These Are A Few Of My Favorite Kings
A list of a dozen musical monarchs who truly rule my world
Greetings, Jagged Time Lapsers!
First off, I just want to say how proud I am of my millions of fellow Americans who took peacefully but vociferously to the streets for the thousands of “No Kings” protests held on Saturday across our fair land. The nationwide event was, regardless of how the MAGA chuds try to spin it, an unqualified success — and it felt good to be reminded (and to show the rest of the world) that a significant portion of our population steadfastly refuses to knuckle under to the fascistic impulses of the current administration. (The fact that our Demander-in-Chief wound up throwing an embarrassingly lame parade for himself was the proverbial icing on Saturday’s cake.)
Above is my favorite photo that I took of the “No Kings” march I attended in Kingston, NY, where the local police (who were extremely cool and helpful, it must be noted) estimated that there were some 5,000 demonstrators in attendance. As someone who’s been reading books about the American Revolution since he was six, I got a reall kick out of watching that reenactor unfurl his banner at Kingston’s “Four Corners” — the only intersection in the United States where the buildings on all four corners pre-date the Revolution.
(The now-ironically named Kingston, as many folks don’t know, was actually the first capital of New York, designated as such in the spring of 1777 after British forces seized New York City. George Clinton — the other George Clinton — was sworn in that July in Kingston as the state’s first governor. Unfortunately, King George’s soldiers burned Kingston that fall, necessitating that the state’s capital be moved up the Hudson to Albany, where it remains to this day.)
There were hundreds of funny and creative signs in the crowd on Saturday, not to mention plenty of American flags, but my favorite was probably “The Only King I Bow To Is Elvis” — a sentiment I could definitely get behind, if there weren’t so many other Kings of the musical variety that also totally rule my world. Such as, in no particular order:
King Oliver
Jazz cornet giant Joseph Nathan “King” Oliver pioneered the use of the horn mute, composed numerous Dixieland jazz classics (such as “Dipper Mouth Blues,” linked below), and mentored a young Louis Armstrong, who once said, “If it had not been for Joe Oliver, jazz would not be what it is today.”
Carole King
Even if she and Gerry Goffin had only co-written “The Porpoise Song” for The Monkees and “Wasn’t Born to Follow” for The Byrds, Carole King would be in my personal Hall of Fame. But throw in a truckload of Goffin-King Brill Building gems and her mighty divorce-rock classic Tapestry, and this is a King I would more than willingly bow down before.
Freddie King
When it comes to blues guitar greats with the name of King, you certainly can’t go wrong with B.B., Albert or Freddie. But if I could only listen to one of those three for the rest of my life, I’d choose Freddie — there’s something about his expressive Texas-meets-Chicago playing style that hits me in the gut every time. (Speaking of guts, Freddie apparently pre-gamed for his performances by downing several Bloody Marys because, as he explained to one journalist, “They’ve got food in them.”)
King Pleasure
Jazz vocalist Clarence Beeks, better known as King Pleasure, was truly the King of vocalese — the art of singing lyrics over an instrumental jazz solo. You may not be familiar with Beeks or his incredibly smooth style, but you’ve definitely heard his influence on Astral Weeks and many other fine albums by Van Morrison, who was a huge fan.
King Crimson
Robert Fripp’s brilliant and groundbreaking progressive band has gone through many incarnations, but the one I always gravitate back to is that which produced their mellotron-drenched debut In the Court of the Crimson King. “Epitaph,” my favorite track from that LP, also sounds pretty dynamite in this BBC session version from 1969.
King Curtis
Curtis Ousley, a.k.a. King Curtis, not only played sax on hundreds of recording sessions for everyone from The Coasters to Buddy Holly to The Rascals and Aretha Franklin (that’s him blowing the solo on “Respect”), but he also cut numerous instrumental bangers of his own, including “Soul Twist,” Memphis Soul Stew” and this mind-frying Led Zep cover. There’s no telling the musical mark he’d have made on the decades to come if he hadn't been murdered in 1971 at the age of 37.
King Diamond
No relation to Neil, Danish metal vocalist King Diamond has been blowing the minds of horror-loving metalheads — and presumably freaking out more than a few uptight parents — for 45 years, first as the frontman of Mercyful Fate, and then under his own royal moniker. As one of my college pals useta say, frickin’ King D, man!
King Tubby
The wizard of dub reggae, King Tubby (born Osbourne Ruddock) was a Jamaican sound engineer who used the mixing desk and various primitive outboard effects to turn previously recorded tapes into disorienting, quasi-psychedelic grooves and soundscapes. I haven’t smoked weed in years, but just listening to a single King Tubby track can make me feel like I’ve taken a massive hit off a smoldering bong.
T. Rex
Hey, Rex is Latin for “King,” and Marc Bolan was truly the king of the bopping elves, so I feel completely justified in including T. Rex here. Despite the loftiness of his throne, Bolan was magnanimous enough to give some musical props to several other kings over the course of his career, including the “King of the Rumbling Spires”.
Michael Jackson
Yes, Michael Jackson’s story is a deeply sad and quite possibly problematic one, but no one else could have possibly worn the “King of Pop” crown with as much panache, even if he did kinda crown himself with it. In any case, his Off The Wall album is absolutely bulletproof slab of pop and R&B, and I’ll take it over Thriller any day of the damn week.
“King of Rock” by Run-DMC
“It’s not Michael Jackson, and this is not Thriller,” promised Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels on the title track of their 1985 album — which was also the first rap album to go Platinum — and I think we can all say “Word!” to that.
King Records
Syd Nathan’s King Records released an absolute wealth of R&B and country nuggets between 1943 and 1975, including killer records by Johnny “Guitar” Watson, The “5” Royales, Little Willie John, Hank Ballard & The Midnighters — and, of course, James Brown, the “King of Soul” himself. And whenever I’m feeling down, I can always count on this 1967 JB single on King to bring me back up again.
How ‘bout you? What (or who) are some of your favorite musical Kings? Feel free to chime in below with a comment or link!
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Thanks for using a good excuse for an even better playlist that rampages through the eras. You will be aware that we carried a sign on Saturday stating "The only King worth emulating was Dr. King" but that was in part because we can't all put footnotes on our banners.
The King Curtis track is killer, and so is Freddie King. I can't tell if he's wearing a plectrum on his right thumb but he's picking with the rest of his fingers, no wonder he needed those Bloody Marys.
And because lists like these are there to be had, two observations: 1) Carole King was, of course, born Carol Klein, among a whole generation(s) of Jewish Americans that felt the need to Americanize their names if they were to succeed, especially in music. I am relieved that is no longer deemed necessary (I hope)! And... And once you moved beyond names and into honorifics, I wish you had given a further shoutout to Elvis, if only because he surely is/was the nearest this country ever came to Royalty, no?
Cheers Dan...
I'm willing to bow to King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard!