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.
Sky Is Crying
Albert King Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Can you see the tears roll down the street.
The sky is crying,
Can you see the tears roll down the street.
I've been looking for my baby
And I've been wondering where can she be
I my baby early one morning
I my baby early one morning
She was walking on down the street
You know it hurt me, hurt me so bad
It made my poor heart skip a beat
I got a real, real fine feeling
That my baby she don't love me no more
I got a real, real fine feeling
That my baby she don't love me no more
You know the sky's been crying
Can see you see the tears roll down my door
The lyrics of Albert King's song Sky Is Crying refer to the singer's heartbreak over his lost love. The repeated phrase "the sky is crying" is a metaphor for his sorrow and the tears that he can see in the world around him - on the street, on his door - reflect that sadness. The first verse sets the scene and establishes the metaphor, with the tears representing the rain. In the second verse, the focus shifts to the singer's memory of his lost love; he saw her walking down the street, and her absence has caused him pain. The third verse suggests that he knows his love is not reciprocated, and this knowledge deepens his sense of loss. Throughout the song, the singer's pain is conveyed through the emotional intensity of King's guitar playing and his soulful vocal delivery.
One possible interpretation of the lyrics is that the singer's sense of loss is tied to a broader sense of disconnection or alienation. His love is gone, and he can feel the tears in the world around him, but he cannot find her or reconnect with her. The sky is crying, but it is also distant and unfeeling; it is an indifferent witness to his heartbreak. In this reading, the song could be seen as a meditation on the loneliness and isolation that can come through losing someone you love, and the sense that the world can seem to be weeping alongside you even as it remains fundamentally separate from your grief.
In terms of the music and lyrics, one of the striking aspects of Sky Is Crying is the way that the song uses repetition to build emotional intensity. The repeated phrase "the sky is crying" acts as a refrain, both tying the verses together and creating a sense of circularity - the tears that he sees on the street and his door are a reflection of his inner pain, but they also seem to deepen it. The repetition of the verse structure itself, with the first two lines being almost identical in every verse, reinforces this sense of circularity and amplifies the sense of loss and sorrow that permeates the song. Overall, Sky Is Crying is a powerful expression of heartbreak and grief, delivered with skill and feeling by one of the great blues guitarists of all time.
Line by Line Meaning
The sky is crying,
It is raining heavily, and the downpour seems sorrowful.
Can you see the tears roll down the street.
The rain is coming down so heavily that it appears as if teardrops are flowing down the road.
I've been looking for my baby
The singer has been searching for his lover.
And I've been wondering where can she be
He is confused and perplexed about her whereabouts.
I saw my baby early one morning
The singer spotted his lover one morning while walking down the street.
She was walking on down the street
His lover was strolling down the lane, without having any idea that he was looking for her.
You know it hurt me, hurt me so bad
The fact that she was walking by and didn't even notice him broke the singer's heart.
It made my poor heart skip a beat
The singer became very upset and distressed, and his heart accelerated in response.
I got a real, real fine feeling
The singer has a strong sense or intuition about something.
That my baby she don't love me no more
The singer has a premonition that his lover no longer cares for him.
You know the sky's been crying
The singer reiterates that it is still raining heavily, and he feels that even the skies empathize with his sadness.
Can see you see the tears roll down my door
The rain is still pouring, and this time the singer feels that it's as if the sky is crying tears for him, which are flowing down the door of his house.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Elmore James
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Faiçal Nagat
The sky is cryin', look at the tears roll down the street
The sky is cryin', look at the tears roll down the street
I been lookin' for my baby, yeah, an' I wonder where can she be
I saw my baby early one mornin', an' she was walkin' on down the street
I saw my baby early one mornin', an' she was walkin' on down the street
You know it hurt me so bad, yeah, it made my poor heart skip a beat
I got a bad feelin', my baby don't love me no more
I got a real bad, bad feelin', my baby don't love me no more
You know the sky is cryin', yeah, the tears rollin' down my nose
The sky is cryin', look at the tears roll down the street
Amoss amos
The bass playing is phenomenal on this track
Lawrence of arabia
I try to mop a little myself, there's nothing like mopping the floor learning & adapting to blues lines changes up the way you mop, Sometimes all you need is ine coat of wax maybe two, maybe three enough of that, sadly the great that this man was all of us didn't hear him while he was playing, instead of praising Clapton, Jimmy buffet, Pete townsend & a host of others we should be paying this legend his due cause just like one of my late uncles, a bricklayer used to say he came from" the school of hard knocks' if you've heard that before you get my point clearly!!! need I say more?
hungrywolf56
Master of the blues! God bless you Albert.
Roberto Felipe Amaral
O céu está chorando mesmo! Lindo, poeta!
Myat Htoo
Man with a pipe and guitar!!!!! and the bends!!!! gives me chills
Child of God
lollll. Sho you right!!!
JOSH FRANCIS
That drum beat tho 🔥
Susie Q
One of favorites, thanks for the music.
Argotero
the sound of the the bass drum is incredible...a lesson to learn!!!
Kulu Sadira
The legendary Al Jackson on drums. Booker T & the MGs founding member and Stax/Volt studio king. Played on pretty much every S/V hit including Otis Redding and more!