A few weeks ago a member of the donkasphere, Blind Boy White, and I were discussing great blues albums -- not great players, great songs, great performances, but great albums. The first two to make the list were Magic Sam's "Black Magic" and Freddy King's "Freddy King Sings!"
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 "Freddy King Sings" is 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).
It has been said that Eric Clapton eventually came to play like King. Perhaps. But he could never sing like King. And what really makes this album cook 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. Consider: Is there a better blues vocal performance than "Have You Ever Loved A Woman"?
Stay Donkey!
It has been said that Eric Clapton eventually came to play like King. Perhaps. But he could never sing like King. And what really makes this album cook 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. Consider: Is there a better blues vocal performance than "Have You Ever Loved A Woman"?
Stay Donkey!
No comments:
Post a Comment