He had a series of varied hits in the rhythm and blues market: 1956’s “Sweet Little Angel” was sung hard, with a heavy beat 1958’s “Please Accept My Love” was gentle, plaintive “Sweet Sixteen” (1960) used a strong band riff behind King’s voice and guitar and built up into one of the most dramatic blues performances ever recorded, with gospel inflections dominating King’s singing at the end of the two-part performance. Unlike Muddy Waters, who stuck to his own brash, harsh sound and was identified firmly with Chicago, King became identified with a specifically American blues sound, a product of his endlessly criss-crossing the country on a non-stop tour, acutely aware of the needs of his audience: some of his records sounded close to Waters’ sound, others emulated the soft ballad style of Percy Mayfield.īut King always used his voice and guitar to provide melody and harmony.
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