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thursday, September 21, 1978
ad lib
((daytime))
THURS THRU WED
Albert still 'King' as blues drive on
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Photos by Bob Pearson
By Jeff Taebcl
There were blues to drive the blues
away last Friday night as Luther Allison
and Albert King each played hard-edged
sets for an enthusiastic crowd at the annual
Great Plains Blues Festival. The event,
which was sponsored by the Union Pro
gram Council, featured two artists with
highly contrasting styles, which made for
an interesting evening of music.
Luther Allison opened the show by
allowing his four-piece backup unit, The
Strokes, to play two songs before he took
the stage. Allison's band featured guitar,
bass, drums and organ and they did an
excellent job of warming the audience up
for Allison's appearance. When Allison
joined the band onstage, he immediately
captivated the crowd with his swaggering
movements, emotional vocals and sharp,
metallic lead guitar work.
During the course of his set, Allison al
lowed the players around him to solo fre
quently, which not only punctuated his
own playing, but showed what a versatile
band he has. The group was able to main
tain a high level of intensity throughout
the show, both on the upbeat numbers and
on the slow, wrenching blues tunes.
Highlights of the set included a churning
rendition of "Sweet Home Chicago," on
which Allison sang beautifully and exhibi
ted some of the fiery playing that is his
trademark. Also outstanding was his read
ing of Howlin' Wolfs "The Red Rooster."
Allison began the song with some low-key
Delta style guitar work to support his
deep, throaty vocals. The band joined him
in mid song and turned this slow blues into
an explosive, double-time tour de force,
finally finishing with some strains of "The
Star Spangled Banner" and some good
natured humor to end the set.
Many artists would have had trouble
following Allison's high-voltage perform
ance, but any notions about Albert King
having such problems were quickly
dispelled when King's band took the stage.
The four-piece group which had the same
instrumentation as Allison's band began
their portion of the show with a high
energy disco number that featured some
flashy playing from all the band members.
King joined the ensemble on their second
song, making a grand entrance, smoking his
famous pipe.
After settling into the groove of the
song, it was obvious that King was totally
in control of the music and the crowd and
enjoying himself immensely. King's
presence was something to behold as the
6'4" 250-pound bluesman lurked mena
cingly on the edge of the stage, his Gibson
"Flying V" guitar looking like a toy in his
hands.
King played a different style of blues
than Allison, his relying more on tradition
al rhythmic accompaniments and embel
lishments, yet his guitar work was so over
powering that it was hard to notice these
differences at first.
Unlike Allison, King utilized a brash,
buzzy tone with a great deal of dostortion
and sustain. His playing was not so much
fast or flashy as it was solid and impec
cably phrased, so as to extract every pos
sible amount of emotion from each lick.
King played without a pick, using a left
handed guitar, strung upside down. He also
used a variety of tunings, all of which
would make his distinctive style extremely
0
hard to imitate, yet listening to him play
for two hours is like taking a mini-course
on the history of modern bines guitar. It's
easy to see where Clapton, Page and Hen
drix get their blues inspirations after listen
ing to King take a solo.
Unfortunately, there were some equip
ment difficulties in the middle of the set
that left King's vocals inaudible at times,
which was a shame, because, despite the
fact that he is more celebrated for his
playing, he is also an excellent blues
vocalist. While his singing doesn't have the
abrasiveness of Howlin' Wolf, or the thick
voiced splendor of Muddy Waters, King's
vocals are delivered with an air of honesty
and intensity that few others can match.
One notable absence from King's set
was his classic, "Born Under A Bad Sign,"
the title song from the album which cata
pulted him onto the forefront of the urban
electric blues scene in the mid-sixties. How
ever, his performance did include several
of his better-known early songs, such as
"Cross-Cut Saw" and "As The Years Go
Passing By."
Aside from his equipment difficulties,
King seemed to be having a good time
throughout the show and chatted with the
audience between and during some of the
songs.
His playing was accentuated by some
excellent staccato lines from his rhythm
guitarist as well as some very tight bass and
drum work, which kept all the songs
moving right along. Near the end of the
show, the band indulged in some spontane
ous choreography that was indicative of
the enthusiasm with which they played.
After twenty years of recording, playing
on the road, achieving the status of being a
living legend and accomplishing most of
his musical goals, one could forgive a per
former for tending to rest on his laurels
and take it easy suring shows in smaller
towns and on college campuses, yet Albert
King played like a young artist still strug
gling to make a name for himself. After
watching him put his all into a
performance, it's easy to see how he got
to the top. Long live "The King."
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