King, Saunders

King, Saunders 13 March 1909; Staple, LA – 31 August 2000; Los Angeles, CA Guitar/vocal. As a child, King played piano, banjo, and ukulele in his preacher father’s Oakland church. He switched to guitar in 1938 for NBC broadcasts with a gospel quartet, the Southern Harmony Four, in which he sang tenor, and took up electric guitar after hearing Charlie Christian. He was in Jake Porter’s band before forming his own sextet in 1942 and recording with them for Rhythm. “ S. K. Blues ” (1942, Rhythm 3)…