One of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with B.B. King and Freddie King), Albert King stood 6' 4", weighed 250 lbs and was known as "The Velvet Bulldozer". He was born Albert Nelson on a cotton plantation in Indianola, Mississippi. During his childhood he would sing at a family gospel group at a church. One of 13 children, King grew up picking cotton on plantations near Forrest City, Arkansas where the family moved when he was eight years old. He began his professional work as a musician with a group called In The Groove Boys in Osceola, Arkansas. He had also briefly played drums for Jimmy Reed's band and on several early Reed recordings. Influenced by blues musicians Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lonnie Johnson, but also interestingly Hawaiian music, the electric guitar became his signature instrument, his preference being the Gibson Flying V, which he named "Lucy".
King was a left-handed "upside-down/backwards" guitarist. He was left-handed, but usually played right-handed guitars flipped over upside-down so the low E string was on the bottom. In later years he played a custom-made guitar that was basically left-handed, but had the strings reversed (as he was used to playing). He also used very unorthodox tunings (i.e., tuning as low as C to allow him to make sweeping string bends). Some believe that he was using open E minor tuning (C-B-E-G-B-E) or open F tuning (C-F-C-F-A-D). A "less is more" type blues player, he was known for his expressive "bending" of notes, a technique characteristic of blues guitarists.
He recorded his first record in 1953 for Parrot Records in Chicago, but it had no impact. His first minor hit came in 1959 with Lonely Man written by Bobbin Records A&R man and fellow guitar hero Little Milton, responsible for King's signing with the label. However, it was not until his 1961 release Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong that he had a major hit, reaching number fourteen on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart. In 1966 he signed with the Stax record label. Produced by Al Jackson, Jr., King with Booker T. & the MG's recorded dozens of influential sides, such as Crosscut Saw and As The Years Go Passing By, and in 1967 Stax released the album, Born Under a Bad Sign. The title track of that album (written by Booker T. Jones and William Bell) became King's best known songs and has been covered by many other artists.
Another landmark album followed in Live Wire/Blues Power from one of many dates King played at promoter Bill Graham's Fillmore venues. It had a wide and long-term influence on Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Robbie Robertson, and later Gary Moore and Stevie Ray Vaughan (Criminal World, on David Bowie's 1983 release Let's Dance, features a guitar solo copied note-for-note from his hero Albert King by young session musician Stevie Ray Vaughan).
In the 1970s, King was teamed with members of The Bar-Kays and The Movement (Isaac Hayes's backing group), including bassist James Alexander and drummer Willie Hall adding strong funk elements to his music. Adding strings and multiple rhythm guitarists, producers Allen Jones and Henry Bush created a wall of sound that contrasted the sparse, punchy records King made with Booker T. & the MG's. Among these was another of King's signature tunes with I'll Play the Blues For You in 1972.
Recorded in December 1983, In Session captures an in-concert jam between Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan
As he hit his mid-sixties King began to muse about retirement, not unreasonable given that he had health problems. Nevertheless, when near to death, he was planning yet another overseas tour.
King died on December 21, 1992 from a heart attack in Memphis, Tennessee.
All Your Love
Albert King Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All the loving is loving, all the kissin' is kissing
Before I met you baby, never knew what I was missing
All your love, pretty baby, that I got in store for you
All your love, pretty baby, that I got in store for you
I love you pretty baby, well I say you love me too
All your loving, pretty baby, all your loving, pretty baby
Since I first met you baby, I never knew what I was missing
Hey, hey baby, hey, hey baby
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby, oh, oh, baby
Since I first met you baby, never knew what I was missing
The lyrics of Albert King's "All Your Love" talks of the profound love and affection the singer has for his lover. The lines, "All the loving is loving, all the kissin' is kissing" is a way of expressing how genuine and authentic their love is. The lyrics indicate that the love that the singer shares with his lover is not merely superficial or based on physical attraction but goes beyond that. This is also evident from the line "Before I met you baby, never knew what I was missing," which conveys that the singer had not experienced this kind of love before meeting his lover.
The chorus "All your love, pretty baby, that I got in store for you, I love you pretty baby, well I say you love me too" reinforces the idea that the singer has ample love to shower upon his lover and hopes that the affection is mutual. This ardor and passion are further highlighted in the subsequent verses where the lyrics repeat the phrases "All your loving, pretty baby" over and over again, emphasizing the depth and intensity of the emotion.
Overall, the lyrics of "All Your Love" is a beautiful tribute to the quintessential feeling of love and how it completes and enriches one's life.
Line by Line Meaning
All the loving is loving, all the kissin' is kissing
All the affection I give you is genuine and from the heart.
Before I met you baby, never knew what I was missing
I didn't realize how incomplete my life was until you came into it.
All your love, pretty baby, that I got in store for you
I have a great deal of love saved up just for you.
I love you pretty baby, well I say you love me too
I have strong feelings for you and hope you feel the same way.
All your loving, pretty baby, all your loving, pretty baby
I appreciate all of the affection you give me.
Since I first met you baby, I never knew what I was missing
My life is so much better now that you're in it.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Otis Rush
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@agressivepizza49
Blood Ghoul attacks!
@sjh5465
eyyyyy, Space Funeral!
@themysticknightsofthe2150
Space Funeral and Ghostbusters Afterlife!
@lomasloco70
Delightful compositions of two underrated geniuses of Real Blues. I've got this complete recording on vinyl, legacy of my late brother, singer Rony De León, from Los S.O.S. de Guatemala. Even my 15 yo daughter likes 'em, and she was only 11, when heard this for the first time! Thanks for the post!
@keithrandall1492
Thanks for this. Your text suggests that Rush and King are playing together...They're not, of course.