Panther's picks - Albert King: I'll Play The Blues For You - 1972

 

This is a truly magnificent album that saw Albert King augmenting his blues guitar sound with Stax horns and Memphis soul sounds. It is wonderfully remastered here (in the Stax remasters series) in a warm, full, vibrant seventies-style separated stereo. It is simply a pleasure to listen to. 

All the material is top notch - the brooding but melodic, extended I'll Play The Blues For You, the soulful Little Brother and the sublime grinding funky, lyrically cynical soul groove of Breaking Up Somebody's Home, with its sumptuous horns, get the album off the a superb start. King's guitar is magnificent and the overall vibe is just cooking to boiling point. It drips with soul. Lots of echoes of Al Green and Ann Peebles all over it. The organ-bass-horns funky guitar interplay four minutes in is truly intoxicating. Great stuff. Man, I love this album. 

As on all the albums, the sound is absolutely first class. The final track on the original album is the slow-burning, horn-introduced blues of Angel Of Mercy. A real copper-bottomed blues. The Alternate Version of I'll Play The Blues For You is scintillating too, replacing the spoken word vocal parts with more guitar and saxophone. 

I simply can't recommend this album highly enough if you like the blues and you like Stax. You will be in Heaven.

Secondary, 2 of 10

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