Freddie King
Encyclopedia
Freddie King thought to have been born as Frederick Christian, originally recording as Freddy King, and nicknamed "the Texas Cannonball", was an influential African-American blues
guitarist
and singer. He is often mentioned as one of "the Three Kings" of electric blues guitar, along with Albert King
and B.B. King, as well as the youngest of the three.
Freddie King based his guitar style on Texas and Chicago influences and was one of the first bluesmen to have a multi-racial backing band onstage with him at live performances. He is best known for singles such as "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" (1960) and his Top 40 hit "Hide Away
" (1961). He is also known for albums such as the early, instrumental-packed Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King
(1961) and the later album Burglar (1974), which displayed King's mature versatility as both player and singer in a range of blues and funk styles.
King had a twenty-year recording career and became established as an influential guitarist with hits for Federal Records
, in the early 1960s. He inspired American musicians such as Jerry Garcia
, Stevie Ray Vaughan
and his brother Jimmie Vaughan
and others. His influence was also felt in UK
, through recordings by blues revivalists such as Eric Clapton
, Peter Green
, and Chicken Shack
.
of Chicago
. In 1952 King started working in a steel mill, the same year he married fellow Texas native Jessie Burnett, with whom he eventually had six children.
There are significant variations and unresolved confusion over King's use of the surname King. According to his estate, he was named "Freddy King" at birth and his parents were Ella Mae King and J.T.Christian. According to his sister, King had the surname Christian, even after their mother re-married and the family moved to Chicago and that by the mid 1950s he "Freddy Christian", was so musically ambitious that he changed his surname to King, to ride on the coat tails of B.B. King. It is notable that his first name is spelled "Freddy" on his recordings made between 1956 and 1964. From 1968 his name was credited as Freddie King.
, Howlin' Wolf
, T-Bone Walker
, Elmore James
, and Sonny Boy Williamson
. King formed his first band, the Every Hour Blues Boys, with guitarist Jimmy Lee Robinson and drummer Sonny Scott. In 1952, while employed at the steel mill, an eighteen-year-old King occasionally worked as a sideman
with such bands as the Little Sonny Cooper Band and Earl Payton's Blues Cats. In 1953 he recorded with the latter for Parrot Records, but these recordings were never released. As the 1950s went on, King played with several of Muddy Waters's sidemen and other Chicago mainstays, including guitarists Jimmy Rogers
, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Eddie Taylor
, Hound Dog Taylor
, bassist Willie Dixon
, pianist Memphis Slim
, and harpist Little Walter
.
In 1956 he cut his first record as a leader, for El-Bee Records. The A-side was a duet
with a Margaret Whitfield, "Country Boy,", and the B-side was a King vocal. Both tracks feature the guitar of Robert Jr. Lockwood, who during these same years was also adding rhythm backing and fills to Little Walter's records.
King was repeatedly rejected in auditions for the South Side's Chess Records
, the premier blues label, which was home to Muddy, Wolf, and Walter. The complaint was that Freddie King sang too much like B.B. King. A newer blues scene, lively with nightclubs and upstart record companies, was burgeoning on the West Side, though. Bassist and producer Willie Dixon
, during a late 1950s period of estrangement from Chess, had King come to Cobra Records
for a session, but the results have never been heard. Meanwhile, though, King established himself as perhaps the biggest musical force on the West Side. King played along with Magic Sam
and supposedly did uncredited backing guitar on some of Sam's tracks for Mel London
's Chief and Age
labels, though King does not stand out anywhere.
, pianist, producer, and A&R man for Cincinnati's King Records
and King owner Syd Nathan
signed King to the subsidiary Federal
label in 1960. King recorded his debut single for the label on August 26, 1960: "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" backed with "You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling
" (again as "Freddy" King). From the same recording session at the King Studios in Cincinnati, Ohio
, King cut the instrumental "Hide Away," which the next year reached #5 on the R&B Charts
and #29 on the Pop Singles Charts, an unprecedented accomplishment for a blues instrumental. "Hide Away" was originally released as the B-side of "I Love the Woman". "Hide Away" was King's conglomeration of a theme by Hound Dog Taylor
and parts by others , such as from "The Walk" by Jimmy McCracklin
and "Peter Gunn", as credited by King. The song's title comes from Mel's Hide Away Lounge, a popular blues club on the West Side of Chicago. Willie Dixon
later claimed that he had recorded King doing "Hide Away" for Cobra Records
in the late 1950s, but such a version has never surfaced.
