Audio CD review:
Albert King - The Ultimate Collection

Albert King - The Ultimate Collection

Band: Albert King Title: The Ultimate Collection Rating: Release Date: 20 July, 1993 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Be On Your Merry Way 2: Murder 3: Little Boy Blue 4: C.O.D. 5: Worsome Baby 6: Lonsome 7: You Threw Your Love On Me Too Strong 8: Laundromat Blues 9: Overall Junction 10: Oh, Pretty Woman (Can't Make You Love Me) 11: Funk-Shun 12: Crosscut Saw 13: Down Don't Bother Me 14: Born Under A Bad Sign 15: Personal Manager 16: The Very Thought Of You 17: The Hunter 18: I Almost Lost My Mind 19: As The Years Go Passing By 20: Cold Feet 21: You Sure Drive A Hard Bargain 22: (I Love) Lucy 23: You're Gonna Need Me 24: Blues At Sunrise (Live) 25: Blues Power (Live) 26: She Caught The Katy And Left Me A Mule To Ride 27: Angel Of Mercy 28: I'll Play The Blues For You (Parts 1 & 2) 29: Answer To The Laundromat Blues 30: Breaking Up Somebody's Home 31: I Wanna Get Funky 32: Cold Women With Warm Hearts 33: Cadillac Assembly Line 34: Ain't Nothing You Can Do 35: Call My Job 36: Good Time Charlie 37: We All Wanna Boogie 38: The Feeling 39: Phone Booth

Customer Reviews This Is The Best Albert King Compilation! They always release quality products which are mastered to the highest standard. Well Rhino Records has a history of excellence. This Albert King two-disc set is no exception. I have been an Albert King fan for 40 years and unless you make your own CD, from your own collection (I have over 200 AK CDs from US, Japan, UK, Europe, Australia!)This is the set you should own. The production is great, the notes are excellent and the track selection is, good (I'll discuss that separately!) and even the photography is excellent! Well this set was released after the unfortunate death of King in 1992 (the end of 1992). It remains the greatest tribute to him as it includes cuts from each section of his career; King and Bobbin Records, Coun-Tree, Stax, Tomato and Fantasy! It was and remains the only way to get Kings rare Coun-Tree sides like "Lonesome"! And they are great! They are worth the entire price of the set! The set consists of a journey through the career of Albert King. With openers such as "Natural Ball" and "Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong" (which actually comes from a Billie Holliday track!) it moves on to the rare Coun-tree sides. From here we go the Stax and almost the entire "Born Under A Bad Sign" LP of the 1960s-the one in which Albert made his name. It also includes tunes from the "King of the Blues Guitar" LP. We also hear "Blues Power", cuts from "Lovejoy" and other Stax LPs. There is an interesting and strange edited version of "Angel Of Mercy" not found anywhere else (actually it's disturbing and is the low spot in the collection). The Tomato cuts like "Cold Women with Warm Hearts" and "Cadillac Assembly Line" add another dimension to the collection. The lone Fantasy track "Phone Booth" ends the compilation. This set was also put out in another abridged collection called "The Very Best Of Albert King" which is also excellent. The best and rarest of King's sides including "Left Hand Woman" and single versions of "Wrapped Up In Love Again" and "Breaking Up Somebody's Home" are to be found only in the Stax UK compilation "Blues For You" only in the UK. Albert was a unique musical treasure. He was always under appreciated and the fact that this collection is hard to get (I have 3 copies, from 1993, I knew this would happen!). If you only have one Albert King CD, this should be it. I hope Rhino will re-issue this collection soon. Rhino does another spectacular job... In this case, they covered a career from 1954 when he changed his name to King and named his guitar Lucy to 1992 when Albert died from a heart attack. Rhino does another spectacular job. Rhino compiled all his best songs (39 of them including such classics as Laundromat Blues and Born Under A Bad Sign) from many labels and left out the crap such as his over-produced mid-70's period and Elvis tribute albums. There is a 50 page booklet that tells the whole story with lots of interviews with band mates and club owners. I found it interesting that he was left-handed and played a right-handed guitar upside down and backward with no pick. After listening to this collection, I can safely say that King had more influence on Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn than any other guitarist. . ****1/2 The best and most comprehensive King-compilation "The Ultimate Collection" is a complete overview of King's entire career. There are several Albert King-compilations on the market, but most of them are single-disc CDs and focus only on his output with one particular record company. Rhino Records usually know what they're doing when they assemble box sets and greatest hits-compilations, and this one is no exception. Among the 39 tracks are almost every song from King's greatest album, "Born Under A Bad Sign", and the many (many!) highlights include the funky "Crosscut Saw", the slow burners "As The Years Go Passing By" and "Down Don't Bother Me", the soulful "Born Under A Bad Sign", and the powerful late-60s classics "Laundromat Blues" and "The Hunter". Albert King's earliest recordings are being short-changed a little bit, but any artist with a career as long as his will certainly have some great cuts left off of a two-disc, 38-song collection, and this one truly contains his very best work. If you're looking for a succinct introduction to the soulful, urban electric blues of Albert "King" Nelson, turn to "Born Under A Bad Sign", one of the greatest blues albums and one that captures the full scope of his skills as well as anything. But if you want a comprehensive career overview, this is what to get. Rhino's single-disc "Blues Masters: The Very Best Of Albert King" is very good as well, as is the expanded version of "Born Under A Bad Sign" titled "King Of The Blues". But this one is better. 4 1/2 stars - highly recommended. . You can see a complete list of all Albert King discography, or go back to the Albert King tabs