Earl King

Genres:	Blues • Funk
Descriptive "tags":	new orleans • rhythm and blues • blues • funk • new orleans rhythm and blues
Decades Active:	1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Links online:	Biography • Wikipedia

Biography

Earl Silas Johnson IV, 7 February 1934, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 17 April 2003, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The son of a blues pianist, King became an accomplished guitarist and singer with local bands before making his first recordings in 1953 for Savoy Records (‘Have You Gone Crazy’, credited to Earl Johnson) and Specialty Records (‘A Mother’s Love’). Strongly influenced by Guitar Slim, during the mid-50s he worked with Huey Smith’s band and recorded his biggest hit, ‘Those Lonely Lonely Nights’, with Smith on piano; this was on Johnny Vincent’s Ace Records label, for whom King was house guitarist. In 1958, he made a version of ‘Everyone Has To Cry Sometime’ as Handsome Earl. He went on to record for Rex and Imperial Records where he made ‘Come On’ aka ‘Let The Good Times Roll’ and the R&B hits ‘Always A First Time’ and ‘Trick Bag’ (1962) which featured...

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