Live Wire/Blues Power is one of Albert King's definitive albums. The guitarist is at the top of his form throughout the record -- his solos are intense and piercing. The band is fine, but ultimately it's King's show -- he makes Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" dirty and funky and wrings out all the emotion from "Blues at Sunrise."
by Thom Owens
Recorded at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore Auditorium in June 1968 during Albert King's first engagement there as a headliner, Live Wire/Blues Power ranks with B.B. King's Live at the Regal of four years earlier as one of the greatest and most influential live blues albums of all time.
Performing six tunes, only two of which he'd recorded previously, the 6'4" blues titan was able to stretch out beyond the three-to-four minutes allowed on 45-RPM discs and finally capture on vinyl the way he played in person. The results were nothing short of incendiary.
As critic Albert Goldman commented at the time: "Instead of bending or warping a note here and there for special effect, King skirls every kiss-off note, sending vicious waves along his strings like the ripples on a cobra's back."
Exciting guitar playing, a tapestry of remarkable patterns throughout the album, with great music in which captivates you from start to the end.
1. Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock) - 4:03
2. Blues Power (Albert King) - 10:17
3. Night Stomp (Raymond Jackson, Albert King) - 5:49
4. Blues At Sunrise (Albert King) - 8:43
5. Please Love Me (Albert King, Jules Taub) - 3:58
6. Look Out (Albert King) - 5:22
Musicians
*Albert King - Guitar, Vocals
*Willie James Exon - Guitar
*James Washington - Organ
*Roosevelt Pointer - Bass
*Theotis Morgan - Drums
