Albert King

Lovejoy is Albert King's 1971 Stax album (catalog STS-2040), produced by Don Nix and widely regarded as King's most deliberate attempt to meet the blues-rock audience halfway. The record was split between two sessions with two extraordinary crews: a Hollywood date featuring Jesse Ed Davis on guitar, Jim Keltner on drums, and Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass, and a second set at Muscle Shoals Sound with the Swampers — Roger Hawkins on drums, David Hood on bass, and Barry Beckett on keys.

The title is personal: "Lovejoy, Ill." refers to Brooklyn, Illinois, a small Mississippi River town nicknamed for the abolitionist martyr Elijah P. Lovejoy. King got his musical start there.

Cool stuff:

• Rolling Stones cover leads it off The album opens with King's smoldering reading of "Honky Tonk Woman," one of the defining moments of the blues-covers-rock genre.
• Split across two legendary studios Half cut in Hollywood with Jesse Ed Davis, Jim Keltner, and Duck Dunn; half at Muscle Shoals Sound with the Swampers.
• Produced by Don Nix The Memphis-born producer, songwriter, and former Mar-Keys horn player also wrote several of the album's originals.
• Title references Brooklyn, Illinois "Lovejoy, Ill." on the record points at Brooklyn, IL — nicknamed "Lovejoy" after abolitionist martyr Elijah P. Lovejoy — where King first started gigging.
• Peaked at #188 on the Billboard 200 — modest numbers, but significant for a straight-ahead blues LP in 1971.

Spin it for: Albert King reaching toward rock without flinching on the blues, backed by two of the greatest rhythm sections in American music.

Standouts: "Honky Tonk Woman" · "Lovejoy, Ill." · "She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride" · "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven"

Sources: Wikipedia — Lovejoy · Alligator Records — Lovejoy LP · Discogs original pressing · Qobuz — Lovejoy