Bluesman Albert King was one of the premier electric guitar stylists of the post-World War II period. By playing left-handed and holding his guitar upside-down (with the strings set for a right-handed player), and by concentrating on tone and intensity more than flash, King fashioned over his long career, a sound that was both distinctive and highly influential. He was a master of the single-string solo and could bend strings to produce a particularly tormented blues sound that set his style apart from his contemporaries. A number of prominent artists,from Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix to Mike Bloomfield and Stevie Ray Vaughan, borrowed heavily from King's guitar style.King was also the first major blues
guitarist to cross over into modem soul;his mid- and late 1960s recordings for the Stax label, cut with the same great session musicians who played on the recordings of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave,Eddie Floyd, and others, appealed to his established black audience while broadening his appeal with rock fans. Along with B.B. King (no relation, though at times Albert suggested otherwise) and Muddy Waters, King helped nurture a white interest in blues when the music needed it most to survive.King was born in Mississippi and taught himself how to play on a homemade guitar. Inspired by Blind Lemon Jefferson, King quit singing in a family gospel group and took up the blues. He worked around Osceola, Arkansas, with a group called the In the Groove Boys before migrating north and
ending up in Gary,Indiana, in the early 1950s. For a while, King played drums behind bluesman Jimmy Reed. In 1953, King convinced Parrot label owner Al Benson to record him as a blues singer and guitarist. That year King cut "Bad Luck Blues" and "Be On Your Merry Way" for Parrot. Because King received little in the way of financial remuneration for the record, he left Parrot and eventually moved to St. Louis, where he recorded for the Bobbin and the King labels.
He died of a heart attack in 1992, just prior to starting a major European tour.
Albert King
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshal Hendrix was born in Seattle, Washington, on November 27, 1942; an American of African, European, Cherokee Indian and Mexican descent. An unsettled home environment made Jimi spend much of his early years staying with his grandmother, a full-blooded Cherokee Indian, in Canada.His mother died when Jimi was 15 about the same time as Jimi began to take a serious interest in music and playing the guitar. When he was 12 he got his first electric guitar - the instrument which shaped the next
16 years of his life.At the age of 16, Jimi was thrown out of school -apparently for holding the hand of a white girl in class - and he played rock'n'roll in teenage bands before voluntarily joining the army at 17.After 14 months as a paratrooper, learning a lot about falling and flying, he suffered an injury and was discharged. He decided to enter the music field.The following four years were hard work touring the States playing ba
ck-up guitar for various R&B bands including Little Richard, Ike and Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, the Isley Brothers and the late King Curtis among others. The conditions were not suited to his radical temperament and eventually he was drawn to New York 's Greenwich Village where he recorded with the Isley Brothers, Curtis Knight and various other artists.Then in late 1965 he formed his first band - Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. They worked the Village clubs where he was seen by other musicians who immediately recognized his talent, and word of this young virtuoso reached ex-Animals bassist Chas Chandler. Chas was so impressed after hearing him play he offered to become his manager and persuaded Jimi to accompany him back
to England.England at this stage - late 1966 - was musically ruled by bands such as The Who, The Beatles and Cream with Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck standing alone as the three leading exponents of the electric guitar.The Jimi Hendrix Experience was formed with Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell behind the drums and suddenly there was this black guy on the scene doing things with his guitar that were just not possible. Respect from his peers and adoration from the crowds was instantaneous. They toured Europe, breaking attendance records at one club after another, and then signed a recording contract.A series of singles that all gained top 10 rank, followed. 'Hey Joe', 'Purple Haze' and 'The Wind Cries Mary ' made Jimi a star in England, setting the stage for his Monterey appearance.
Gibson Guitar Announces First Robot Guitar
Gibson Guitar announced today the limited availability of the world's first guitar with robotic technology, the Gibson Robot Guitar. True to the spirit of innovation that inspired Gibson to invent the legendary Tune-o-matic bridge, the powerful humbucker and the revolutionary HD.6X Pro digital Les Paul guitar, the Gibson Robot Guitar is set to make music industry history.
Features:
1. The Gibson Robot Guitar eliminates tuning problems for guitarists. It automatically tunes to standard A440 tuning.
2. It also allows players to access six commonly used altered tuning presets at the push of a button. These tunings were used on many well-known hit songs, giving players easy access for the very first time.
3. The Gibson Robot Guitar allows the guitar to be intonated in seconds after string changes, truss rod adjustments or change in weather conditions.
4. Finally, with the locking tuner, single string changes or changing the entire set of strings are an automated breeze.
The system consists of five high technology components which are extremely light and do not change the instrument in any way. A control knob (which also serves at the volume knob) enables the tuning with a simple push or pull. Each tuner is equipped with specialized servo motors. As the motorized tuners adjust the pitch of the strings they are monitored by means of a Tune-Control Bridge.The world's 1st run limited edition version of Gibson Les Paul Robot Guitars will go on sale at 5 PM on December 7, 2007 at 400 dealers throughout the world. Each store will only have 10 instruments. This highly collectible piece of history will be available in an exclusive Blue Silverburst Les Paul model.
To find the list of exclusive Robot Guitar dealers go to www.gibson.com/robotguitar.
The user interface of the Gibson Robot Guitar is the Master Control Knob (MCK). The Master Control Knob has all operating and control functionality contained in 11 different positions. The Powerhead-Locking tuners are constructed with a lightweight alloy housing and are not heavier than common tuning keys. They represent a revolution in guitar technology. Each Powerhead has a motorized high-performance gearbox controlled by signals from the Neck CPU mounted on the back of the headstock.
