A Night at the Lone Star
If you had to pick one Albert King track for your playlist, which would it be? “Laundromat Blues” is certainly a contender, but Albert’s take on “Born Under a Bad Sign,” with its iconic line, “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all,” has to make the short list. The title track from his 1967 Stax album, written by Booker T. Jones and William Bell, is probably the song Albert King is most remembered for, particularly since it was immortalized by Cream in their 1968 album Wheels of Fire.
For me, though, nothing tops “Crosscut Saw.” King’s rendition of this simple 12-bar tune, which floated along the Delta until Mississippi bluesman Tommy McClennan first recorded it in 1941, is simply sublime. The track appears as the second cut on Born Under a Bad Sign, an LP that is, without a doubt, Albert King’s masterpiece.
“I’m a crosscut saw, baby, just drag me across your lawn.
I’ll cut your wood so easy for you, you can’t help but say ‘hot dog.’”
With Booker T. & the MG’s providing support-listen to how the upright piano hockets with the horns, creating simple harmonic stabs-“Crosscut Saw” rides atop a light swing groove on snare and toms by producer/drummer Al Jackson Jr. The arrangement leaves plenty of space for Albert to answer his own vocal lines with those trademark, stinging guitar licks. Others may have copied them, but no one could match his authority or originality. As every fan knows, Albert was a lefty who played a right-handed Gibson Flying V upside down. This unusual technique, later copied by another left-handed guitarist named Jimi, combined with a strong picking hand and a vivid imagination to create King’s signature sound.
Listen closely to the colors and shadings Albert puts on a single note when he repeats it. Each articulation carries its own weight and curve. His virtuosity is on full display in “Crosscut Saw” and throughout the album, which also includes his outstanding take on the A.C. Williams classic “Oh, Pretty Woman.” John Mayall and the Blues Breakers delivered a great version on their Crusade album-a cover taped to the wall of my studio right above where I’m sitting now.
About ten years after Born Under a Bad Sign came out, I saw Albert King at the Lone Star Café, a now-legendary venue on 12th Street in the Village. My high school buddy Brian Williams and I arrived early to snag seats near the stage. By the time Albert took the spotlight, I was pretty looped. I kept shouting for “Crosscut Saw,” but my calls went unanswered.
Then, just before he closed the set, Albert leaned into the microphone and said, “A little while ago the young man asked to hear ‘Crosscut Saw.’”
Wha’?! He’s talking about me! Man, what a night.
