Search - Freddie King :: Freddy King Sings

The King of all recordings by Freddy King

Benjamin Brenner | Davis, CA United States | 02/02/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The majority of the Freddy King collections available cull material from the several albums King recorded for Shelter Records in the late 1960s/early 1970s, and from live recordings of the same period. Those recordings are great, but this record stands tall as King's very best -- indeed, it is one of the great electric blues albums ever. King's playing and singing are in top form, the band is tight and swingin', the production unobtrusive. King's guitar playing is vibrant and lyrical, and he knows just when to turn it on and get frantic (check out the second half of the Tore Down solo). But what really makes this album stand out is King's singing. King was a perfect combination of the electric blues singers who came before him -- somewhere between B.B. King, Bobby Bland, and T-Bone Walker -- and the pure timbre of his voice always shakes me down. As another King, Albert liked to say, "If this don't get you you got a hole in your soul." The previous reviewer noted that Eric Clapton eventually came to play like King. But he could never sing like King. Just another reason the album is so aptly titled. If you're reading this, you must be thinking of buying this record, so do so, now. Ah gar-un-tee you won't be disappointed."

This important album influenced E.C. in the 60's

sir_isaac_newton | UK | 10/10/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Freddy King was an electric blues pioneer, with a beautiful voice, a song writing talent and an original, distinctive, tasteful guitar style. His staccato guitar stabs and "fluted" vocals are fluid. Although not currently as famous as BB -- he really should be. Eric Clapton cites this album as a major influence on him in the 60's. In interviews, Eric has commented that he felt Freddy King had beaten him to it when he first heard him play guitar, and that if he (EC) were lucky, he "might be able to learn to play like that"(!). Judging by the Beano album, EC did indeed learn to play like that. An album of historic importance then, but rarely seen in the stores (or even on-line) these days. Shame!This album contains enough great classic blues songs to be classed as a greatest hits. They are songs that have stood the test of time. I find this CD sounds somehow a little duller than some other CDs with many of the same songs -- I suspect this might be due to poor re-mastering(?). I think I would have prefered a slightly rawer version -- probably live though (just a personal preference). I also tend to prefer this straight-ahead blues music over the popular surf-style songs such a san-ho-zay -- but this is a good collection none the less, and can be recommended."

Freddy king swings

W. Landis | des moines, iowa | 04/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"not only incredible guitar playing by the true king of the blues guitar, but freddy's gospel laden, smokey blues voice gives this cd top shelf status. freddie is unbelieveable and has influenced so many great guitar players. you'll want to turn your amp to 11 to listen to this one."