After their success with "Hide Away," King and Sonny Thompson
recorded thirty instrumentals, including "The Stumble
," "Just Pickin'," "Sen-Sa-Shun," "Side Tracked," "San-Ho-Zay," "High Rise," and "The Sad Nite Owl". Vocal tracks continued to be recorded throughout this period, but often the instrumentals were marketed on their own merits as albums. During the Federal period King toured with many of the R&B acts of the day such as, Sam Cooke
, Jackie Wilson
and James Brown
, who performed in the same concerts.
, who had recorded a cover of "Hide Away," with Cornell Dupree on guitar in 1962. Curtis signed King to Atlantic
in 1968, which resulted in two LPs
, Freddie King Is a Blues Master (1969) and My Feeling for the Blues (1970), produced by Curtis for the Atlantic subsidiary Cotillion Records
.
In 1969 King hired Jack Calmes as his manager , who secured him an appearance at the 1969 Texas Pop Festival, alongside Led Zeppelin
and others, and this led to King's being signed to Leon Russell
's new label, Shelter Records
. The company treated King as an important artist, flying him to Chicago to the former Chess studios
for the recording of Getting Ready and gave him a backing line-up of top session musicians, including rock pianist Leon Russell
. Three albums were made during this period, including blues classics and new songs written by Russell and Don Nix
.
King performed alongside the big rock acts of the day, such as Eric Clapton
and for a young, mainly white
audience, before signing to RSO
. In 1974 he recorded Burglar, for which Tom Dowd
produced the track "Sugar Sweet" at Criteria Studios in Miami, with guitarists Clapton and slide guitarist George Terry
, drummer Jamie Oldaker
and bassist Carl Radle
. Mike Vernon
produced all the other tracks. Vernon also produced a second album Larger than Life
with King, for the same label. Vernon brought in other notable musicians for both albums such as Bobby Tench
of The Jeff Beck Group
, to complement King
with P-90
pickups through a Gibson GA-40 amplifier, later moving on to Gibson ES-345
guitars, using a plastic thumb pick and a metal index-finger pick to achieve an aggressive finger attack, a style he learned from Jimmy Rogers
. He had a relatively more aggressive and creative style of improvisation than others such as, B.B King and Albert King
, considered by many to be a more exploratory and less traditional approach.
King's later years (after 1970) were marked by a shift towards more of a hard, rock-like style, presumably in an effort to reach white audiences better. He also largely quit performing new material in lieu of simply covering songs from B.B. King and other blues musicians.
at the age of 42.
According to those that knew him, King's untimely death was due to both stress and poor diet (he was in the habit of consuming Bloody Mary
s in lieu of solid food so as not to waste time when setting up shows).
September 3, 1993, was declared Freddie King Day. This is an honor reserved for Lone Star legends, e.g. Bob Wills
and Buddy Holly
.
In 2003 King was placed 25th in Rolling Stone
s list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and singer. He is often mentioned as one of "the Three Kings" of electric blues guitar, along with Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
and B.B. King, as well as the youngest of the three.
Freddie King based his guitar style on Texas and Chicago influences and was one of the first bluesmen to have a multi-racial backing band onstage with him at live performances. He is best known for singles such as "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" (1960) and his Top 40 hit "Hide Away
Hide Away
"Hide Away" or "Hideaway" is a blues guitar instrumental that has become "a standard for countless blues and rock musicians performing today". First recorded in 1960 by Freddie King, the song became an R&B and pop chart hit...
" (1961). He is also known for albums such as the early, instrumental-packed Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King
Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King
Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King is a 1961 instrumental album by blues guitarist and singer Freddie "The Texas Cannonball" King. Released on King Records, the album contained a number of influential songs and two hit singles, "Hide Away" and "San-Ho-Zay"...
(1961) and the later album Burglar (1974), which displayed King's mature versatility as both player and singer in a range of blues and funk styles.
King had a twenty-year recording career and became established as an influential guitarist with hits for Federal Records
Federal Records
Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to Rhythm & Blues releases. But also hillbilly and rockabilly recordings were released,...
, in the early 1960s. He inspired American musicians such as Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
, Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
and his brother Jimmie Vaughan
Jimmie Vaughan
James Lawrence "Jimmie" Vaughan is an American blues rock guitarist and singer from Dallas, Texas, United States. He is the older brother of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan....
and others. His influence was also felt in UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, through recordings by blues revivalists such as Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Peter Green
Peter Green (musician)
Peter Green is a British blues-rock guitarist and the founder of the band Fleetwood Mac...
, and Chicken Shack
Chicken Shack
Chicken Shack are a British blues band, founded in the mid-1960s by Stan Webb , Andy Silvester , and Alan Morley , who were later joined by Christine Perfect in 1968.-Career:...
.
Early life and name variations
When King was only six, his mother Ella Mae and his uncle began teaching Freddie guitar. In autumn 1949 King and his family moved from Dallas to the South SideSouth Side (Chicago)
The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago, which is located in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Much of it has evolved from the city's incorporation of independent townships, such as Hyde Park Township which voted along with several other townships to be annexed in the June 29,...
of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. In 1952 King started working in a steel mill, the same year he married fellow Texas native Jessie Burnett, with whom he eventually had six children.
There are significant variations and unresolved confusion over King's use of the surname King. According to his estate, he was named "Freddy King" at birth and his parents were Ella Mae King and J.T.Christian. According to his sister, King had the surname Christian, even after their mother re-married and the family moved to Chicago and that by the mid 1950s he "Freddy Christian", was so musically ambitious that he changed his surname to King, to ride on the coat tails of B.B. King. It is notable that his first name is spelled "Freddy" on his recordings made between 1956 and 1964. From 1968 his name was credited as Freddie King.
1950s
Almost as soon as his family had moved to Chicago, King started sneaking into South Side nightclubs, where he heard blues performed by Muddy WatersMuddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
, T-Bone Walker
T-Bone Walker
Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was one of the most influential pioneers and innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. He is the first musician recorded playing blues with the...
, Elmore James
Elmore James
Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
, and Sonny Boy Williamson
Sonny Boy Williamson I
Sonny Boy Williamson was an American blues harmonica player and singer, and the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson.-Biography and career:...
. King formed his first band, the Every Hour Blues Boys, with guitarist Jimmy Lee Robinson and drummer Sonny Scott. In 1952, while employed at the steel mill, an eighteen-year-old King occasionally worked as a sideman
Sideman
A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform or record with a group of which he or she is not a regular member. They often tour with solo acts as well as bands and jazz ensembles. Sidemen are generally required to be adaptable to many different styles of music, and so able to fit...
with such bands as the Little Sonny Cooper Band and Earl Payton's Blues Cats. In 1953 he recorded with the latter for Parrot Records, but these recordings were never released. As the 1950s went on, King played with several of Muddy Waters's sidemen and other Chicago mainstays, including guitarists Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.-Biography:Born Edward Taylor in Benoit, Mississippi, United States, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing at venues around Leland, Mississippi, where he taught his friend Jimmy Reed to...
, Hound Dog Taylor
Hound Dog Taylor
Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer.-Career:Taylor was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1915 . He originally played piano, but began playing guitar when he was 20...
, bassist Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
, pianist Memphis Slim
Memphis Slim
Memphis Slim was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxophones, bass, drums, and piano. A song he first cut in 1947, "Every Day I Have the Blues", has become a blues standard, recorded by many other...
, and harpist Little Walter
Little Walter
Little Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs , was an American blues harmonica player, whose revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, for innovation and impact on succeeding generations...
.
In 1956 he cut his first record as a leader, for El-Bee Records. The A-side was a duet
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
with a Margaret Whitfield, "Country Boy,", and the B-side was a King vocal. Both tracks feature the guitar of Robert Jr. Lockwood, who during these same years was also adding rhythm backing and fills to Little Walter's records.
