Ojai Sam
Staff member
James King - Three Chords And The Truth (2013)
One of the big reasons I love this series is the wide latitude Zeeba has given us. Hot rocks, fazed cookies, lost classics...they're all fair game. This week I decided to go back to basics with my hands down favorite album of the year.
James King lived out the tragic story of enlightened but self-destructive musicians we've seen all too often, from Hank Williams to Keith Flint. Brought up in southwest Virginia, his dad was a well-known local bluegrass musician. King served in the Marine Corps and then launched his musical career under the auspices of the legendary Ralph Stanley. His emotional connection with both his audiences and his music was simple, raw and direct.
After going solo, James made a series of increasingly powerful albums, culminating with this one, his last. It proved to be his breakthrough, but three years later he was dead of liver illness. Like Ted Hawkins who suffered a similar fate, the intense genius of James King transcended the narrow musical genre in which he worked.
One of the big reasons I love this series is the wide latitude Zeeba has given us. Hot rocks, fazed cookies, lost classics...they're all fair game. This week I decided to go back to basics with my hands down favorite album of the year.
James King lived out the tragic story of enlightened but self-destructive musicians we've seen all too often, from Hank Williams to Keith Flint. Brought up in southwest Virginia, his dad was a well-known local bluegrass musician. King served in the Marine Corps and then launched his musical career under the auspices of the legendary Ralph Stanley. His emotional connection with both his audiences and his music was simple, raw and direct.
After going solo, James made a series of increasingly powerful albums, culminating with this one, his last. It proved to be his breakthrough, but three years later he was dead of liver illness. Like Ted Hawkins who suffered a similar fate, the intense genius of James King transcended the narrow musical genre in which he worked.
