Freddie King

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Freddie King

Freddie King
Photo:Chuck Pulin/Star File
Background information
Birth name Frederick Christian King
Also known as Freddy King, The Texas Cannonball
Born September 3, 1934(1934-09-03)
Gilmer, Texas, United States
Died December 28, 1976 (aged 42)
Genres Blues, Rock, Funk
Occupations Musician
Instruments Guitar, Vocals
Years active 1950-1976
Labels El-bee, King, Federal, Atlantic,Shelter, RSO
Associated acts Bill Wills, Sonny Thompson, Leon Russell, Eric Clapton, Bobby Tench, PP Arnold, Jamie Oldaker, Carl Radle, Tom Dowd, Mike Vernon, King Curtis, Steve Ferrone, Jimmie Vaughan, Peter Green, Bill Freeman, Denny Campbell, Robert Lockwood Jr., Jamie Oldaker, Carl Radle
Website The official Freddie King site
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul guitar, Gibson ES-335 guitar

Freddie King also known as Freddy King and "The Texas Cannonball" (September 3, 1934 - December 28, 1976), was an influential Afro-American blues guitarist and singer. He perfected his own guitar style based on Texas and Chicago influences and was one of the first bluesmen to have a multi-racial backing band on stage with him at live performances. He is known for his recordings such as "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" (1960) and his Top 40 hit "Hide Away" (1961), as well as albums such as Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King (1961) and Burglar (1974).[1]

King had a twenty year recording career and became established as an influential guitarist. He inspired American musicians including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, Bill Freeman and Denny Campbell, and mid 1960s UK blues revivalists such as Eric Clapton, Chicken Shack and Peter Green. King died from heart failure on December 28, 1976, aged forty two.[2]

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Born Frederick Christian King, King's mother and uncle began teaching Freddie to play guitar at the age of six. He moved with his family from Texas to the South Side of Chicago in 1950. When aged sixteen he visited local clubs where he heard blues music, performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, T-Bone Walker, Elmore James, and Sonny Boy Williamson. King played with Muddy Waters's sidemen who included, Eddie Taylor, Jimmy Rogers, Robert Lockwood, Jr. and Little Walter. He married Jessie Burnett in 1952 and worked in a steel mill, occasionally working as a sideman on recording sessions. During this period he played with bands such as The Sonny Cooper Band and Early Payton's Blues Cats and he formed his first band Every Hour Blues Boys with guitarist Jimmy Lee Robinson and drummer Sonny Scott. In 1953 he made recordings for Parrot records, which were not released and 1956 he recorded "Country Boy", a duet with Margaret Whitfield for El-Bee records[3] and Robert Lockwood Jr. played guitar on this record.[4]

[edit] Playing style and influence

King had an intuitive style, often creating guitar parts similar to a second vocal line,[5] using the open-string sound of Texas blues guitar and the raw, screaming tones of West Side Chicago blues. He usually played Gibson ES-335 guitars[6] with a plastic thumb pick and a metal index-finger pick to achieve an aggressive finger attack, a style he learned from Jimmy Rogers. King had a strong influence on British and American blues-rock musicians such as Jimmy Vaughan,[7] Peter Green,[8] and Eric Clapton[9]. A testament to King's presence on the circuit of touring rock bands was Grand Funk Railroad's mention of King in their song We're an American Band", written by Don Brewer and based on incidents whilst touring with King. [10]One aspect of Freddy's style that should be mentioned is his distinction from the two other "Kings", BB and Albert..Freddy's style was more aggressive and creative in improvisation,where Albert relied on a battery of licks, wound in different ways.. Freddy would "create" phrases on the spot, in the moment. This is an aspect of Freddy's playing that Eric Clapton mentions. If anything, Freddy was more connected to BB, not only in the choice of the ES-335 dot necks, but in the vocal nuances of their playing. However, where BB has always found the path home,Freddy, many times live, created his own road, exploratory mixed with a complete sense of control, skill, and a fearless sense of where it might end, but knowing he'll end up on his feet

