Al King

A music researcher once complained that distinguishing the various performers called Al King resembled searching for one particular sand dune amid countless others, as vintage R&B played on a nearby jukebox. His supervisor replied that the comparison was apt, noting that the desired artist had cut sides for the Sahara imprint. Keeping track of this Al King via an association with the similarly named Shirley label, another independent company that released his material during the 1960s and 1970s, seemed less useful. In 1996 the combined output from both Shirley and Sahara appeared on the Forever More label as the anthology Blues Master. The tracks "My Name is Misery" and "Think Twice Before You Speak" reveal King's breadth, shifting from a tone of helplessness to one of menace, while "My Money Ain't Long Enough" and "Blue Shadows" blend striking and familiar images. Lead guitar on many of these recordings was supplied by Johnny Heartsman, a bandleader with whom King began working in Oakland in the 1960s. Certain blues enthusiasts regard the resulting music as the finest representation of the regional style and atmosphere of that period.