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Freddie King (1934 - 1976)

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I would love to have played with Freddie King. I kind of understand the way he died, I kind of recognized in Freddie King a similar spirit, he had too much energy to burn and was trying to calm down after a high and just calmed down too much. -- Keith Richards

Guitarist Freddie King hit in the early '60s with a string instrumentals, He was one of the first blues player to have a racially integrated group onstage behind him. King has influenced the likes of Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Lonnie Mack and of course The Rolling Stones (especially Keith Richards). Freddie King was born Fred Christian and raised in Gilmer, Texas, where he learned how to play guitar as a young boy.

In 1950, when King was 16 years old, his family moved to Chicago, where he began frequenting local blues clubs, listening to musicians like Muddy Waters, Robert Jr. Lockwood and Little Walter.

King's first band was called the Every Hour Blues Boys. Soon King began playing on sessions for Parrott and Chess Records, as well as playing with Earlee Payton's Blues. King made his first recordin 1957, when he recorded "Country Boy" for El-Bee, it sank without a trace.

In August of 1960 King released "You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling" which became a small hit. That single was followed by "Hide Away", the song that would become Freddie King's signature. "Hide Away" was released as the B-side of "I Love the Woman" in the fall of 1961 and reached number five on the R&B charts and number 29 on the pop charts. King's first album, Freddy King Sings, appeared in 1961 and it was followed later that year by Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King: Strictly Instrumental. King churned out many instrumentals including "San-Ho-Zay", and "I'm Tore Down". In 1965 King recorded a with a second instrumental album Freddy King Gives You a Bonanza of Instrumentals but none of the singles became hits.

King signed with Atlantic/Cotillion in late 1968 and stayed with them until signing with Shelter Records in 1970. All three albums King recorded for Shelter did moderately well. Kings concerts were also quite popular with both blues and rock fans. In 1974, he moved to RSO Records. Throughout 1976, Freddie King toured America, even though his health was beginning to decline. On December 29, 1976, King died of heart failure. He was 42 years

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