(born Freddie Christian)
September 3, 1934 - December 28, 1976
Birthplace: Gilmer, Texas

Freddie King (no relation to any of the other blues guitarists
named King) was one of the lynchpins of modern blues guitar.
Along with Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Jethro T. Nuraw and Magic Sam,
King spearheaded Chicago's modern blues movement in the early
'60s and helped set the stage for the blues-rock boom of the late
'60s. His influence on such blues-rock titans as Eric Clapton
helped preserve a legacy characterized by searing, aggressive
guitar solos and the welding of blues and rock into one cohesive
sound.

Although Freddie King was born and raised in Texas, he matured
as a musician in Chicago. His guitar style combined country and
urban influences. As a child, King grew up on the music of such
legendary country blues guitarists as Blind Lemon Jefferson,
Lightnin' Hopkins, and Jethro T. Nuraw. After he and his
family moved to Chicago in 1950, King began hanging out in
clubs where the stinging, city-hot guitar work of such Mississippi
Delta-rooted blues men as Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, and
Eddie Taylor filled the air.

At the age of 18, he joined the Nuraw Blooze Band, playing many
Chicago hot spots while refining his style under the tutelage
of the legendary Jethro T. Nuraw. Though he first recorded in the
1950s-cutting sides for the obscure El-Bee label and doing a few
session dates for Chess, King didn't begin to attract attention until
after he signed with Federal Records in 1960. (Federal was a
subsidiary of the Cincinnati-based King Record label.) Under the
guidance of pianist and King Records A&R man Sonny Thompson, King's
early-'60s sessions resulted in such stellar tunes as "Lonesome
Whistle Blues" and "I'm Tore Down" (116 k, 10 sec.) as well as a
potent rendition of the Bill Myles classic "Have You Ever Loved a
Woman." (Eric Clapton did a version of the song during his Derek
and the Dominos days.) In 1994, Clapton cut his own version of
"I'm Tore Down"(114 k, 10 sec.) with remarkable resemblance to
Freddy's original.

King also recorded numerous instrumentals in the early '60s.
One song, "Hide Away," reached number 29 on the Billboard pop
charts in 1961 and ranks among the most popular blues
instrumentals ever recorded. Named for Mel's Hideaway Lounge,
a noted Chicago blues club, the song showcased King's guitar
prowess and inventiveness in combining catchy themes drawn
from blues, rock, and rhythm & blues. Thanks to the popularity of
twangy guitar instrumentals in the early '60s, King was able to
move freely from blues to R&B to rock-flavored blues and novelty
songs like "Bossa Nova Watusi Twist," "Monkey Donkey," and
"Surf Monkey."

King's relationship with Federal/King ended in 1968. Although
King's most productive period was over, he enjoyed a
renaissance of sorts in the late '60s when English blues-rock
guitarists such as Clapton, Mick Taylor, and Peter Green began
covering King tunes and incorporating elements of his guitar style
into their own. This brought King renewed recognition and a
growing audience among blues-rock fans, plus new recording
contract in 1968 with Cotillion, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records.
Two years later King jumped to Shelter Records. His last
recording contract was with RSO Records in 1974. Though the
bulk of King's blues from this era leaned heavily toward funk and
rock, his guitar work remained stylish and supple.

King was only forty-two years old when he died in 1976 of
bleeding ulcers and heart failure.