ALBERT KING BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN '67 ORIGINAL BLUES FUNK STAX LP

$

41

• ALBERT KING - Born under a bad sign (Stax Records S723)

• Original U.S. Stereo Pressing

• Original STAX RECORDS Label (yellow label with black text)

• I GRADE THE VINYL AS VG+. Some topical scuffs. Some superficial  abrasions (mainly just sleeve marks inflicted in storage over the years) are  visible, but they appear fairly  insignificant, and are only moderately visually distracting. For most part, the vinyl looks really good, without any extreme visual flaws or imperfections. The original luster is much intact, the vinyl shines and sparkles.

• The labels are very clean. 

• The cover (VG to VG+) has some shelf ware and edge ware. There's clear tape placed, somewhat neatly, on top seam that appears to be for reinforcement as opposed to repair: barely noticed. Promo (bb) hole. The graphics are sharp and vivid. DO NOT let this opportunity pass you by.

• Here it is!! Albert King's FIRST Stax album – and undoubtedly the single greatest album of his career - the phenomenal 1967, "Born under the bad sign" album, which he recorded with Booker T. & the MG's (still one of the top-5 best blues recordings of all time, period!). If you have never heard this album before, you owe it to yourself check it out. We present to you the guitar player whom no less of a guitar genius as Jimi Hendrix cited as his idol (not to mention: covered the title track himself).

• Albert King recorded a lot in the early '60s, including some classic sides, but they never quite hit the mark. They never gained a large audience, nor did they really capture the ferocity of his single-string leads. Then he signed with Stax in 1966 and recorded a number of sessions with the house band, Booker T. & the MG's, and everything just clicked. The MG's gave King supple Southern support, providing an excellent contrast to his tightly wound lead guitar, allowing to him to unleash a torrent of blistering guitar runs that were profoundly influential, not just in blues, but in rock & roll (witness Eric Clapton's unabashed copping of King throughout Cream's Disraeli Gears). Initially, these sessions were just released as singles, but they were soon compiled as King's Stax debut, Born Under a Bad Sign. Certainly, the concentration of singles gives the album a consistency -- these were songs devised to get attention -- but, years later, it's astounding how strong this catalog of songs is: "Born Under a Bad Sign," "Crosscut Saw," "Oh Pretty Woman," "The Hunter," "Personal Manager," and "Laundromat Blues" form the very foundation of Albert King's musical identity and legacy. Few blues albums are this on a cut-by-cut level; the songs are exceptional and the performances are rich, from King's dynamic playing to the Southern funk of The MG's. It was immediately influential at the time and, over the years, it has only grown in stature as one of the very greatest electric blues albums of all time.