King was repeatedly rejected in auditions for the South Side's Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
, the premier blues label, which was home to Muddy, Wolf, and Walter. The complaint was that Freddie King sang too much like B.B. King. A newer blues scene, lively with nightclubs and upstart record companies, was burgeoning on the West Side, though. Bassist and producer Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
, during a late 1950s period of estrangement from Chess, had King come to Cobra Records
Cobra Records
Cobra Records was an independent record label that operated from 1956 to 1959. The label was important for launching the recording careers of Chicago blues artists Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Buddy Guy and "signaled the arrival of a new generation of [blues] artists and a new sound .....
for a session, but the results have never been heard. Meanwhile, though, King established himself as perhaps the biggest musical force on the West Side. King played along with Magic Sam
Magic Sam
Samuel "Magic Sam" Gene Maghett was an American Chicago blues musician. Maghett was born in Grenada, Mississippi, United States, and learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and Little Walter...
and supposedly did uncredited backing guitar on some of Sam's tracks for Mel London
Mel London
Mel London was a songwriter, record producer, and record label owner. He was active in the Chicago blues and R&B scenes in the 1950s and 1960s...
's Chief and Age
Chief Records
Chief Records was an independent record label that operated from 1957 to 1964. Best known for its recordings of Chicago blues artists Elmore James, Junior Wells, Magic Sam, and Earl Hooker, the label had a diverse roster and included R&B artists Lillian Offitt and Ricky Allen.Chief Records was...
labels, though King does not stand out anywhere.
Federal Records
In 1959 King got to know Sonny ThompsonSonny Thompson
Sonny Thompson was an American R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s.Born Alfonso Thompson in Centreville, Mississippi, he began recording in 1946, and in 1948 achieved two #1 R&B chart hits on the Miracle label – "Long Gone " and "Late Freight", both featuring saxophonist...
, pianist, producer, and A&R man for Cincinnati's King Records
King Records (USA)
King Records is an American record label, started in 1943 by Syd Nathan and originally headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.-History:At first it specialized in country music, at the time still known as "hillbilly music." King advertised, "If it's a King, It's a Hillbilly -- If it's a Hillbilly, it's a...
and King owner Syd Nathan
Syd Nathan
Syd Nathan was an American hillbilly, country & western and rhythm and blues record producer. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He started the Queen record label in 1943. In 1947 it was renamed King Records. James Brown's first single "Please, Please, Please" was released on their subsidiary label...
signed King to the subsidiary Federal
Federal Records
Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to Rhythm & Blues releases. But also hillbilly and rockabilly recordings were released,...
label in 1960. King recorded his debut single for the label on August 26, 1960: "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" backed with "You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling
You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling
"You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling", or "Love with a Feeling" as it was originally called, is a blues song first recorded by Tampa Red in 1938...
" (again as "Freddy" King). From the same recording session at the King Studios in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, King cut the instrumental "Hide Away," which the next year reached #5 on the R&B Charts
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
and #29 on the Pop Singles Charts, an unprecedented accomplishment for a blues instrumental. "Hide Away" was originally released as the B-side of "I Love the Woman". "Hide Away" was King's conglomeration of a theme by Hound Dog Taylor
Hound Dog Taylor
Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer.-Career:Taylor was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1915 . He originally played piano, but began playing guitar when he was 20...
and parts by others , such as from "The Walk" by Jimmy McCracklin
Jimmy McCracklin
Jimmy McCracklin is an American pianist, vocalist, and songwriter. His style contains West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career that has spanned seven decades, he says he has written almost a thousand songs and has recorded hundreds of them...
and "Peter Gunn", as credited by King. The song's title comes from Mel's Hide Away Lounge, a popular blues club on the West Side of Chicago. Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
later claimed that he had recorded King doing "Hide Away" for Cobra Records
Cobra Records
Cobra Records was an independent record label that operated from 1956 to 1959. The label was important for launching the recording careers of Chicago blues artists Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Buddy Guy and "signaled the arrival of a new generation of [blues] artists and a new sound .....
in the late 1950s, but such a version has never surfaced.
