According to Joe Bonamassa, there’s one blues guitar legend who was unlike anyone else who came before him — Albert King.
We could see where Joe is coming from. Apart from playing his instruments upside-down and using unusual tunings which still aren’t officially confirmed, there were so many unique aspects to Albert’s musicianship. It’s these things that made him one of the most influential guitar players of all time, inspiring way beyond just the blues genre.
Bonamassa reflected on Albert King’s uniqueness during a chat with Twisted Sister’s Jay Jay French. When Albert came up in the conversation, Joe offered (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):
“It’s like he was the most Immaculate Conception guitar player. I spoke at length about Albert King to Warren Haynes. And he said that to me, and it always stuck.”
“I was like, nobody played like him before. I mean, they knew like, ‘Certainly, he must have listened to somebody…’ And you’re like, ‘Well, who’s doing the bends?'”
The fact that he played with his guitar strung upside-down surely made an impact, particularly with his specific type of bending. However, many others did the same, but none of them were exactly like Albert.
“Otis Rush played upside down and backwards,” Joe added. “There was a few. They were southpaws, and they flip it over.”
Back in their days, it was a challenge to even find a proper instrument, so it wasn’t a surprise that some of them flipped their guitars over. “They didn’t have a luthier to change the nut,” Bonamassa pointed out. “They were lucky enough just to have a guitar. A lot of people do that.”
Speaking of Albert being unique, Joe also added that he tried to find someone before him who had a similar style but just couldn’t find anyone. He explained:
“But I went back and I was looking for slide people that used to bend. And I’m like, Albert just came out of nowhere. And he sang. Then, you’re like, ‘Okay.'”
“He was such an artist. And he leaned more towards the soul side of things. But when he would play and dig in, he had the right sound.”
Discussing the topic further, Joe also reflected on his favorite Albert King release and how he got some of his best tones. He offered:
“My favorite Albert is Fillmore [‘Live Wire/Blues Power’ album recorded at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco]. Obviously, everybody’s seen it. ‘Blues power.’ And he had a Dual Showman Reverb D5000. Basically a Twin Reverb with two 15s.”
“And he is on fire, and he does one of those classic Albert bends, and he gets the feedback. And the band is killing. The second time around, he turns the amp all the way up, and the guitar squeals.”
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