blues at Sunset, which predated ...Sunrise by a few months couples more material from that set with some stellar cuts from his set at 1972's Wattstax Festival.

Wattstax was held August 20, 1972 at the Los Angeles Coliseum to promote the African American community on the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots. On stage were acts as diverse as Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Little Milton...and Albert King. The documentary film from this festival would be released the following year and was nominated for a Golden Globe. Its theatrical poster looked like this...




From Albert's Wattstax set are the real gems of the album, I'll Play the Blues For You, Killing Floor, and Breaking Up Somebody's Home. King had few peers when it came to those six strings. This pairing of live albums serves ample evidence as to why.


Albert King
Blues at Sunset
Stax, 1973


1. Match Box Blues
2. Got To Be Some Changes Made
3. I'll Play the Blues For You
4. Killing Floor
5. Angel of Mercy
6. Match Box Blues
7. Watermelon Man
8. Breaking Up Somebody's Home
9. Stormy Monday


Link



Albert King
Blues At Sunrise
Stax, 1973


1. Bad Luck Blues
2. Be On Your Merry Way
3. Let's Have a Natural Ball
4. Wild Woman
5. Howlin' For My Darling
6. Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong
7. Travelin' To California
8. Laundromat Blues
9. Oh, Pretty Woman
10. Crosscut Saw
11. Born Under a Bad Sign
12. As the Years Go Passing By
13. Blues Power
14. Blues at Sunrise

Link


Peace, Mudcatz