Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Freddie King: This Is The Blues! Are You Listening?

About 10 years ago, I remember walking through Record Theatre back home in search of new cds.  On past occasions, the music in the background ranged from local punk bands to the most recent heavy metal album.  However, on that particular day, whoever was in charge of the music made a great choice.  A live blues concert graced the speakers as I searched for new music.  Having no idea who this was, I asked the manager upon checking out.  He informed me that what I was listening to was a bootleg concert of Freddie King.  I've been a big fan of the blues ever since.  Don't get me wrong, I love being lucky enough to live in this time period, but man I wish Blue was more prevalent in music today.

Freddie King was one of the "Three Kings of Blues" (B.B. King and Albert King).  He like many other Blues artists influenced legendary artists such as Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn.  Unfortunately, Freddie King died of acute pancreatitis at the age of 42 in 1976.

Here's Freddie King's 1973 performance of "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" live in Sweden. 


Also, check out the collar on that shirt!  It's outstanding!

Rolling Stone also listed Freddie King at number 25 on their list of best guitarists.  Here's exhibit A:

1 comment:

  1. Freddie is my favorite of the Three Kings. He is outstanding Live! Such raw blues

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