Albert Washington

Albert Washington (17 August 1935 – 23 October 1998; Rome, Georgia) was an American blues and soul singer, songwriter, and guitarist, celebrated as a mainstay of Cincinnati's blues and R&B scene for more than two decades.
 

Early Life

Washington was one of four children born to Jerry and Helen Washington in Rome, Georgia, where his love of blues and gospel music took root at an early age; he recalled wanting to play his uncle's guitar at just five years old, and by seven had fashioned his own instrument from a gasoline can, using rubber bands as strings.

He lost his father at age nine and took a job washing dishes after school to help support his mother. After the family moved to Newport, Kentucky, in his teenage years, his mother encouraged his gospel singing but discouraged his growing interest in the blues.

At sixteen, he joined the gospel group the Gospelaires, who recorded for Don Robey's Duke and Peacock labels out of Houston, and he later formed his own gospel outfit, the Washington Singers.

As a teenager, he would sneak into blues clubs across the river in Cincinnati, where he was first exposed to the music of Sam Cooke, Big Maybelle, Charles Brown, and Amos Milburn; he later cited B.B. King, whom he saw perform in his youth, as the single greatest influence on his singing and guitar playing, a style shaped equally by his gospel roots.

Career

Following his mother's death, Washington began singing blues regularly at the Vet's Inn in Cincinnati, where he led the house band for around sixteen years, also performing at venues including the Sha-Rah Club and Cory's through the 1960s to the 1980s.

He recorded his first single for Cincinnati's Finch label in 1958, later reissued on the Bluestown label, and his self-penned 1964 single "Haven't Got a Friend," recorded for the VLM label, drew attention as far as England, leading to a recording deal with Fraternity Records in 1966. Performing and recording as Albert Washington and the Kings, he cut several regional hits for Fraternity, with guitarist Lonnie Mack, of "Memphis" fame, featuring on a number of the sessions recorded in 1969. He went on to record two singles for the Jewel label in 1970 before releasing his first full-length album for the Detroit-based Eastbound Records in 1972.

His career slowed considerably from the mid-1970s after complications from diabetes caused him to lose his sight, though he continued performing locally in Cincinnati. In January 1993, Long Island-based Iris Records released his first new recording in two decades, "Step It Up and Go," marking a return to wider recording activity, and he went on to perform at the Cincinnati Blues Festival in both 1992 and 1994.

His final album, "A Brighter Day," was named one of the top three blues recordings of 1994 by France's Académie du Jazz.

Personal Life

Despite the profound personal hardship brought on by diabetes and the loss of his sight, Washington remained, by all accounts, an upbeat and positive figure throughout his life, continuing to perform for Cincinnati audiences who had followed his career for a quarter of a century.

In 2017, a historical marker honouring his life and recording career was erected in Newport, Kentucky, installed and maintained by the Big Joe Duskin Music Education Foundation.

He died on 23 October 1998 in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 63. His decades of dedication to Cincinnati's blues and R&B clubs, and his ability to move fluidly between gospel-rooted soul and hard-edged blues, left a lasting mark on the city's musical heritage.