5 Reasons Why Freddie King Still Matters in the 21st Century

By Cray Rail

The enduring legacy of Freddie King is not up for debate. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, widely recognized as one of the “three Kings of the blues,” friend and collaborator of Eric Clapton and other equally weighty musicians, Freddie King accomplished much in his 42 years of life. But what makes Freddie King the quintessential modern blues idol?

 1.  Freddie King sang as well as he could play guitar.

It’s not a mistake that one of his earliest outings on Federal Records, a subsidiary of King Records out of Cincinnati, Ohio, was called “Freddy King Sings.” This record features “I’m Tore Down" and “Lonesome Whistle Blues,” both classic tracks that bear the mark of King’s high register, searing solos trading turns with his sultry tenor. His falsetto singing is pure gold on “I’m Tore Down” and he doesn’t miss a chance to follow up with his signature guitar licks. I imagine the studio band leader Alfonso “Sonny” Thompson, who also is credited with writing “I’m Tore Down,” knew these sides were going to have an impact far beyond their corner of Cincinnati and King’s singing has surely withstood the test of time. It’s no wonder this was the Freddie King performance Eric Clapton chose to cover on his 1994 all blues album “From the Cradle.”

 2.  King’s guitar playing has velocity mixed with virtuosity.

Long before shredding on guitar was an 1980s hair metal band requirement, Freddie King was tearing up speedy and soulful licks on his 1954 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop. Not to be outdone by his “Three Kings” brethren, King shows up with the quickness on early tracks like Hideaway and Sidetracked, but don’t sleep on his later work in the studio like Going Down, Big Legged Woman and Burglar.  There’s a live version of Big Legged Woman from the 1970s where he plays the song's signature riff on a sped up loop while his band roars in response. It’s not hard to hear how King’s playing inspired hard blues guitar legends Joe Bonamossa, ZZ Top and Stevie Ray Vaughn. All of these guitarists share with Freddie speed and technical prowess and a “jam ethic,” which was a hallmark of the 1960s and 1970s improvisational rock. 

 3.  King was the youngest of the “three kings” and directly inspired the birth of blues rock.

Before “acid rock” fans knew who Jimi Hendrix was there was the music industry’s first supergroup – Cream. But before Cream there was John Mayall’s Blues Breakers. On Mayall’s first record with Clapton on lead guitar, often called the “Beano” record, Clapton played what Stevie Ray Vaughan called “an updated energized version” of Freddie King’s (with credit shared by Sonny Thompson) standard “Hideaway.” In a 1988 interview, Stevie Ray Vaughan explains the differences between Eric Clapton’s and the master, Freddie King’s version of the tune. 

You can hear the nuance and appreciation that Vaughan had for both artists, but it also exposes the source material as the genius it was. King’s version of Hideaway was published in 1961, five years before Cream’s first record in 1966. In Hideaway, King held onto his Texas roots while imbibing the vibe of Chicago’s central spot in the blues explosion of the 1950’s where all roads eventually led to the South Side. That’s also where young Freddie King would play his first gigs, meet and learn from Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf and inspire new generations of guitar players. Even Hendrix (who admittedly was more influenced by Albert King than Freddie) acknowledged: “It’s only a matter of the three Kings.” 

4.  Freddie King is a blues rock progenitor and major electric guitar innovator in the blues tradition.

As was mentioned previously, Freddie King fully integrated country blues riffs into his electric guitar instrumentals in the late 1950s and early 1960s as his career was starting to take off. He claimed to have been influenced by Lightnin’ Hopkins, which isn’t hard to believe when you notice both blues players have a song called “Have You Ever Loved a Woman” (with Freddie’s version covered at least four times by Clapton, but most famously with Derek and the Dominoes and Duane Allman.) Part of the complexity of Freddie King is his judicious use of the major pentatonic notes in between the minor pentatonic at exactly the right places, especially the turn over.

King’s use of a thumb pick and fingerpick on his index finger was innovative and improved his attack, even at times creating ghost notes as can be heard in Have You Ever Loved a Woman. In addition, his Fender Quad Reverb is turned all the way up and volume was obviously his friend. I also really like how Guitar Player described his work as “progressive.” “His songwriting skills infused layered hooks, sonic textures, distinct melodies, bridges and crafty musical movements into the basic 12-bar blues format.” These innovations among others make Freddie King required listening for any modern blues players looking to sound like a “stand and deliver” blues man.

5.  Freddie King is inspiring a new generation.

A quick YouTube search for “Freddie King guitar lesson” shows numerous guitar players teaching avid young fans how to play like Freddie King. This demonstrates the amount of interest in his work to the current generation. In video after video guitar players are decoding King’s powerful licks and offering free lessons to anyone willing to practice along with the video creator. 

Back in 2020, blues master Joe Bonomassa discussed the ongoing importance of Freddie King’s work. It’s well worth a listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHYUW5y9TqI

I, too, caught the Freddie King bug from a young age. King, who would be 90 this year had he not died at 42 from hard drinking and merciless touring, has been a hero of mine since I was in my late teens. My aunt and her best friend took me to blues concerts and showed me around places where blues fans could find good records and CD’s such as The Princeton Record Exchange in New Jersey. They used to have a joke between them that when they died they would rig “Hideaway” to play on repeat for the rest of eternity. 

It was a long time before I attempted to play Hideaway myself, even if I had memorized Freddie’s original greatest hits it wasn’t until my 30s that I attempted playing the song my Aunt and her friend wanted to hear forever. I remember looking up a lesson on it and pretty soon I too was busting out the double stops during the break in the middle of the song. 

Whatever your age, Freddie King, in many people’s opinion the king of the three kings of the blues, still has an enduring legacy and his music will continue to influence generations to come.