Earl King, rhythm and blues legend -- Rest in Peace

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Subject: Earl King, rhythm and blues legend

Author:
New Orleans

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Date Posted: April 19, 2003 2:00:34 EDT

Earl King, the prolific songwriter and guitarist responsible for some of the most enduring and idiosyncratic compositions in the history of R&B, died Thursday from diabetes-related complications. He was 69.

Over his 50-year career, King wrote and recorded hundreds of songs.

His best-known compositions include the Mardi Gras standards "Big Chief" and "Street Parade"; the rollicking "Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)," which both Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan recorded; and "Trick Bag," the quintessential New Orleans R&B story-song.

"'Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)' might be the one that people know, but I wish the world would hear more of his songs," said Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack, a longtime friend, fan and collaborator of King. "He approached songs from different angles, from different places in life."

In his prime, he was an explosive performer, tearing sinewy solos from his Stratocaster guitar and wearing his hair in an elaborate, upraised coif.

King's songwriting was informed by syncopated New Orleans beats and his interest in a broad range of subjects, from medieval history to the vagaries of the human heart and his own so-called "love syndromes."

"Most people say, 'Well, Earl, you sing the blues,' or however they want to categorize it," King said in a 1993 interview. "I just sing songs. I'm a writer, so whatever gymnastics jump through my head, I write about it."

Born Earl Silas Johnson IV, King described himself as a "nervous energy person" who constantly needed to be engaged in some creative pursuit.

He cut his first singles in the early 1950s, taking on the stage name "Earl King" at the suggestion of a record promoter.

Scenes and acquaintances from his life often found their way into his lyrics with little editing. A story King's grandmother told about his father, a blues pianist who died when King was a boy, inspired "Trick Bag."

In the song, the protagonist sings to his wayward significant other, "I saw you kissing Willie across the fence, I heard you telling Willie I don't have no sense/The way you been actin' is such a drag, you done put me in a trick bag."

Funeral arrangements had not been finalized late Friday evening.

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