After their success with "Hide Away," King and Sonny Thompson
Sonny Thompson
Sonny Thompson was an American R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s.Born Alfonso Thompson in Centreville, Mississippi, he began recording in 1946, and in 1948 achieved two #1 R&B chart hits on the Miracle label – "Long Gone " and "Late Freight", both featuring saxophonist...
recorded thirty instrumentals, including "The Stumble
The Stumble
"The Stumble" is an instrumental blues song originally composed by the guitarist Freddie King. It has been recorded by scores of artists including: Anthony Hawkins of "Black Merda", Luther Allison, Jeff Beck, Eric Bell, Canned Heat, Dave Edmunds, Peter Green, Steve Hackett, Bugs Henderson, Love...
," "Just Pickin'," "Sen-Sa-Shun," "Side Tracked," "San-Ho-Zay," "High Rise," and "The Sad Nite Owl". Vocal tracks continued to be recorded throughout this period, but often the instrumentals were marketed on their own merits as albums. During the Federal period King toured with many of the R&B acts of the day such as, Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
, Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
and James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, who performed in the same concerts.
Cotillion, Shelter, RSO Records
King's contract with Federal expired in 1966, and his first overseas tour followed in 1968. King's availability was noticed by producer and saxophonist King CurtisKing Curtis
Curtis Ousley , who performed under the stage name King Curtis, was an American saxophone virtuoso known for rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, funk and soul jazz. Variously a bandleader, band member, and session musician, he was also a musical director and record producer...
, who had recorded a cover of "Hide Away," with Cornell Dupree on guitar in 1962. Curtis signed King to Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in 1968, which resulted in two LPs
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
, Freddie King Is a Blues Master (1969) and My Feeling for the Blues (1970), produced by Curtis for the Atlantic subsidiary Cotillion Records
Cotillion Records
Cotillion Records was a subsidiary of Atlantic Records and was active from 1968 through 1985. The label was originally formed as an outlet for blues and deep Southern soul; its first single, Otis Clay's version of "She's About A Mover", reached the R&B charts. Cotillion's catalog quickly expanded...
.
In 1969 King hired Jack Calmes as his manager , who secured him an appearance at the 1969 Texas Pop Festival, alongside Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
and others, and this led to King's being signed to Leon Russell
Leon Russell
Claude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
's new label, Shelter Records
Shelter Records
Shelter Records was a U.S. record label started by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell that operated from 1969 to 1981. The company established offices in both Los Angeles and Tulsa, Russell's home town, where the label sought to promote a "workshop atmosphere" with a recording studio in a converted...
. The company treated King as an important artist, flying him to Chicago to the former Chess studios
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
for the recording of Getting Ready and gave him a backing line-up of top session musicians, including rock pianist Leon Russell
Leon Russell
Claude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
. Three albums were made during this period, including blues classics and new songs written by Russell and Don Nix
Don Nix
Don Nix is a songwriter, composer, arranger, musician, and author. Although cited as being "obscure", he is a key figure in several genres of Southern rock and Soul, R&B, and the Blues...
.
King performed alongside the big rock acts of the day, such as Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
and for a young, mainly white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
audience, before signing to RSO
RSO Records
RSO Records was a record label, formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood in 1973. The "RSO" stands for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. The company's main headquarters were at 67 Brook Street, in London's Mayfair...
. In 1974 he recorded Burglar, for which Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...
produced the track "Sugar Sweet" at Criteria Studios in Miami, with guitarists Clapton and slide guitarist George Terry
George Terry
George E. Terry is an American blues rock and rock and roll guitarist most known for his live and studio work with Eric Clapton during the 1970s and studio work with a long list of artists...
, drummer Jamie Oldaker
Jamie Oldaker
James Oldaker is an American rock music, blues rock and country music drummer and percussionist. He was born September 5, 1951 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is an exponent of the shuffle style....
and bassist Carl Radle
Carl Radle
Carl Dean Radle was a bass guitarist who toured and recorded with many of the most influential recording artists of the late 1960s and 1970s...
