YouTube du Jour: Earl King

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSRc2JqgA4w[/youtube]

Our own John Swenson has argued that something essentially New Orleans about Jazz Fest was lost with the deaths of Snooks Eaglin, Eddie Bo and before them, Earl King. These two clips of King playing Jazz Fest (or, in the case of the second one, a night show) make a good case for him, as there’s an essential eccentricity—quoting “Southern Nights” in the otherwise-wandering solo in this 1993 version of “It All Went Down the Drain”—along with absolute authority as an R&B musician (illustrated by the 1991 version of “Trick Bag”).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJFotE7M20U[/youtube]