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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0025218853620
Item Dimensions: 19
Label: Stax
Manufacturer: Stax
MPN: 8536
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Stax
Release Date: October 17, 1990
Studio: Stax
Disc 1:- I Wanna Get Funky
- Playing on Me
- Walking the Back Streets and Crying
- 'Til My Back Ain't Got No Bone
- Flat Tire
- I Can't Hear Nothing But the Blues
- Travelin' Man
- Crosscut Saw
- That's What the Blues Is All About
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Editorial Review:
Album Description:
Import exclusive 24-bit digitally remastered reissue of 1974 album packaged in a digipak. Includes multimedia track featuring video, biography & pictures. Stax.
Average Rating: 
Rating: -
Indeed, Albert King does get funky.....and it is fantastic. This album sounds like what one would get if Albert King made an album with Booker T. and the MG's, plus a funky horn section. Some of it sounds very Isaac Hayes-ish, ala "Shaft". In this case Albert teams up with the Bar-Kays. The result is some truly soulful funk, with Albert's rough voice and fiery guitar licks. Is is blues? Is it funk? Who cares? It's just great music. A must have for Albert King fans and fans of "old school" soul and funk. And the cover with Albert smoking his pipe while playing a Stratocaster left-handed...ala Hendrix.....is simple badass!!!!!
Rating: -
This album appeared one year after "Ill Play The Blues For You". It became his last LP for the Stax label. His next, now released as "The Blues Don't Change", became a compilation of single tracks he did at the end of the Stax era (much like "Born Under A Bad Sign" was a compilation of his first tracks). Albert was at the height of his playing ability and he had achieved some fame and influence as a Blues player (finally). Like B.B. King in "The Thrill is Gone", Albert had a string section included in a cut. Not just strings mind you, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra!
That is on "Flat Tire" a self-penned talking blues he excelled in (witness "Cold Feet"). He later appeared on Memphis TV with the Memphis Symphony and did several of his hits including "Personal Manager", the first Bluesman to do this, often this is overlooked. This should be released on DVD!!
This LP has many different styles and tempos on it. It sounds the way for the era of funk music and disco of the 1970s. It again shows the adaptablity and creativity of the Blues. Unlike his most creative LP: "I'll Play The Blues For You", this one is tight, perhaps a bit over produced for blues and less experimental, more commercial. However, it doesn't just emulate the previous grooves in "Ill Play the Blues".....it tried to take the blues to the era of seventies style music.
The tracks are great! Forget the dated (even then!!!!) title track. This minor key gem has a fabluous groove to it with soulful solos and the 1970's trademark: "I Wanna Get Down". Playing On Me is a straight soul blues that could have been a single. Little Milton is upstaged with this tune "Walking The Back Streets and Crying" written by Sandy Jones who wrote Albert first Stax hit "Laundromat Blues". This is a highlight in Albert's career. The tune has also been recorded by Otis Rush as a tribute to Albert.
"'Til My Back Ain't Got No Bone" is a great talking blues modernized for the seventies.(Little)Jimmy King did a good version of this on his "Live At Monterrey" set. "I Can't Hear Nothing But The Blues" was actually written (originally) by Howlin' Wolf's guitarist Hubert Sumlin. Albert's solo is powerful and one of the best of his career and it is in the high register, something he did not do much. Compare this with the tune "Finger On The Trigger" side on the CD "Funky London". It was an out-take with the same groove!
"Travelin Man" is an underrated King tune. It is short. but says a lot. It was designed as a dance tune and probably a single. The other big highlight of this set is the reworking of "Crosscut Saw" is Al Jackson on drums. It is worth the price of this CD for this track alone! The guitar in this masterpiece is the best Albert ever attained and his solos are more than awesome! Just listen to the controlled bending- that's where Hendrix got inspired and SRV tried to do (Many say SRV was the best Albert emulator, but he never did this!!!!)
"That's What the Blues Is All About" is a commercial (pop) blues that was a single (very successful, too). It features a 1970s style soul groove and some interesting lyrics. This is a must have CD for blues lovers. It is interesting that when a Stax subsidiary in Europe put out remastered reissues of some Stax stuff they put out this one instead of "I'll Play The Blues"....this says something. Get this recording. How about the cover photo. Albert with a 1970s Fender Strat like Hendrix played, maple neck, too. This just invites you to hear something different!
Rating: -
This cd is a must for Albert King's fans. All tracks are hot!
After purchasing Live Wire / Blues Power, this should be the next purchase! I love this CD because there are no bad tracks!
Tasty cuts like " Till my back ain't got no bone", " Flat tire", and " That's what the blues are all about" will convert you to believing that Albert King was the best of all time!
Rating: -
I really like this CD. Albert King plays a clean guitar unadorned by effects. His leads are tastey jabs of the pentatonic scales. He has great control when he bends a string. He can do it quick or slow. This is a great album for anyone wanting to learn how to play Blues leads (cf CROSSCUT SAW). Every one of these songs is solid Blues played with passion. The band supporting him is awesome. They provide a steady beat for Albert King to launch his astral play. If you are interested in Chicago Blues played by a legendary guitarist, this CD will be interesting to you.
Rating: -
With 'Travelling Man' as an all times classic, along with the breathtaking slow blues 'Walkin' the back streets and crying', and an astonishingly powerful final solo on ''til my back ain't got no bone', this album is a serious candidate to serve as an ultimate word on the funky-blues, seventies-inflected music of the future. Though always mumbling a little bit too much, Sir Albert sings better than ever on these tracks, and his guitar is as bluesy and funky as a six-strings version of James Brown. Add a right dose of Hammond organ and a perfectly orchestrated horn session, to obtain a virtually perfect, modern and highly enjoyable LP.
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