Albert King - Blues At Sunrise

Live Wire Blues Power - recorded live at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on June 8th, 1968. Also at this show were Jimi Hendrix and John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers.

[alhall]

Looks like a lot of people are here looking for the Albert, Jimi, Janis jam. While AFAIK, the tape of that show has never seen the light of day, it does, or did at one time exist. I know because I was there! And, apparently, I'm the only one who's still alive who was.
It was Feb 1st 1968, a Thursday night at the old Fillmore auditorium. Three bands, two shows, maybe $2.50-3.00? The opening act wasn't John Mayall, it was a band that Jimi brought with him from London for the US tour called The Soft Machine. They started off real quiet and slow and noodled a tune until maybe half an hour to 45m later the Marshalls were all smoking and overheated and we were rubbing our ears and wondering if that jet plane had just taken off.

Next was Albert. Now you have to know that we were all there to see Jimi. Never heard of Albert or TSM. But, we were polite, not like a lot of fans I've seen since who'll try to chase an opening act off of the stage to get to the headliner. Meanwhile, this was Albert's first time at the Fillmore too and also one of his first exposures to a mostly white audience as well. Albert was at his best. He literally slayed us all. So much so that we wouldn't let him leave the stage. One encore after another. Multiple standing, screaming, ovations [at least those of us who could stand]. Finally Albert comes back for yet another encore and tells us that we have to let him go because he's cutting into Jimi's time and Jimi is getting pissed off. So, Albert plays a little something and leaves the stage as Jimi's band is setting up.

Now Jimi comes on stage and starts to play and he does look a little pissed off because Albert stole his thunder. He stops right in the middle of his first song, puts his strat down and walks off stage for what seemed like a long time and then he walks back on stage with his own Gibson arrow guitar [like Albert's] and has a brief talk with his band and they tear into Red House with a fury. As if to say to the audience "So, you want to hear the BLUES. Well I can do that too." And it works. He's got us.

So Jimi does the rest of his set with the Experienced material. Much like his earlier performance at Monterey Pops. Playing his strat with his teeth, behind his back and between his legs and finally, much to my chagrin, lighting it on fire with lighter fluid. [waste of a good guitar]. But, the set is over because the guitar is burned up and now we have an intermission.

Now those of you who don't know will have to understand that most venues in those days had two sets so that you could have a new crowd in for the second set and make twice the money. That was a standard contract. An early show and a late show. But, this was the Fillmore and Bill Graham knew better than to push a bunch of stoned hippies out onto Geary Blvd. at 10:30 at night, so we just had an apple or two and after half an hour, on comes TSM for their second set. [Some bands only had one set of material and would do the exact show twice. The Kingsmen of Louie-Louie fame comes to mind; sort of funny] Anyway, TSM did another jet plane takeoff.

Then Albert's band starts to set up for their second set, but before they started Jimi walks out on stage and has a brief talk with Albert. After a few moments Albert approaches the mike and announces that rather than play their respective second sets, he and Jimi and their bands will jam for the rest of the night. I think Jimi wanted to head off the possibility that Albert would kill the second set like he did the first and that's the show that Albert was telling Stevie Ray about. Once they got started, other local musicians who were just in the audience started to make their way on stage including JJ.

Anyway, I know that a recording of that set existed because Bill Graham recorded every concert that he ever produced and because I could see the sound engineer at work in the booth. But, AFAIK it's never been released.

The Wall Street guy who bought the Bill Graham archive from Clear Channel when they bought Bill Graham Presents after Bill's death by helicopter [Wolfgang's Vault] has been going through the basement and releasing live material and selling posters but, so far nothing about that Feb 1st concert.

Is there anyone else out there who remembers that night?

My favorite concert of all time!!!

[MH-fbkr]

gives me goosebumps… play on brother, play on

[jeffrey]

This is as good as blues gets.... Great song and performance... Thanks for posting.

[joker]

I was at one of the shows in this run. I was 15 and we went to see Hendrix and Mayall. I loved the whole night but I told my friends I was amazed at Albert King, my "mind was blown", as we put it back then.

[stevekutzen]

Amazing how much I've learned from this man... 🎸✌🏼🙏🏼

[jeffrey]

Albert King is a legend... as good as it gets. Thanks for posting.

[fonglingblues]

Blues is Alive + Well JANUARY 2024
- 👊💯🇦🇺🤠☯️😎🦘☺️🙏

[alessiobasciani]

Oh, these crying chords tear my heart and my soul.

[mitzilinn]

So I saw Albert King and BB King at the Fillmore West in 69 I think. This is one of my favorite tunes.

[treeswings]

Another night at the Fillmore I wanted to last forever...so many GREAT shows there....

[danielcrook]

I was in bed with the measles in 1968 the first time I heard Albert King.My Dad loved all kinds of music and hosted "houserockin'" parties when we were kids.I saw way back then the impact that music, especially "live" music had on people who were my Dad's friends.Already a budding musician at 12 years of age, I couldn't imagine a better way to earn a living than to make people dance and have a good time.I sure thank my parents for turning all of us kids on to great music! My Dad played several instruments including guitar, steel guitar, banjo and most any percussion instrument plus he was one heck of a tap dancer, soft shoe he called it. He never once discouraged me from playing and told me sternly, "stop pissing your money away over those damn boards and stick to playing music". He was wise and didn't want me to play pool but devote every waking moment to my music and become rich or famous or both.Anyway, the tune I caught on that little transistor radio while sick in bed was Crosscut Saw and when I began to woodshed on the six string, that tune was a staple of my early practice on guitar and I began to seek out more and more blues artists because we had all the Merle Haggard and Marty Robbins records plus hundreds of country stuff and Elvis.I actually upstaged Elvis Presley once in Statesville N.C. whilst wearing a cloth diaper in late 1957 ! My Mom said that they had seats in the balcony and when Scotty Moore kicked off Blue Moon Of Kentucky that the other folks in the balcony area were listening to The King but they were watching me dance to his music, in a diaper yet ! Long live Rock N' Roll and all great music and thanks Albert and especially thanks to my dear Mom and Dad, and yes, I'm still playing at 61

[neildavidvandenbergh]

Yeah this is Great, Thanks! 🙏❤ 🙌 He is truly one of the greats.

It's interesting because I always knew that he was such a profound influence on Stevie Ray Vaughan Guitar wise, but you can hear, in this song in particular, what an influence Albert was on Stevie Ray vocally as well! Amazing.

[robfisher]

Great blues performance by a true blues artist

[dgafbrapman]

This is what ive been missing in my life

[sunshinelove]

Salute the sunshine, day dawning with brilliant blues to spark the soul with a magical infusion of Blues and Soul.

[DazedConfused]

such a simple player, yet so much emotion and delicasy in that tone

[KRxN]

The Iconic Seminal Exponential King Albert King. One Of The Greatest Of All Time TheVoiceTheRiffsThe Stinging SLowBurningFlyingsWingsGTR. The DefinitionOfTHe Mercy!!!

[beck]

Superb!!! Come back to this song over and over again

[djgene]

Screamin' guitar blues. He'll be missed.

[sunbeltcity]

Thanks for the post. My God bless you Albert and that flying "V"!