. Mike Vernon
Mike Vernon (producer)
Mike Vernon is an English record producer. He produced albums for British blues artists and groups during the late 1960s, working with the Bluesbreakers, David Bowie, Duster Bennett, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, John Mayall, Christine McVie and...
produced all the other tracks. Vernon also produced a second album Larger than Life
with King, for the same label. Vernon brought in other notable musicians for both albums such as Bobby Tench
Bobby Tench
Robert Tench , also known as Bob Tench, Bobby Tench and Bobby Gass is a British vocalist and guitarist. Originally a bass player he began singing with Gass influenced by artists such as Sam Cooke and Ray Charles...
of The Jeff Beck Group
The Jeff Beck Group
The Jeff Beck Group were an English rock band formed in London in January 1967 by former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck. Their innovative approach to heavy sounding blues and R&B was a major influence on popular music.- The first Jeff Beck Group :...
, to complement King
Playing style and technique
King had an intuitive style, often creating guitar parts with vocal nuances. He achieved this by using the open string sound associated with Texas blues and the raw, screaming tones of West Side Chicago blues. In his early career he played a gold top Gibson Les PaulGibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
with P-90
P-90
The P-90 is a single coil electric guitar pickup produced by Gibson since 1946. Having a more complex architecture and larger dimensions than Fender's single coils, it is occasionally mistaken for a humbucker.- History :...
pickups through a Gibson GA-40 amplifier, later moving on to Gibson ES-345
Gibson ES-335
The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial thinline arched-top semi-acoustic electric guitar. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958, it is neither hollow nor solid; instead, a solid wood block runs through the center of its body...
guitars, using a plastic thumb pick and a metal index-finger pick to achieve an aggressive finger attack, a style he learned from Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
. He had a relatively more aggressive and creative style of improvisation than others such as, B.B King and Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
, considered by many to be a more exploratory and less traditional approach.
King's later years (after 1970) were marked by a shift towards more of a hard, rock-like style, presumably in an effort to reach white audiences better. He also largely quit performing new material in lieu of simply covering songs from B.B. King and other blues musicians.
Death
Near-constant touring took its toll on King (he was on the road almost 300 days out of the year), and in 1976 he began suffering stomach ulcers. His health quickly deteriorated and he died on December 28 of complications from that and acute pancreatitisPancreatitis
Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas. It occurs when pancreatic enzymes that digest food are activated in the pancreas instead of the small intestine. It may be acute – beginning suddenly and lasting a few days, or chronic – occurring over many years...
at the age of 42.
According to those that knew him, King's untimely death was due to both stress and poor diet (he was in the habit of consuming Bloody Mary
Bloody Mary
- Personalities :* Mary I of England, Queen of England and Ireland* Bloody Mary , a ghost said to appear in mirrors when summonedQueen of England & Ireland in the Tudor era.Daughter of Henry VIII.- Literature :...
s in lieu of solid food so as not to waste time when setting up shows).
Studio albums
| Date | Title | Label & Cat. no. | Chart no. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R&B | Pop | |||
| 1961 | Freddy King Sings Freddy King Sings -Personnel:* Freddie King – lead guitar and vocals* Fred Jordan – second guitar* Sonny Thompson – piano* Bill Willis – bass guitar* Phillip Paul – drums* Gene Redd - saxophone* Clifford Scott - saxophone... |
King King Records (USA) King Records is an American record label, started in 1943 by Syd Nathan and originally headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.-History:At first it specialized in country music, at the time still known as "hillbilly music." King advertised, "If it's a King, It's a Hillbilly -- If it's a Hillbilly, it's a... 762 |
||
| Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King is a 1961 instrumental album by blues guitarist and singer Freddie "The Texas Cannonball" King. Released on King Records, the album contained a number of influential songs and two hit singles, "Hide Away" and "San-Ho-Zay"... |
King 773 | |||
| 1962 | Two Boys and a Girl Freddy King, Lulu Reed & Sonny Thompson | Federal 777 | ||
| 1963 | Bossa Nova and the Blues | Federal 821 | ||
| Freddy King Goes Surfin | Federal 856 | |||
