Son of a gun! It’s Blues Album of the Week time again! This week we go back in time to 1968 at the Fillmore (west) in San Francisco. I bring you one of the “Three Kings”, Albert King’s Thursday Night in San Francisco. This is the third album from the 2 night stay at the Fillmore that produced “Live Wire/Blues Power” and “Wednesday Night in San Francisco”. It’s basically leftovers from the other two albums, which sounds like a “give-up”, but to call these tunes leftovers is a slight in and of itself. Now before we get into the songs, let’s talk about that one word that defines a guitarist of any genre, yep, Tone! Albert has a very interesting tone, in that he plays a Gibson Flying V, upside down, without reversing the strings, that is with the high strings on top and the low on bottom. He never had an amp preference, he just used whatever was available. I believe he had one of his pickups reverse wound to produce an out of phase sound, ala Peter Green. His notes are clear and precise with just a slight hint of dirt. Listening to Albert is like attending a masterclass for blues guitar, he just milks emotion out of each note. Now onto the tunes, we start of with a quick intro of “San-Ho-Zay”, then launch into a brilliant version of “You Upset Me, Baby”. You’ve got “Stormy Monday” and “Everyday I Have the Blues”, plus a great version of “Crosscut Saw” (while not one of my favorites, I really dig this version). Both “Drifting Blues” and “I’m Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town” are key lessons in how to play a slow blues. Just wonderful. Nine songs, with a 53 sec intro of “San-Ho-Zay”, this is good stuff all around. Enjoy!
