leading blues artist on the circuit of black-patronized theatres and clubs on an interminable series of one-nighters. In 1956, he is supposed to have filled 342 engagements. In 1962, he tried to change that working pattern by signing with a major label, ABC, but the first records under that contract, which tried to reshape him as a mainstream pop singer, were as unsatisfactory to his admirers as they were to ABC’s accountants. The 1965 album Live at the Regal, however, proved the durability of King’s blues repertoire and has become iconic, a turning point in the early listening of many younger musicians. He had further R&B hits with blues numbers including How Blue Can You Get and Paying the Cost to Be the Boss , and, in 1969, he hit the upper reaches of the pop charts – where no blues artist had been for many years – with The Thrill Is Gone . It took him a while to establish himself with a rock audience, for whom the blues was largely defined by the Chicago school of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf but he was brought to their attention by musicians who admired him. “About a year and a half ago,” he said in 1969, “all of a sudden, kids started coming up to me saying, 'You’re the greatest blues guitarist in the world.' And I’d say, 'Who told you that?' And they’d say, 'Mike Bloomfield' or 'Eric Clapton'. It’s to these youngsters that I owe my new