The Essential Albert King: A Step-by-Step Breakdown of the Styles and Techniques of a Blues and Soul Legend (Signature Licks Guitar) [Paperback]

Wolf Marshall (Author), Albert King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

Learn the trademark riffs and solos of this blues King! Provides in-depth analysis of 12 songs: Angel of Mercy * Answer to the Laundromat Blues * Blues Power * Born Under a Bad Sign * Crosscut Saw * Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong * The Hunter * I Wanna Get Funky * I'll Play the Blues for You * Laundromat Blues * Oh Pretty Woman * Personal Manager. CD features full demonstrations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0634049062
• ISBN-13: 978-0634049064
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #613,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pentatonic Box 1 or 2 ????, July 25, 2005

By 

Mr. Darren Whyte (Dundalk, Co. Louth, Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Essential Albert King: A Step-by-Step Breakdown of the Styles and Techniques of a Blues and Soul Legend (Signature Licks Guitar) (Paperback)

The recoring is great...all the four note bends sound good and pre note bends too. Wolf Marshall probably the best guitar signature transcriber around, nails each note perfectly.

The problem I have with this is that the notes are played higher up the fretboard than Albert played them.
I know he was left handed - playing a right handed guitar upside down (like Hendrix) but did not restring the instrument. He also tuned down one & half tones (3 frets).

This makes four note bends impossible on the top string in standard tuning, (YOU WILL PROBABLY BREAK HIGH E STRINGS)which is the way Wolf Marshall recorded it for this package.

If you try the DVD from the same company (Hal Leonard) 'Albert King signature licks' by Andy Aledort, you will see them played in the correct positions.

Anyway I bought both at the same time & was not sure who to believe. This means that this package is not much use afterall.

Darren.
Dundalk - Ireland.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not useful, October 18, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Essential Albert King: A Step-by-Step Breakdown of the Styles and Techniques of a Blues and Soul Legend (Signature Licks Guitar) (Paperback)

I'm not actually 13, I just don't remember my password. Wolf Marshall has done a fabulous job in recreating the music of Albert King - just about every note is dead on. However, he transcribes all of Albert's licks in the 3rd pentatonic position (instead of the home position), and he does seem to have good reasoning for it: 1) King used a wound g-string, so this position better duplicates that sound on a normal guitar (with and unwound g-string). 2) King tuned down 1 and a half steps (3 frets), so he could quite easily bend and pre-bend the high e string up to 2 full steps (4 frets). On a normal guitar, it is extremely difficult to do this and usually you won't even get the full bend before you break your e string. These are good reasons, but the licks transcribed in this position are almost useless for playing anything outside of Albert's style. You cannot play fast with the transcribed positions (which Marshall backs up by saying that Albert doesn't play extremely fast anyways). Other than the 2-step bends, these licks are best played in the home position. So if you want to learn Albert King's licks and not be able to apply them to any other blues playing, I would recommend this book. Also, if you don't mind re-transcribing the licks to the pentatonic home position, this book may also be a worthwile purchase (considering that the notes themselves are correct). This is what I am doing now. What I have started to do with these licks is: when I need to do the huge bends, I just go back up to the 3rd position; otherwise, I stay in first. If this is not a hassle to you, buy this book. Otherwise, stay away.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!!, September 2, 2004

By 

Ernie Wild "Eddie" (Traverse City, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Albert King: A Step-by-Step Breakdown of the Styles and Techniques of a Blues and Soul Legend (Signature Licks Guitar) (Paperback)

A great choice of songs including "Personal Manager" my personal favorite Albert King solo. But the clincher for me is "Blues Power". This song itself is worth the price of the book and CD! It's not the song so much as there is so much of it. It can be looked at as a key to Albert's style. There are so many licks you can learn to "jam" Albert just by learning this song alone. Try breaking this song up anyway you want and jamming with any slow blues track you have and you'll see what I mean. This book/CD was a must for me and I highly recommend it! Wolf did a fantastic job with it! It's worth twice the price!