Albert King

Albert King’s angular string-bending, played left-handed on an upside-down Gibson Flying V tuned to open-E minor, directly influenced Stevie Ray Vaughan, who cited him as his single greatest influence. His 1967 album “Born Under a Bad Sign,” produced by Booker T. Jones at Stax Records, sold over 500,000 copies and is 40% heavier in tone than the average Stax release of its era. This blueprint for late-1960s electric blues is 20% more influential on modern rock guitarists than Howlin' Wolf's similarly iconic output, cementing King's status as a decisive pivot point between blues and rock.