Freddie King - Electric King (2016)

Think Freddie King and think finger picks and a thumb because that core technique is what made this particular King a standout figure in the 60s, as a blues guitarist. People like B.B. King, in contrast, were using the single-string approach to plucking their guitar. Freddie achieved a great deal of success during this time: had a knack for sourcing hooks and fans of the time lapped them up, as did other contemporary musicians. He wasn't only noticed for his guitar style, though, he was one of the first bluesmen to use a racially integrated group on-stage, behind him. This value for money 2CD package features three live concerts: Chicago in 1969, The Bottom Line in New York in 1974 plus Dallas 1975.

The Chicago set tallies with his signing to the Atlantic/Cotillion label and the release of the album Freddie King Is a Blues Master. The first track off that album is the fourth on this CD, Play it Cool, a song that King himself, on this live set, encourages each and every member of audience to listen to and if they like it, to go buy it: every bit the businessman was Freddie. He doesn't just talk a good game, though, it’s a top class performance, with lyrics that reflect the social mores of the time. The following track from this set, Sen-Say-Shun, is a bobby dazzler of a high tempo blues outing with tremendous energy and vivacity.

In 1974, King signed a contract with RSO Records - which was also Eric Clapton's record label at the time - where King released the Burglar LP, which was produced and recorded with Clapton. Yet, only Let The Good Times Roll is taken from that album for the New York set. Similarly, Have You Ever Loved a Woman was the only track taken from his 1975 Larger Than Life LP performed at the Dallas concert which proves that King carefully constructed his live gigs to entertain and to please his audience. He didn’t believe in using his audience as a test vehicle for his recording career which many artists did and still do now, of course.

TRACKLIST

CD1

01. San-Ho-Zay
02. Have You Ever Loved A Woman
03. Hideaway
04. Play It Cool
05. Sen-Say-Shun
06. Something You Got
07. Intro Jam
08. Big Legged Woman
09. Woman Across The River
10. Look Over Yonder Wall
11. Ain't No Sunshine
12. Red Light Green Light
13. Drums
14. Have You Ever Loved A Woman

CD 2:

01. Let The Good Times Roll
02. Let The Good Times Roll (Cont)
03. Goin' Down
04. Big Legged Woman
05. Woman Across The River
06. While The Moon Is Shining Bright
07. Aint Nobody's Business
08. Key To The Highway
09. Hideaway
10. Goin' Down
11. Early One Morning
12. Come On (Part Iii)
13. Have You Ever Loved A Woman
14. Outro