Eric Gales wasn’t the first in his family to play the blues. As the celebrated southpaw reveals in a new interview, he’s just the latest in a line of guitarists whose history includes jam sessions with some of the genre’s greatest players.
Now 51, Gales has come a long way since breaking onto the scene as an electric guitar–playing child prodigy. He’s just launched his first signature guitar with Kiesel, having ended a long-standing relationship with Magneto Guitars. And he’s now sat down with Rick Beato for a deep dive into his family’s history with the blues.
“I’m the youngest of five brothers,” he begins. “All of my brothers, my aunts, uncles, mom, dad, my grandfather on my mom's side [played guitar] well before I even thought about.”
In particular, it’s his grandfather’s story that stands out. He was honing his talents at a time when traditional African-American churches derided the blues as the devil’s music.
“He was an evangelist in the church, and if you know about the old gospel world, they definitely did not believe in blending the two worlds,” Gales explains. “You were either in, or you were out.
“So my grandfather played guitar, but nothing on record.”
Perhaps, but the man’s jamming buddies cut plenty of sides, and became famous doing it.
“He would go over to wherever the spot was — a juke joint, backroom, barn, or whatever — and he and Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf would play together,” Gales continues. “So this was part of my lineage way before I came.”
Although his grandfather kept his religious and secular worlds separated, Gales’ uncle did not.
“I’ve got an uncle that was one of the baddest in the world, man,” he says, passion amplifying his voice. “But he just chose to play in church. He was left-handed and played upside-down in the Baptist church, believe it or not.
”If he had chosen to come on the whirly ride, I don't think that B.B. King would be as well known as he was, because my uncle was that kind of guy.”
Gales’ family was defined by a strong network of mentorship. He learned the ropes from his brother Manuel, a.k.a. Little Jimmy King, who was 10 years older and had some big-name fans.
“Music was flourishing in the family, leading up to my brothers,” Gales says. “Little Jimmy King — he took ‘Jimi’ from Jimi Hendrix and ‘King’ from Albert King — had his own record deal, and at a certain point, he went out with Albert King on the road. He was a certifiably badass guitar player.”
His story, however, was cut tragically short. King died of a heart attack in 2001, a year to the day after the passing of their mother. Consequently, Gales’ latest album, A Tribute To LJK, is exactly what its title says it is.
“He was all about power. He took that from Albert King,” Gales told Guitar World of his brother last year. “There was a rigor and intensity to what Albert chose to play. Every push and bend meant something and had some pain or emotion behind it. That’s something I learned from both of them.
If he had chosen to come on the whirly ride, I don't think that B.B. King would be as well known as he was, because my uncle was that kind of guy.”
— Eric Gales
“People knew about Little Jimmy King. He was a touring machine who did it the hard way through grind. If he wasn’t on the road, he was at B.B. King’s Blues Club on Beale Street every single weekend playing in the house band.
“I saw him struggle,” he adds. “It gave me a glimpse of the real grind it takes to make a name for yourself to beat the pavement like that. He’d be in places that were far from pristine, but every night he’d play his heart out. That stuck with me.”
And like his brother before him, Gales learned to mix the best aspects of the players he loved to create something unique in his own playing. He once shared his secrets for developing your own style with Guitar Player.
Now a grandfather himself, Gales is carving the family name into the annals of blues-rock history at long last.
