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King was a left-handed "upside-down/backwards" guitarist. He was left-handed, but usually played right-handed guitars flipped over upside-down so the low E string was on the bottom. In later years he played a custom-made guitar that was basically left-handed, but had the strings reversed (as he was used to playing). He also used very unorthodox tunings (i.e., tuning as low as C to allow him to make sweeping string bends). A "less is more" type blues player, he was known for his expressive "bending" of notes, a technique characteristic of blues guitarists. • Albert King • Albert King Discography

Critical acclaim and widespread popularity have cemented his reputation as possibly the most respected, successful, and most recognized bluesman, not just in the United States, but in the world. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at #3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time". According to Edward M. Komara, King "introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that would influence virtually every electric blues guitarist that followed." King was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, a small town near Indianola, Mississippi. His parents were Alfred King and Nora Ella King. While singing in a local gospel group, at the age of twelve Riley bought his first guitar for $15.00. In 1943 King left Indianola, Mississippi, and got a job as a tractor driver.

King went to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1946 searching for his cousin, Bukka White, an early inspiration, and who took him in for the next ten months. However, after a few months of hardship he left, going back to Mississippi. There he decided to prepare himself better for the next visit and returned to Memphis two years later. Initially he worked at the local R&B radio station WDIA as a singer and disc jockey, where he gained the nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy", later shortened to "B.B." • B.B. King Website • B.B. King Discography

King had a twenty year recording career and became established as an influential guitarist. He inspired American musicians including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, Bill Freeman and Denny Campbell, and mid 1960s UK blues revivalists such as Eric Clapton, Chicken Shack and Peter Green. King died from heart failure on December 28, 1976, aged forty two. King's mother and uncle began teaching Freddie to play guitar at the age of six. He moved with his family from Texas to the South Side of Chicago in 1950. When aged sixteen he visited local clubs where he heard blues music, performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, T-Bone Walker, Elmore James, and Sonny Boy Williamson. • Freddie King • Freddie King Discography

Alexis Korner was born in Paris to an Austrian father and Greek mother, and spent his childhood in France, Switzerland, and North Africa. He arrived in London in 1940 at the start of the Second World War. One memory of his youth was listening to a record by Jimmy Yancey during a German air raid. He said, "From then on all I wanted to do was play the blues."

After the war, he played piano and guitar, and in 1949 joined Chris Barber's Jazz Band where he met blues harmonica player Cyril Davies. They started playing together as a duo, formed the influential London Blues and Barrelhouse Club in 1955, and made their first record together in 1957. Korner brought many American blues artists, previously unknown in England, to perform. • Alexis Korner • Alexis Korner Discography

Although he was born in Pennsylvania, Kubek grew up in Texas and is associated with the Texas blues style. He played with Freddie King while still a teenager, and put together his own band to tour in the Dallas area.

He met the Louisiana-born singer, Bnois King, in the 1980s, and together they put together the first incarnation of Kubek's band.

Kubek signed to Bullseye Blues in 1991 and released his debut record; he has steadily released albums since then, which often featured the two frontmen's songs • Smokin' Joe Kubek • Smokin' Joe Kubek Discography