Blues Guitar Killers

Performer: Albert King
Engineer: George Chkiantz; Giorgio Gomelsky
Producer: Giorgio Gomelsky; Phil Lawrence; Kevin Eggers
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Albert King (vocals, guitar); Lowell Fulson (vocals); Louisiana Red, Rory Gallagher (guitar); Steve Wilson , Wayne Preston, Nate Fitzgerald (horns); James Washington (keyboards); Joe Turner (drums). Liner Note Author: Bill Dahl. Recording information: Montreaux Festival Studios, Switzerland. Photographer: Paul "Blind Man" Harris. This odd box combines two previously released double-disc albums in one package, Albert King's Blues from the Road, a live set recorded at the 1975 Montreux Jazz Festival, and a collection of Johnny Winter's earliest recordings called Winter Essentials. King's set includes guest appearances by Rory Gallagher, Louisiana Red, and Lowell Fulson, and while it is vintage Albert King, with several long jams, it isn't exactly essential. The Winter compilation covers 1960 to 1967 and includes all manner of odds and ends from doo wop pieces to scattered instrumentals that show a solid guitarist looking for a home. Winter found one, and solidified his Texas albino hotshot guitar image and stance when he signed to Columbia Records in 1968. Again, fascinating as some of these sides are as archival material, the album isn't (despite the title) essential except for serious fans and collectors. Placed together like this, the two collections have only a tangible connection (both include blues guitar playing), and since both are available individually, it's probably just as sensible to pick them up that way. ~ Steve Leggett

Albert King is one of the most important post-war blues guitarists. His influence was even more profoundly felt in the rock world than in blues, though he earned iconic stature in both. His unusual style came from playing pickless, upside-down, and left-handed, and from his preference for attack, tone, and volume over speed. King was also one of the first blues players to enter the R&B world, recording on Stax with Booker T. & the MG's.

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