[edit] King Records and The Federal Label 1960-1966

Syd Nathan signed Freddie King to the King Records subsidiary label Federal, in 1960 and recorded "You've Got To Love Her with A Feeling" as his debut release, "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" (1960) and "Hide Away" (1961) which peaked at #29 in pop singles charts and #5 on the R&B charts. His second release was "I Love the Woman" and "Hide Away" was used as the B side. "Hideaway" was an adaptation of a tune by Hound Dog Taylor and was named after a popular bar in Chicago.[11]

After the success of "Hide Away" [12] King and piano player Sonny Thompson record thirty instrumentals, including "The Stumble", "Just Pickin'", "Sen-Sa-Shun", "Side Tracked", "San-Ho-Zay", "High Rise", I'm torn down and "The Sad Nite Owl". [13] King's band included his brother Benny Turner on bass and Lonnie Mack played rhythm and second guitar on a number his recordings from this period. During this period he toured with the big R&B acts of the day such as Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and James Brown.

[edit] Atlantic and Shelter Records 1968-1973

King's contract with Federal expired in 1966 and his first overseas tour followed in 1967. He was noticed by King Curtis and was subsequently signed to Atlantic during 1968.[14] In 1969 he hired Jack Calmes, to be his manager and Calmes secured him an appearance at the 1969 Texas Pop Festival, alongside Led Zeppelin and others[15] and this led to King being signed to Leon Russell label Shelter Records. The company treated Freddie as an important artist, flying him to Chicago to the former Chess studios for the recording of Getting Ready and gave him a supporting cast of top-calibre session musicians, including rock pianist Leon Russell.[16] Three albums were made during the this period, including blues classics and new songs written by Russell and Don Nix.[17]

[edit] RSO Records 1973-1976

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, on which Tom Dowd produced the track, "Sugar Sweet", at Criteria Studios in Miami with guitarists Clapton and George Terry, drummer Jamie Oldaker and bassist Carl Radle. Mike Vernon produced all the other tracks,[18] and P. P. Arnold sang vocals.[19] Vernon also produced a second album Larger than Life[20] with King, for the same label. Bobby Tench[21] from The Jeff Beck Group and bassist DeLisle Harper[22] also perform with King on both albums.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

  • "Country Boy"/"That's What You Think" El-bee Records(1956)
  • "Have You Ever Loved A Woman"/"You've Got To Love Her With A Feeling" Federal 12384 (1960)
  • "Hide Away"/"I Love The Woman" Federal (1961)
  • "Christmas Tears"/"I Hear Jingle Bells" Federal (1965)

[edit] Albums

  • Freddy King Sings Federal 762 (1961)
  • Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King Federal 773 (1961)
  • Two Boys And A Girl Freddy King, Lulu Reed & Sonny Thompson. Federal 777 (1962)
  • Bossa Nova And The Blues Federal 821 (1963)
  • Freddy King Goes Surfin Federal 856(1963)
  • Bonanza Of Instrumentals Federal 928 (1965)
  • Freddie King Sings Again Federal 931(1965)
  • Freddie King Is A Blues Master Cotillion SD 9004 (1969)
  • My Feeling For The Blues Cotillion SD 9016 (1970)
  • Getting Ready Shelter SW8905 (1971)
  • The Texas Cannonball Shelter SW8913 (1972)
  • Woman Across The River Shelter SW8921 (1973)
  • Burglar RSO SO4803 (1974)
  • Freddie King Larger Than Life RSO SO4811 (1975)

[edit] Compilation albums

  • All His Hits King 5012 (1965)
  • Freddie King 1934-1976 Polydor 831817-2 (1976)
  • Just Pickin' Modern Blues (1989)
  • Hide Away The Best Of Freddie King Rhino (1993)
  • King Of The Blues EMI/Shelter (1995)
  • Staying Home With The Blues Universal/Spectrum (1997)
  • The Best Of Freddie King MCA (2008)

[edit] Awards and recognition

In 1993 by proclamation from the Texas Governor Ann Richards September 3, 1993, was declared Freddie King Day. This was an honour previously only reserved for Lone Star legends such as Bob Wills and Buddy Holly.[23]

