Born Earl Silas Johnson IV on February 7, 1934 in New Orleans, Louisiana, the blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter is better-known as Earl King. Apart from his legendary guitar work, he is also known for composing blues classics such as “Come On” and “Big Chief”. Earl King began playing the guitar at the age of 15. His first release was the 78 rpm single “Have You Gone Crazy”. Influenced by blues icon Guitar Slim, King was asked to fill in as the guitarist for a series of live dates in 1954 when Slim was injured in a guitar accident and was unable to perform. King continued to release singles under his own name including “Those Lonely, Lonely Nights”, which reached Number 7 on Billboard’s R&B chart. He continued to release a series of singles while also writing material for other artists. In 1960, King signed with Imperial Records and released many of the tracks which became his signature songs: “Come On”, “Trick Bag”, and others. After his Imperial contract ended in 1963, King didn’t sign another recording contract until 1970. In the meantime, he wrote and produced tracks for fellow New Orleans artists including “Big Chief” (Professor Longhair), “Teasin’ You” (Willie Tee) and “Do-Re-Mi” (Lee Dorsey). King recorded the Street Parade album in 1972. The album featured musical assistance from fellow New Orleans icons Allen Toussaint and The Meters. Atlantic Records decided not to release the album and it remained in the vaults for a decade before British label Charly Records released it. King released the album That Good Old New Orleans Rock ‘n’ Roll in 1977. King signed with Black Top Records in the early 1980s and recorded the 1986 Grammy-nominated album Glazed with the band Roomful of Blues. He recorded two more albums for Black Top – Sexual Telepathy (1990) and Hard River to Cross (1993) – which featured collaborations with Snooks Eaglin, George Porter, Jr., and Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters. Earl King died on April 17, 2003 of diabetes-related complications.
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