Saunders Samuel King was born in Staple, Louisiana, United States.He was the son of a preacher, and sang in his father's church while growing up in Oakland, California. As a youngster he learned to play piano, banjo and ukulele, but did not pick up guitar until 1938. At the end of the 1930s he sang with the Southern Harmony Four on NBC radio, and decided to begin playing blues music; he released the tune 《S.K. Blues》 in 1942, which became a major nationwide hit. The tune featured electric blues guitar, one of the earliest recordings to do so.