Saunders King
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Saunders King | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Saunders Samuel King |
| Born | March 13, 1909 Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States |
| Died | August 31, 2000 (aged 91) San Rafael, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Blues |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, guitarist, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1938–1961, 1979 |
| Labels | Aladdin, Modern, Rhythm |
Saunders Samuel King (March 13, 1909 – August 31, 2000)[1] was an American R&B and blues guitarist and singer.[2]
Life and career[]
Saunders King was born in Staples, Caddo Parish, Louisiana.[2] He was the son of a preacher, and sang in his father's church while growing up in Houston, Texas,[1] and then Oakland, California. As a youngster he learned to play piano, banjo and ukulele, but did not pick up guitar until 1938. At the end of the 1930s he sang with the Southern Harmony Four on NBC radio, and decided to begin playing blues music; he released the tune "S.K. Blues" (originally titled "Saunders Blues") in 1942, which became a major nationwide hit.[3] The tune featured electric blues guitar, one of the earliest recordings to do so.[2]
The lyrics tell of the singer's dissatisfaction with his bald-headed girlfriend:
- "I did more for my baby than the good lord ever done (2X)"
- "I went downtown and bought her some hair and the good lord never gave her none"[4]
This verse proved particularly popular and has come to be considered a traditional blues lyric. The song concludes on a theme of violence toward women:
- "Give me back that wig I bought you, and let your head go bald (2X)"
- "you keep on mistreatin' me baby, you won't have no hair, no head at all"[4]
The track was later recorded by both Jimmy Witherspoon and Big Joe Turner.[3]
King had a series of setbacks in the 1940s which hurt his career; his wife committed suicide in 1942, his landlord shot him with a .45-caliber pistol in 1946, and he was jailed for heroin possession shortly after. He recorded for Aladdin Records, Modern Records, and Rhythm Records, and had two US Billboard R&B chart hits in 1949 with "Empty Bedroom Blues" (number 9) and "Stay Gone Blues" (number 14).[5] He retired from active performance in 1961, devoting himself to work in the church.[3] Sometime thereafter, his daughter Deborah King was wed, and, in 1979, he played with Carlos Santana, his son-in-law, on the album Oneness.[2]
King was paralyzed by a stroke in 1999, and died the following year in San Rafael, California, at age 91.[1]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues – A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 304. ISBN 978-0313344237.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Al Campbell. "Saunders King". AllMusic. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (1995). The Guinness Who's Who of Blues (Second ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 222/3. ISBN 0-85112-673-1.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Jimmy Witherspoon - S.K. Blues Lyrics". Metrolyrics.com. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995. Record Research. p. 248.
- 1909 births
- 2000 deaths
- African-American guitarists
- African-American male singers
- American blues guitarists
- American rhythm and blues guitarists
- American male guitarists
- American blues singers
- American rhythm and blues singers
- American male singers
- Singers from Louisiana
- RPM Records (United States) artists
- 20th-century American singers
- 20th-century American guitarists
- Guitarists from Louisiana
- 20th-century male singers
- Family of Carlos Santana