"Born Under a Bad Sign" is a song written by
Booker T. JonesBooker T. Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known for fronting the band, Booker T. and the MGs...
(music) and
William BellWilliam Bell is an American soul singer and songwriter. He was one of the architects of the Stax-Volt sound, and is probably best known for his 1961 debut single, "You Don't Miss Your Water"....
(lyrics) originally recorded by
Albert KingAlbert King was an American blues guitarist and singer.-Career:One of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" , Albert King stood 6' 4" and weighed 250 lbs and was known as "The Velvet Bulldozer". He was born Albert Nelson on a cotton plantation in Indianola, Mississippi...
as the title track for the album
Born Under a Bad SignBorn Under a Bad Sign is a blues album by Albert King, recorded between 1966 and 1967, and released in 1967 by Stax Records. This was the first album Albert King recorded on Stax, and the title song became a blues standard...
released in 1967. Several cover versions of the song exist, most notably by British rock group
CreamCream were a 1960s British blues-rock band and supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker. Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues, hard rock and psychedelic rock...
and American rock guitarist
Jimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter...
and even
Homer SimpsonHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and father of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
.
The style of "Born Under a Bad Sign" is hallmark of
Albert KingAlbert King was an American blues guitarist and singer.-Career:One of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" , Albert King stood 6' 4" and weighed 250 lbs and was known as "The Velvet Bulldozer". He was born Albert Nelson on a cotton plantation in Indianola, Mississippi...
in the late 60s. The lead guitar is bright, nasal and cutting, partly because of
Albert KingAlbert King was an American blues guitarist and singer.-Career:One of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" , Albert King stood 6' 4" and weighed 250 lbs and was known as "The Velvet Bulldozer". He was born Albert Nelson on a cotton plantation in Indianola, Mississippi...
's choice of a custom
GibsonThe Gibson Guitar Corporation, of Nashville, Tennessee, USA, is a manufacturer of acoustic and electric guitars. Gibson also owns and makes guitars under such brands as Epiphone, Kramer, Valley Arts, Tobias, Steinberger, and Kalamazoo. In addition to guitars, the company makes pianos through its...
guitar with neck pickup selected.
"Born Under a Bad Sign" is a song written by
Booker T. JonesBooker T. Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known for fronting the band, Booker T. and the MGs...
(music) and
William BellWilliam Bell is an American soul singer and songwriter. He was one of the architects of the Stax-Volt sound, and is probably best known for his 1961 debut single, "You Don't Miss Your Water"....
(lyrics) originally recorded by
Albert KingAlbert King was an American blues guitarist and singer.-Career:One of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" , Albert King stood 6' 4" and weighed 250 lbs and was known as "The Velvet Bulldozer". He was born Albert Nelson on a cotton plantation in Indianola, Mississippi...
as the title track for the album
Born Under a Bad SignBorn Under a Bad Sign is a blues album by Albert King, recorded between 1966 and 1967, and released in 1967 by Stax Records. This was the first album Albert King recorded on Stax, and the title song became a blues standard...
released in 1967. Several cover versions of the song exist, most notably by British rock group
CreamCream were a 1960s British blues-rock band and supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker. Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues, hard rock and psychedelic rock...
and American rock guitarist
Jimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter...
and even
Homer SimpsonHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and father of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
.
Style and Influence
The style of "Born Under a Bad Sign" is hallmark of
Albert KingAlbert King was an American blues guitarist and singer.-Career:One of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" , Albert King stood 6' 4" and weighed 250 lbs and was known as "The Velvet Bulldozer". He was born Albert Nelson on a cotton plantation in Indianola, Mississippi...
in the late 60s. The lead guitar is bright, nasal and cutting, partly because of
Albert KingAlbert King was an American blues guitarist and singer.-Career:One of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" , Albert King stood 6' 4" and weighed 250 lbs and was known as "The Velvet Bulldozer". He was born Albert Nelson on a cotton plantation in Indianola, Mississippi...
's choice of a custom
GibsonThe Gibson Guitar Corporation, of Nashville, Tennessee, USA, is a manufacturer of acoustic and electric guitars. Gibson also owns and makes guitars under such brands as Epiphone, Kramer, Valley Arts, Tobias, Steinberger, and Kalamazoo. In addition to guitars, the company makes pianos through its...
guitar with neck pickup selected. The looping bass line is composed of a C# pentatonic or
blues scaleThe term blues scale is used to describe a few scales with differing number of pitches and related characteristics.The hexatonic, or six note, blues scale consists of the minor pentatonic scale plus the 4 or 5 degree...
while the piano and horn accompaniment remains major in its tonality. The unique mix of otherwise
minorA minor scale in music theory is a diatonic scale with a third scale degree at an interval of a minor third above the tonic. While this definition encompasses modes with the minor third, such as Dorian mode, the term may more usually refer only to the natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic...
and
majorIn music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher. In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, "...
modes give the song a bright but harrowing sound.
The wide assortment of cover versions demonstrates Albert King's ability to influence not only blues guitar, but also rock guitar. It is notable that Jimi Hendrix's cover of "Born Under a Bad Sign" is essentially an extended guitar solo that explores King's unique phrasing.
External links