In 2003 Freddie King was placed 25th in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.[24]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Cub Koda. "Freddie King". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=FREDDIEKING&sql=11:kifpxq95ld0e~T1. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 
  2. ^ Corcoran, Joseph, Michael. All over the map. True heroes of Texas music. University of Texas Press. pp. 51-54. 
  3. ^ O'Neal, Jim and Van Singel, Amy. The voice of the blues: classic interviews from Living blues magazine. Routledge. p. 359. 
  4. ^ The Freddie King Estate. "Sweet Home Chicago". freddiekingsite.com. http://www.freddiekingsite.com/FKSweetHomeChicago.html. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 
  5. ^ Corcoran, Joseph, Michael. All over the map. True heroes of Texas music. University of Texas Press. p. 54. 
  6. ^ Lawrence,Robb. The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy 1915-1963. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 247. 
  7. ^ Busby, Mark. The South West. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 323. 
  8. ^ Santelli, Robert. The big book of blues: a biographical encyclopedia. Penguin. p. 239. 
  9. ^ Clapton, Eric. Clapton: the autobiography. Broadway. p. 41. 
  10. ^ Book: James, Billy. Song: Brewer, Don. Book: An American Band (SAF Publishing). Song: "We're an American Band" (1973. Brew Music Company/BMI). p. 90. 
  11. ^ Dahl, Bill. "Hideaway". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:dbfwxqedldse. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 
  12. ^ Pruter, Robert. Chicago Soul. University of Illinois Press. p. 236. 
  13. ^ "Freddie King song credits". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kifpxq95ld0e~T31. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 
  14. ^ Hardy, Laing, Barnard and Perretta. texas Music. Schirmer Books. p. 251. 
  15. ^ Hayner, Richard.C. "The Texas Pop Festival". texaspopfestival.com. http://www.texaspopfestival.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 
  16. ^ "Getting Ready credits". almusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wbfoxqq0ldhe~T2. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 
  17. ^ Kosta, Rick. Texas Music. St. Martin's Press. p. 187. 
  18. ^ Viglione, Joe. "Burglar". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jbfoxqq0ldhe~T1. Retrieved 2009-05-08. 
  19. ^ "PP AArnold credits". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hcfrxqq5ldae~T4. Retrieved 2009-05-08. 
  20. ^ "Larger than life". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kbfyxqu0ldde. Retrieved 2009-05-08. 
  21. ^ "Bob Tench". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:azfrxq9gldte~T4. Retrieved 2009-05-08. 
  22. ^ "DeLisle Harper". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:knfpxqe5ld0e~T4. Retrieved 2009-05-08. 
  23. ^ Van Beveren,Amy. "Freddie King". tshaonline.org. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/KK/fkimt.html. 
  24. ^ "100 Greatest guitarists. No: 25 Freddie King". rollingstone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/5937559/page/18. 

[edit] Bibliography

  • Busby, Mark. The Southwest. Greenwood Publishing Group (2004). ISBN 9780313328053
  • Clapton, Eric. Clapton: The Autobiography. Broadway Books (2007). Digitized 4 Sep 2008.ISBN 9780385518512
  • Corcoran, Michael, Joseph, All Over the Map: True Heroes of Texas Music. University of Texas Press (2005). ISBN 9780292709768
  • Koster, Rick. Texas Music. St. Martin's Press (2000). ISBN 9780312254254
  • Hardy, Phil. Laing, Dave. Stephen, Barnard. Perretta, Don. Encyclopedia of Rock. Edition 2 (revised). Schirmer Books (1988). Digitized 21 Dec 2006. ISBN 9780029195628
  • O'Neal, Jim and Van Singel, Amy . The Voice of the Blues: Classic Interviews from Living Blues Magazine. Edition 10. Routledge (2002). ISBN 9780415936538
  • Lawrence, Robb . The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy 1915-1963. Hal Leonard Corporation (2008). ISBN 9780634048616
  • Pruter, Robert. Chicago Soul. Edition 5 (reprint). University of Illinois Press (1992). ISBN 9780252062599

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_King"