A composer of blues standards such as "Come On" (covered by Jimi Hendrix, Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan) and "Big Chief" (recorded by Professor Longhair), he was an important figure in New Orleans R&B.

In his youth he sang gospel music, but he took the advice of a friend to switch to blues to make a better living.

Soon he started entering talent contests at local clubs, including the Dew Drop Inn.

[4] King started imitating Slim, and his presence had a big impact on his musical direction.

[3] The former has been a much-covered standard for decades, notably recorded by Jimi Hendrix,[3] Stevie Ray Vaughan and Anson Funderburgh.

The title track was released as a single on the Kansu label at the time, but the rest was unreleased until 1982, when the album was issued by Charly Records in the UK.

He recorded his third album for Black Top, Hard River to Cross (1993), with backing by George Porter Jr., David Torkanowsky, and Herman V. Ernest III.

[3] King died on April 17, 2003, from diabetes-related complications,[7] just a week before the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

His funeral was held on April 30, during the festival, and many musicians attended it, including Dr. John, Leo Nocentelli and Aaron Neville.

The June 2003 issue of OffBeat, a local music magazine, paid tribute to King with a series of articles on him.