I picked up the "Born Under a Bad Sign" record by Albert King today. It came out 1967, and basically revived the dying blues brand, leading to a resurgence in old-fashioned blues aesthetics. King was a huge influence on Stevie Ray Vaughan, and it shows. I can hear licks all over the album that most people would probably associate first and foremost with Stevie, but King was able to convey the same emotion with less notes. He probably lacked the virtuosity of a player like Vaughan, but was able to create more personable grooves that mastered depth and space. That's what's so great about the blues. On the outside, it would be easy to dismiss the style as one dimensional and limited, among the ranks of the great players, every possible emotion is covered within the same scales of eight beautiful notes.
