Albert Upside Down (Albert the Tortoise)

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Having said that, there were 3 amps that King did rely on during his career. These were the Roland JC-120, a Model 260 Acoustic head, and at times a 1969 Fender Dual Showman.

Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2003). All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues (3rded.). Hal Leonard Corporation. p.306. ISBN 0879307366. If in doubt, I would err on the side of playing lighter strings. King’s style is all about big bending and heavy vibrato. So using a light gauge, especially on your top strings, will help. Pushing a tube amp that hard would have undoubtedly produced heavy levels of distortion, beyond the scope of what King wanted. If you do decide that a Flying V isn’t for you, I would recommend opting for an alternative Gibson or Epiphone model.

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With these two points in mind, and assuming that you are doing the majority of your playing at home, I would recommend going for a small tube amp. Albert King was a left handed guitarist. At the time when Albert was learning guitar, left handed guitars were almost non existent, certainly none in production. To compensate, Albert flipped his right handed guitar and played with the thin strings on top. The high E being where the low E traditionally is. The B string being where the A string traditionally is, and so on. It truly provides for an interesting take on the electric guitar. This is because now you are bending the high strings down as opposed to up. Albert King had one of the most unique string setups of any blues guitarists. The way he strung his guitar changed and defined his sound. Dave Kilminster (former lefty; originally played left-handed until injury, now exclusively plays right-handed) King took a four-year break from recording after the disappointing sales of his albums in the late 1970s. During this period, he re-embraced his roots as a blues artist and abandoned any arrangements except straight 12-bar guitar, bass, drums, and piano. In 1983, he released a live album for Fantasy Records, San Francisco '83, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. [27] The same year he recorded a studio television session, more than an hour long, for CHCH Television in Canada, featuring the up-and-coming blues sensation Stevie Ray Vaughan; it was subsequently released as an audio album and later as an audio album plus DVD titled In Session.

Albert is based on the writer's own pet, who is more than 80 years old and has been in Ian's family for more than 50 years. They have been a great supporter of the books and I hope people will take to them as they have the previous stories. I also hope people will continue to support great local assets – libraries and our bookshops.” a b c d "Albert King | Memphis Music Hall of Fame". memphismusichalloffame.com . Retrieved October 19, 2019. Erlewine recalls King mentioning that it was annoying for him to reach up to adjust his tone or volume. “That was one of the reasons he wanted a lefty,” he explains. “He also wanted his name on the fretboard in pearl and abalone, so it would flash under the lights.”

ALBERT IN THE AIR - When Albert escapes from his garden home, he discovers the highs and lows of life beyond. King also enjoyed what’s known as the “lefty advantage” when it comes to bending notes. With the strings’ vertical arrangement flipped, you bend notes on the critical higher-pitched strings by pulling the string downward, which is much easier than pushing upward to execute a bend. Bowman, Rob (1997). Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records. Schirmer Books. ISBN 0-8256-7227-9. There are now four books in the series, including Albert and the Wind, Albert Supersize and new book Albert in the Air. Celebrity tortoise Albert, from Gravesend. Picture: Ian Brown updated, Total Guitar editorslast (July 6, 2020). "The 100 greatest guitarists of all time". guitarworld . Retrieved November 16, 2022.

King’s decision to go down the solid state route was motivated by the need for volume. Before the days of PA systems, you had to crank your amp to be heard. King often played with a horn section, and so had to fight to be heard. For although Albert King is now recognised as one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time, he spent the vast majority of his career playing in clubs and smaller venues. As a result, he sometimes had to rely on what was available to him. Stan Levey ( Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra) right-handed and plays a complete left-handed kit Kashmir (September 29, 2007), BB King SRV Albert King Paul Butterfield - The Sky Is Crying, archived from the original on December 22, 2021 , retrieved November 27, 2018 As is often the case with the early electric bluesmen, Albert King used a variety of different amplifiers during his career. This was partly through choice and partly through necessity.Why King chose to tune in this way is somewhat unclear and I definitely wouldn’t recommend it. The tuning he used is not common. In fact, there are various stories of King turning up to a gig or the studio, playing out of tune and insisting that everyone else tune to his guitar! Whilst of course you can get decent tones from solid state amps, tube amps tend to be the go to choice amongst blues players. In short, this is because when pushed, tube amps break up into a very warm and natural sounding distortion.