King Cockroach

I’ve found a few good B sides lately. It all started with the Ujima 45 I featured before Xmas. A couple more 45s from the same source have found their way into the collection since, which I will feature soon; and then there is this one from Albert King.

I love everything about this record, from the obvious merits of the constituent parts of Albert King’s performance, to the quirky lyrics, to the insistent bass riff, to the irresistible piano motif.

In fact you could imagine a big cockroach making a sound – bullfrogesque - like that bass guitar as it sits on the porch. And at the end of the evening, as it’s a big cockroach, it maybe ambles – even sashays - rather than scuttles away, and in the process makes a sound just like that piano. 

With all this wind and rain about it’s good to escape, if only in mind, to a porch in the deep south on a summer’s evening, even if your only company is a big brown fella (and I’m not talking about AK!)…

Albert King  - Cockroach 1969

From the album Years Gone By.

NOTE: The song is co-credited to Bettye Crutcher,  a prolific songwriter for Stax. This is a playful lyric and not one I would immediately associate her with. It reminds me there is an album of hers I have that I really must share with you soon.