Freddie Christian was already an accomplished player when he moved from Texas to as a teenager in 1950. Son of JT Christian, the young man was taught guitar by his mother Ella Mae King and her brother Leon, and he had an eloquent and dextrous style reminiscent of, who was a big star in Texas when Freddie was growing up. In Chicago, he was influenced by the work of and, both Blues players. Later he incorporated more crisp and emotive lines in the style of and who were ‘ripping up the rules’ around the West-side clubs at that time. Freddie sat in with many groups at these clubs, making a reputation for strident and incisive statements. His powerful and distinctive style was emerging. The young Texan recorded with Little Sonny Cooper, Earle Payton’s Blues Cats and, before signing with.
As ‘Freddie King’ he reverted to his mother’s surname, probably encouraged by his label to associate himself with one of the biggest stars in town,. (See ) Freddie’s first solo releases included the influential instrumental ‘Hideaway’, which topped the R&B Charts and featured in the Hot 100.
Listen to The Best Of Freddie King: The Shelter Yearsby Freddie King on Slacker Radio, where you can also create personalized internet radio stations based on your favorite albums, artists and songs.
His sharp, assured manner with the guitar was matched with a light, relaxed vocal delivery, and Freddie formed a band which toured and recorded for many years, working closely with King/Federal’s A&R man Sonny Thompson. They put out seven albums in five years, and his songs ‘(I’m) Tore Down’ and ‘Have You Ever Loved a Woman’ were substantial hits and were extensively covered by other Blues bands. Freddie’s explosive style led to him being billed as ‘The Texas Cannonball’ Freddie plays ‘Hideaway’ on TV in 1966. Can you spot Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown leading the House-band on second guitar?
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Over in Britain, Freddie’s direct and distinctive style was a big influence on the young. When Eric quit the Yardbirds because their style was starting to lean towards pop songs, he was determined to establish a hard-edged kind of Blues at the heart of his music. When Eric cut the ‘Beano’ album with a few months later, Pete Brown remarked that Eric had “had a big dose of Freddie King”. Around the British club scene, fronted a successful band called Chicken Shack with Christine Perfect (McVie) on keyboards, that relied heavily on Freddie’s style, which was a by-word for searing guitar licks. Blistering guitar lines, soulful vocals and some great classic songs. Starting with his trademark instrumentals, Freddie had a huge influence on the modern Blues guitar.The gave new impetus to young American Blues players, both in record sales and touring opportunities, and Freddie enjoyed huge success ‘across the pond’.
In 1970 he joined Leon Russell’s Shelter label and recorded a fine album ‘Getting Ready’ at Studios, including the much covered track ‘Going Down’. Live recordings in these years, including some scintillating guitar battles with guest players, showed that he could still crank up amazing energy. Eric Clapton played a lovely duet with Freddie on his 1974 album ‘Burglar’.Sadly, Freddie was called before his time, dying of heart failure in Dallas in 1976. Freddie makes his guitar sound like a breaking heart at this concert in Sweden, 1973.
Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top inducted blues great Freddie King into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this past Saturday (April 14), and we’ve got the full transcription of their speech.In their always stylish and unique manner, the bearded frontmen — and blues heroes in their own right — took turns giving the speech, trading off lines as easily as they do on-stage while recalling how much they learned in the company of their hero and friend. Hill, who was briefly a member of King’s band, took the lead by explaining just how important Freddie was to his personal musical growth before giving the award to King’s daughter Wanda.“(Dusty Hill) “I’ve had the great privilege to play with three extraordinary guitar players in my life. My brother Rocky, this guy over here (gestures to Billy Gibbons), and Freddie King for a short time.
Freddie was from Dallas, Texas, so was I, that’s where we met, and he saw something in me, and let me play in his band. He put me up on stage and said ‘sink or swim,’ and so I did. Playing with Freddie for about a month was like a year of experience playing with anybody else.(Billy Gibbons) Yeah, Freddie taught us what it was like to play as a group, Freddie could just give you that look, and you knew exactly where to take the music. He had a powerful, unique style of both singing and playing that earned him the nickname ‘Texas Cannonball.’(Hill) The last time I performed with Freddie was in the late ’60s, we were a couple of weeks out on the road, we played a place called the Family Dog in Denver, and then the Filmore in San Francisco. The band knew two songs, then we’d go, “Are you ready for Freddie?” So we did our first song and then we were into our next song, and there’s no Freddie.
So I’m looking around, and now getting nervous, and there’s no Freddie. And I look at the side of the stage, and there’s Freddie in a pink jumpsuit, and smiling, and I was never so happy to say, ‘Are you ready for Freddie?’(Gibbons) I know I was, I’m always ready for Freddie. Years later, ZZ Top enjoyed playing many, many shows together with Freddie (trails off) (Hill) in 1976 my brother Rocky wrote a song called ‘Bad Year for the Blues.’ That was the year that Freddie passed away. I played with Freddie for a short time, and he definitely went away too soon. I will always be grateful for Freddie’s friendship and for the experience I had with him.(Gibbons) The years listening to the great playing and the singing, well ’nuff said!(Hill) Yeah, 2012 is a great year for the blues! We have the honor of inducting Freddie King to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” (crowd noise drowns out final phrase).