Albert King: I'll Play The Blues For You (Bluesville Acoustic Sounds series, 180g) [CRAFT RECORDINGS]

Why you'll love it

This Bluesville Acoustic Sounds edition has all-analog mastering from the original tapes by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, 180g pressing at Quality Record Pressings and a tip-on jacket. The title track entered the Blues Hall of Fame in 2017.

This edition

• Bluesville Acoustic Sounds series
• 180g vinyl
• All-analog mastering from the original tapes
• Pressed at Quality Record Pressings
• Tip-on jacket

About the album

Albert King played a Flying V left-handed and upside down, without a pick, and bent notes with a force guitarists still study. By 1972 he had been with Stax for six years, long enough for "Born Under A Bad Sign" to become a standard, and I'll Play The Blues For You is where he settled into the Memphis groove for good.

The title track, in two parts, is the centrepiece: a slow, smoky blues with King half talking, half singing over a band that knows exactly when to lay back. "Breaking Up Somebody's Home" leans into deep soul, "High Cost Of Living" and "Answer To The Laundromat Blues" swap stories in that dry, husky voice, and "Don't Burn Down The Bridge ('Cause You Might Wanna Come Back Across)" offers sensible advice with a strut. "Little Brother (Make A Way)," "I'll Be Doggone" and "Angel Of Mercy" fill out a record that blends his Mississippi roots with contemporary soul.

King went into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Many have tried to bend a note like Albert; the strings usually win.

Also at Kops: more Albert King on vinyl · browse Blues

Listen

On Bluesville / Craft Recordings, a reissue of the 1972 album.