| 1965 | Bonanza of Instrumentals | Federal 928 | ||
| Freddie King Sings Again | Federal 931 | |||
| 1969 | Freddie King Is A Blues Master | Cotillion Cotillion Records Cotillion Records was a subsidiary of Atlantic Records and was active from 1968 through 1985. The label was originally formed as an outlet for blues and deep Southern soul; its first single, Otis Clay's version of "She's About A Mover", reached the R&B charts. Cotillion's catalog quickly expanded... SD 9004 |
||
| 1970 | My Feeling For The Blues | Cotillion SD 9016 | ||
| 1971 | Getting Ready | Shelter Shelter Records Shelter Records was a U.S. record label started by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell that operated from 1969 to 1981. The company established offices in both Los Angeles and Tulsa, Russell's home town, where the label sought to promote a "workshop atmosphere" with a recording studio in a converted... SW8905 |
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| 1972 | The Texas Cannonball | Shelter SW8913 | ||
| 1973 | Woman Across The River | Shelter SW8921 | 54 | 158 |
| 1974 | Burglar | RSO RSO Records RSO Records was a record label, formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood in 1973. The "RSO" stands for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. The company's main headquarters were at 67 Brook Street, in London's Mayfair... SO4803 |
53 | |
| 1975 | Freddie King Larger than Life | RSO SO4811 |
Selected compilation albums
| Date | Title | Label & Cat. no. | Chart no. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R&B | Pop | |||
| 1965 | All His Hits | King King Records (USA) King Records is an American record label, started in 1943 by Syd Nathan and originally headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.-History:At first it specialized in country music, at the time still known as "hillbilly music." King advertised, "If it's a King, It's a Hillbilly -- If it's a Hillbilly, it's a... 5012 |
||
| 1976 | Freddie King 1934–1976 | Polydor Polydor Records Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone... 831817-2 |
||
| 1989 | Just Pickin | Modern Blues | ||
| 1993 | Hide Away: The Best of Freddie King | Rhino | ||
| 1995 | King of the Blues | EMI EMI Records EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide... /Shelter |
||
| 1997 | Staying Home with the Blues | Universal Universal Records Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:... /Spectrum |
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| 2000 | The Best of Freddie King: The Shelter Records Years | The Right Stuff The Right Stuff Records The Right Stuff Records is a reissue record label owned by the EMI Group based out of Woodland Hills, California.The label primarily reissues classic soul and vintage R&B material through greatest hits collections, anthologies, boxed sets and compilations... |
||
| 2008 | The Best Of Freddie King | MCA MCA Records MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003... |
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| 2009 | Taking Care of Business | Bear Family Bear Family Records Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label that specializes in reissues of archival material ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks.-History:... |
Charting singles
| Date | Title A-side / B-side | Label & Cat. no. | Chart no. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R&B | Pop | |||
| 1956 | "Country Boy" / "That's What You Think" | El-Bee 157 | ||
| 1960 | "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" | Federal 12384 | ||
| "You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling "You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling", or "Love with a Feeling" as it was originally called, is a blues song first recorded by Tampa Red in 1938... " |
Federal 12384 | 92 | ||
| 1961 | "Hide Away Hide Away "Hide Away" or "Hideaway" is a blues guitar instrumental that has become "a standard for countless blues and rock musicians performing today". First recorded in 1960 by Freddie King, the song became an R&B and pop chart hit... " / "I Love The Woman" |
Federal 12401 | 5 | 29 |
| "Lonesome Whistle Blues" / "It's Too Bad (Things Are Going So Tough)" |
Federal 12415 | 8 | 88 | |
| "San-Ho-Zay" | Federal 12428 | 4 | 47 | |
| "See See Baby" | Federal 12428 | 21 | ||
| "I'm Tore Down" / "Sen-Sa-Shun" | Federal 12432 | 5 | ||
| "Christmas Tears" / "I Hear Jingle Bells" | Federal 12439 | 28 |
Awards and recognition
In 1993 by proclamation from the Texas Governor Ann RichardsAnn Richards
Dorothy Ann Willis Richards was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was...
September 3, 1993, was declared Freddie King Day. This is an honor reserved for Lone Star legends, e.g. Bob Wills
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
and Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
.
In 2003 King was placed 25th in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.