Al King - Blues Master

"Telling these guys named Al King apart is like looking for a specific dune in the desert," a research assistant griped to his boss, vintage R&B blaring on a jukebox in the background. "That's a good image," the clever musicologist snapped, "because the guy you are looking for used to record for a label called Sahara!"

Al King was born Alvin Smith, August 8, 1926 in Monroe, LA. He was singing in the church choir by age ten and had the requisite god-fearing/blues-hating grandmother who whipped his butt each time he was caught showing interest in the blues which only caused him to get better at not getting caught. He recalled taking a whipping for sneaking out to see Billie Holiday, I know that personally I'd cheerfully take a whuppin' to see Billie even today!

He went into the service straight out of high school and was cut loose by Uncle Sam in California in 1947. King first tried San Francisco but soon went south to L.A. where work and music opportunities were more plentiful. He did a single for John Dolphin and a few more with a vocal group, but his career gained little traction until he hooked up with Johnny Otis for a time. The exposure with Otis lead to a pair of recording sessions up in Oakland where his bandleader turned out to be a 17 year old Johnny Heartsman. A friendship was formed that later lead to the music here on this disc.

Al Smith (not yet using King) had no success in making a name for himself in those sessions, but he did develop contacts and friendships with the like of Jimmy McCracklin and Bob Geddins and soon moved back to the Bay Area, this time on the Oakland side. He did some touring as a backup singer for McCracklin, and some unsuccessful singles for Geddins, but still he worked a day job to eat.

Finally in 1964 Al met Ron Badger who owned the Shirley imprint and Badger believed in him enough that a session ensued with Heartsman and his band backing. Smith had used the middle initial K for some time as a personal tribute to B.B. King, but on these sessions and thereafter he used King as a surname. The results are your first four tracks here. The first pair of tracks were released on Shirley to some modest jukebox success.

Whatever arrangements that had financed the Shirley session were clearly short-term because his next trip to the studio was self financed on his own label, Flag. The single (On My Way/Reconsider Baby) with Heartsman's band backing, turned out to be more successful than King's tiny label could manage and when Shahara Records of Buffalo, NY sent a telegram ordering 2,000 copies, there was no way King could afford to fill the order. Fortunately Sahara could afford the pressing and was willing to strike a deal that included the additional 8 tracks here.

King signed with Modern in 1968 resulting in the material on the earlier post here. His recording career ends in 1970, but he continued to be active in Bay Area blues clubs and festivals. I've realized through the course of these two posts that I actually saw him at least twice -- Preslives may well have seen him too.