ALBERT KING - BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN

BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN

ALBERT KING

SONGWRITERS: BOOKER T. JONES & WILLIAM BELL

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN

LABEL: STAX

GENRE: BLUES

YEAR: 1967

Born Under a Bad Sign is the second compilation album by American blues musician Albert King, released in 1967 by Stax Records. It features eleven electric blues songs that were recorded from March 1966 to June 1967, throughout five different sessions. King played with two in-house bands: Booker T. & the M.G.'s and the Memphis Horns.

Although the album failed to reach any music chart, it did receive positive reviews and is now regarded by critics as one of the greatest blues albums ever made. The guitar play on Born Under a Bad Sign influenced many guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born Under a Bad Sign was inducted into both the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2012, it was ranked at number 491 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Albert Nelson(April 25, 1923–December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American blues guitarist and singer whose playing influenced many other blues guitarists. He is perhaps best known for the popular and influential álbum Born Under a Bad Sign(1967) and its title track. He is one of the three performers (together with B.B. King and Freddie King) known as the "Kings of the Blues." King was known for his "deep, dramatic sound that was widely imitated by both blues and rock guitarists."

He was once nicknamed "The Velvet Bulldozer" because of his smooth singing and large size–he stood taller than average, with sources reporting 6 ft 4in (1.93m) or 6ft 7in (2.01m), and weighed 250lb (110kg)–and also because he drove a bulldozer in one of his day jobs early in his career.

King was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1983. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2011, he was ranked number 13 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Over the course of his career, King was nominated for two Grammy awards. In 1983, he was nominated for Best Traditional Blues album for San Francisco '83 and the next year he was also nominated for I'm In A Phone Booth, Baby.

In 1983, King was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.

King received a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 1993.

In 2011, King was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in his hometown Indianola.

King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. At the induction ceremony, Gary Clark Jr. performed King's "Oh, Pretty Woman" and was then joined by John Mayer and Booker T. Jones to perform King's "Born Under a Bad Sign."

King was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2013. 

Born under a bad sign

Been down since I began to crawl

If it wasn't for bad luck

You know I wouldn't have no luck at all

Hard luck and trouble been my only friends

I've been on my own ever since I was ten

Born under a bad sign

Been down since I began to crawl

If it wasn't for bad luck

You know I wouldn't have no luck at all

I can't read

I didn't learn how to write

My whole life has been one big fight

Born under a bad sign

Been down since I began to crawl

If it wasn't for bad luck

You know I wouldn't have no luck at all

You know if it wasn't for bad luck

I wouldn't have no kind of luck

If it wasn't for real bad luck

I wouldn't have no luck at all

You know wine and women is all I crave

A big-legged woman gonna carry me to my grave

Born under a bad sign

Been down since I began to crawl

If it wasn't for bad luck

You know I wouldn't have no luck at all.