Earl King

Musician / composer / producer Earl King was born Solomon Johnson in New Orleans, LA, in 1934. He is considered by many to be one of the main architects of the New Orleans R&B movement in the 1950s and 1960s, along with such contemporaries as Allen Toussaint, Fats Domino and John E. Glassco (aka "Dr. John"). Best known as a composer, his songs have been recorded by such legends as Aaron Neville, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, among many others. In addition to composing, he was an accomplished guitarist and one of the top sidemen and studio musicians in the New Orleans recording scene, and even recorded some best-selling records on his own. King began his career with the legendary Guitar Slim, who was a great influence on him. He left Slim to play with Huey P. Smith (aka Huey "Piano" Smith). He recorded for some small but well-known labels, such as Savoy, Ace and Specialty, and had respectable hits with all of them. In 1960 he signed with the major Imperial Records label, and later did some session work with the iconic Motown Records, but he spent most of the 1970s and 1980s in the recording studio either producing other artists' records or working as a sideman.