Three Kings – Freddie King Card

Three Kings Series – Freddie King Playing Card, hand-drawn of Freddie playing his Gibson ES-345 double cutaway, circa 1966. Part of the Three Kings Series portraits of Albert King, BB King and Freddie King Playing Cards.

While often cited as the Texas element of the “three kings” of the blues – B.B. bringing the Memphis sound, Albert a funkier Stax feel – Freddie’s music didn’t have a regional sound or feel.
Rather, his style mixed country and city influences like Waters, Walker, and Hopkins, employing dramatic extended string bends, a vocalesque vibrato, and single-note passages that borrowed rhythmically from several styles including jump blues.
While his wheelhouse was uptempo instrumental blues like “The Stumble,” “Remington Ride,” “Side Tracked,” and “San-Ho-Zay,” he was well-served by a strong, soulful voice as heard on “Have You Ever Loved A Woman,” “Someday After Awhile You’ll Be Sorry,” “Going Down,” and “I’m Tore Down.”

King was the first guitarist to take the nascent blues-rock form born by T-Bone Walker and turn it into crossover hits.
In 1961 alone, he placed six singles on Billboard’s R&B chart (four of which reached the Top 10) – “Hide Away,” “Lonesome Whistle Blues,” “San-Ho-Zay,” “See See Baby,” “I’m Tore Down,” and for the holidays, “Christmas Tears.”

Nearly constant touring took its toll on King—he was on the road almost 300 days out of the year.
In 1976 he began suffering from stomach ulcers. His health quickly deteriorated, and he died on December 28, 1976 of complications from this illness and acute pancreatitis, at the age of 42.

#FreddieKing, #ThreeKings, #MusicArt, #PaulKing, #PaulKingArt, PaulKingArt.com