From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Mon Sep 30, 2002 1:24 am Subject: Born To Be With You : Freddy King FREDDY KING (By Phil Davies) Born Freddie Christian (?), 30 September 1934, Longview, Texas Died 28 December 1976, Dallas, Texas Even the basic facts are complicated, some US sources give September 3rd as his birthday, born either in Gilmer or Longview Texas. His name is either Billy Myles (huh?) (Guinness Blues Book) or Freddie Christian (Interview in Guitar Player mag, which claims he took his mother's maiden name later, King). It says Freddy on my Federal 45s and Ace say 30th and Longview so we'll stick with that. Influenced greatly by T- Bone Walker and later B B King (no relation, neither was Albert). Moved to Chicago as a teenager and influenced as a musician by family members firstly, and then by local bluesmen like Eddie Taylor and Robert Lockwood Jnr. Played the local clubs along with West Side contemporaries Otis Rush and Magic Sam. Lockwood backed him on his debut 45 Country Boy/That's What You think cut in 1956 for El-Bee. Chess apparently turned him down as they reckoned he sounded too much like B B. His seminal work was cut in Cincinnati for the King label, on its Federal wing mainly, piano man Sonny Thompson brought him there. Freddy, Sonny, Phil Paul on drums, Bill Willis on bass and Fred Jordan on guitar were the backbone of the classic riff laden sides cut between 26th August 1960 and 14th September 1966. The first great success was the sole instrumental cut in the early sessions, Hideaway (with echoes of The Walk & Peter Gunn, though Freddy claimed he borrowed it from a Hound-Dog Taylor boogie riff). Title inspired by Mel's Hide Away lounge in Chicago, reached number 5 on the R & B charts in early 61, crossing over to 29 in the pop charts. Lonesome Whistle Blues reached no. 8 R & B, the immaculate San-Ho-Zay later reached number 4 R & B and 47 pop.See See Baby reached 21 and the great rocking I'm Tore Down reached 5 in the autumn of 1961 and the cool chugging Christmas Tears reached 26. 70 plus titles were cut in the King-Federal golden years. His albums and flipsides contain many gems. He tailored his blues to fit contemporary pop stylings, hence his popularity with instro and surf fans. Freddy's instructions to JJ Cale who was mixing a later live album are revealing, " Man, turn me way up and everyone else down!" His epic ballads like Have You Ever Loved A Woman influenced many British blues boomers , especially the young Clapton ( who acknowledged Freddy's influence by asking him to open for him on many 70s tours). His searing Gibson guitar, heartfelt vocals and supertight backing band mean that all his King sides are worth checking out. The Ace cd Blues Guitar Hero is very highly recommended as are the recent 3 Collectables US releases. His later work for Shelter has some fine moments especially on uptempo tunes, but the cluttered rock production is miles away from the pure and simple King label formula. Bass man Willis recalls that Freddy and Sonny would spend the first day working out the little riffs and hooks, before jamming repeatedly with the band from around 8am the next day until the early hours. Then when session day came they just went for it, "When we did the Peter Gunn thing in Hideaway he just pointed his fingers at us like a pistol as a signal." He toured Europe and Asia, recorded for Cotillion in 68 (produced by King Curtis no less) and later Shelter. In 1963 he had returned to Texas and settled in Dallas. In 1971 he recorded the first major live album ever made in Austin at Armadillo World Headquarters, known as "the House That Freddie King Built." He opened the club and returned periodically for fund-raisers. His recordings with Shelter Records brought him recognition throughout the rock world as a "top-notch Texas bluesman." He married a woman named Jessie, and they had seven children. He died aged 42, on December 28, 1976, from pancreatitis, brought on by acute ulcers,and was buried in Hillcrest Memorial Park, Dallas. A great shame he didn't live on to reach the heights of acclaim and commercial success reached by pensioners BB and John Lee Hooker. The consistency of his SAO era work rates him very highly in my blues world. Fittingly Texas had a Freddy King day on what would've been his 59th birthday in 1993, mind you they did use September 3rd!!!! Phil/Fill Davies/Davis Recommended Reading: Interview from Guitar Player mag, featured in the fine anthology Rollin' & Tumblin' edited by Jas Obrecht, published by Miller Freeman Books, ISBN 0-87930-613-0 Very Highly Recommended listening: Everything on King/Federal The Ace and the 3 V Best Of Collectables cds mentioned earlier Collectables details at http://www.oldies.com/artist/view.cfm/id/2627.html or the earlier Charly cd Texas Sensation (check out cheapo boxes) For readers with broader tastes, the later years on Sequel's Texas Cannonball, rock n soul covers like Lodi