Born Under A Bad Sign

When Albert King signed with Stax Records in Memphis, Booker T. Jones, who was a member of the Stax house band Booker T. & The MGs, was assigned his producer. In an interview with National Public Radio (NPR), Jones explained: "At that time, my writing partner was William Bell. He came over to my house the night before the session. William wrote the words and I wrote the music in my den that night. That was one of my greatest moments in the studio as far as being thrilled with a piece of music. The feeling of it, it's the real blues done by the real people. It was Albert King from East St. Louis, the left-handed guitar player who was just one of a kind and so electric and so intense and so serious about his music. He just lost himself in the music. He's such a one of a kind character. I was there in the middle of it and it was exhilarating."

The "bad sign" is an astrology reference: if you're "born under a bad sign," it means the stars are aligned against you from birth. It was the song's co-writer William Bell who came up with the title - he wanted to do a blues song about astrology. The phrase became a lot more popular thanks to this song.

Born Under A Bad Sign was Albert King's first album released by Stax. It became King's signature song, with the classic lyrics, "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all." The song harkens back to blues of the '30s and '40s which had similar lyrical content.