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22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Take it from one born on a 13th (albeit not a Friday) ..., August 2, 2003
... and under a half moon on the decline: This is one amazing blues album, doubtlessly one of the greatest ever recorded, and one of the most influential records in all of music history. Because in 1966-67, when Albert King got together on a total of no more than five days with the legendary Booker T. Jones and the MGs, Isaac Hayes, and a recording team of the likewise legendary Stax records to produce this album, the blues was quietly on its way out; in danger of being sidelined by psychedelia and the rock music revolution started by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. That this did not happen is due, not least, to Albert King and "Born Under a Bad Sign."
Already seasoned musician when the album was recorded, Mississippi-born and Arkansas-raised Albert (Nelson) King was a man who perfectly understood to employ minimal construction to maximum effect; to fully exploit even the most basic elements of a blues tune and use his exquisite sense of timing, and subtleness on the one hand and emphasis on the other, rather than dazzling the listener by a frenzied race all over the fretboard. ("He can take four notes and write a volume," renowned guitarist Mike Bloomfield once said about him.) This album is a perfect example of that style, and it promptly proved so influential that King's style would be taken up, in short order, by a whole new generation of guitar players, most notably Peter Green, Eric Clapton (listen to Cream's "Disraeli Gears," in particular its title track "Strange Brew," which unabashedly emulates, note-for-note, the guitar solo of "Personal Manager") and Jimi Hendrix, who like Albert King was a "leftie" and in the habit of turning his guitar upside down, with the bass strings at the bottom - and whose respect for King caused him to forever be reluctant to share a stage with his idol, although a lucky audience at San Francisco's Filmore West did see them appear together on the club's opening night.
But this album did not only prove to be one of the most influential ones in electric blues in general; it also constitutes the cornerstone of Albert King's own musical legacy, with its Booker T. Jones/Al Bell-written title track, which has since been recorded by everyone from Paul Butterfield to its inclusion of the CD based on TV's "Simpsons;" and such songs as "Crosscut Saw," "Oh Pretty Woman," "The Hunter," "Personal Manager," and of course King's first Stax single, "Laundromat Blues." Partly R&B record, not least due to the participation of the Memphis Horns (Wayne Jackson, Andrew Love and Joe Arnold), who provide a frame and additional layers of sound to King's guitar, to the studio band (Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson, Jr.), the album is a product of its time only in the length of the songs, which are generally tied to the 3 1/2-minute limit set by the then-prevailing mandates of radio airplay. Yet, at heart, this is purely blues, from the title track's first powerful riff to the quiet mood of the closing "The Very Thought of You;" and from the feeling of being down and out (summed up, deadpan, in the title track's chorus: "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all") and the tale of a no-good woman who "kept on foolin' around till I got stuck on [her]" ("Oh Pretty Woman") to the grating guitar and verbal punches of the "Laundromat Blues" ("You better hear my warning ...I don't want you to get so clean, baby, you just might wash your life away"). Albert King's early gospel training shines through in every soulful note of songs such as "I Almost Lost My Mind" and "As the Years Go Passing By," and last but not least the album also includes King's own "Down Don't Bother Me" and the Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller classic "Kansas City."
Obviously feeling the need to convince an uncertain audience to give the record a try, Deanie Parker's 1967 liner notes summed up the prevalent blues cliches by recommending the album to anybody who had ever been hurt by a lover, deceived by their best friend or broke and "ready to call it quits" and promising: "Albert King has the solution if you have the time to listen ... he'll get through to you." Well, "solution" may be a bit over-optimistic - but there sure is plenty of feeling on this album, and some of the finest guitar solos ever recorded. And that in and of itself, as well as the name Albert King, should be more than enough of a recommendation to give the album a try.
Also recommended:
In Session
Live Wire/Blues Power
Blues at Sunrise: Live at Montreux
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
4 1/2 stars. King's best studio album, and the best place for newcomers to start, August 10, 2003
Pairing Albert 'King' Nelson with Booker T. Jones and his Memphis Group for the "Born Under A Bad Sign" sessions was a brilliant idea, commercially as well as artistically. The top-notch rhythm section of Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson, jr., add a muscular swagger to King's best-ever batch of songs without ever resorting to sleek and stereotypical funk, Steve Cropper adds sympathetic second guitar, and the sublimely well scored Memphis Horns compliment King's sizzling lead guitar lines perfectly.
This 1967 album was initially conceived as a series of singles recorded over 15 months between March of 1966 and June of 1967, but soon compiled and released in LP form to immediate critical acclaim.
"Born Under A Bad Sign" is Albert King at his most inspired, and most influential, too, a blueprint for young white guitarists like Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and even Jimi Hendrix and Joe Walsh. And it's no wonder. This is an immensely strong and unusually varied collection, spanning swaggering R&B, passionate soul-blues, mid-tempo hardcore blues grinds, and smouldering slow numbers, and most Albert King-compilations contain at least half a dozen songs from "Born Under A Bad Sign".
True, some of King's sets are edgier than this, and songs like "As The Years Go Passing By" and the very delicate cover of Ray Noble's jazz ballad "The Very Thought Of You" could have had more bite, and the first half of the album is certainly stronger overall than the second.
But there are so many highligts here that it's hard to say anything against the common notion that "Bad Sign" is indeed King's best studio album. Songs like the oft-covered "Crosscut Saw", King's own "Down Don't Bother Me", the sizzling "Laudromat Blues", and the soulful and exquisitely arranged title track are among the all-time classics of mid-to-late 60s electric blues.
A terrific record, plain and simple. The only thing you have to be aware of is that Atlantic Records has a version of this album as well, titled "King Of The Blues Guitar", and that one includes ALL of the material that King recorded with Booker T & the MGs, not just the eleven sides that ended up on the album. Check that one out, too; it's not remastered like this one, but the sound is good enough, and the material is even stronger than on the Stax version.
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Greatest Blues Guitar Album Ever?!, June 22, 2002
If you are reading this review, I'll have to assume you are new to blues and blues guitar in particular. If you weren't, you wouldn't need any convincing by me to pick this classic up right away. BB King may be called the King of the Blues, but Albert King is the player most wished they could sound like. He was Stevie Ray Vaughan's favorite player and the only man Hendrix said he was afraid to share a stage with. Live Wire, Blues Power may feature flashier long extended guitar solos, but this cd, more then any other, is the one I use to answer the question: who is Albert King? I just pop it in the deck and let the opening title track fill the room. Two or three tracks are usually all I need to get any newbie running out for their own copy. With guys like Booker T., Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, and the great Issac Hayes backing Albert up, this thing grooves from begining to end and every track is a gem. This could quite possibly be the single greatest and most important blues album ever recorded. It's so nice to see it available again. Do yourself a favor and make this your next blues guitar cd. While you're at it, pick up Live Wire, Blues Power and I'll Play the Blues for You. You may have just found a new favorite guitar player.
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by Albert King 
