Jimmy King - Soldier For The Blues (1997/2019)

Little Jimmy King's third album finds him in the well-placed hands of Memphis producing and arranging legend Willie Mitchell. With Mitchell's publishing branch supplying six of the 12 selections here, there's a much more pronounced soul/blues feeling to this album than his two previous efforts, spelled out in a most contemporary manner on the confessional opening track, "Living In the Danger Zone" and "We'll Be Together Again." As always, Little Jimmy tips his hat to his mentor, the late Albert King with every note he hits on his Flying V, squeezing strings over several frets to get those classic Albert microtonal bends on tracks like "I Don't Need Nobody That Don't Need Me," "Drawers" and the title track. This is a thoroughly contemporary blues album that could and should expand King's audience beyond the usual blues circles.