I
dig Albert King soooo much! I love Freddie and BB, too, but Albert is
my fave. Once I saw Albert in concert. It was in 1980 and amazingly
here in Topeka. It was at the older exposition hall at the fairgrounds.
There was room for over 500 but there
were only about 200 people there. The acoustics were terrible. Worst
of all, there were a dozen Shawnee County deputies fully armed and with
billy clubs and teargas there and I think they must have been selected
for duty based on their size! The audience was mostly middle aged and
older black folks. The only white people there were me and Cindy and
Carl "Crazy Legs" Palmer and Janice. This was back when Carl could
really dance like James Brown which the crowd loved. Problem is, every
time anybody tried to get up and dance these deputies would form a line
in front of the stage and glare at the audience. It was intimidating.
Albert even commented from the stage but in muted language. It was a
shame that the only time I ever saw Albert King in person was under
conditions that were far from conducive to celebration. This was
probably the last time I ever saw those old-fashioned "telephone pole"
gig posters. I still have one.
