Fretprints: Freddie King

Freddie King exerted a singular influence on blues – not just with his imposing presence, emotional vocals, and guitar mastery, but his flair for the instrumental. Let’s Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King is an album equivalent to (and arguably as influential as) any jazz instrumental and marks one of King’s crowning achievements. After the success of “Hide Away” (#29 on Hot 100, #5 R&B, with a 10-week chart run in ’61) he was equally formidable as singer and guitarist marketed as an instrumentalist – a role he didn’t prefer. Federal, subsidiary of Cincinnati-based King Records, initially specialized in country/hillbilly and subsequently jazz, blues, soul, and funk. Federal launched James Brown, recorded Hank Ballard, Ike Turner, Earl Bostic, Johnny Guitar Watson, and Joe Tex, but Freddie was their rising star. With a Les Paul goldtop slung saucily on his right shoulder, he was the quintessential modern bluesman and spurred a worldwide blues/rock movement. Eric Clapton emulated his tone and attitude in Bluesbreakers, and fellow Brits followed suit alongside American players. Instrumental rock exploded in the late ’50s and early ’60s, ignited by Link Wray, Duane Eddy, the Ventures, Booker T. & the MGs, Dick Dale, et al. “Rumble,” “Rebel Rouser,” “Walk, Don’t Run,” “Green Onions,” and “Misirlou” dominated radio alongside pop ditties, dance/novelty songs, “girl groups” and seminal soul music. In this period, Freddie delivered more than 30 instrumentals for Federal, projecting authentic Texas and Chicago blues aesthetics. Recorded between August 25, 1960, and July 26 of ’61, Let’s Hide Away is essentially a collection of singles with additional studio tracks combining classics and lesser-known but ingratiating tunes rendered as a dozen instrumental pieces. Its success spawned two spin-offs – Freddy King Goes Surfin’ (’63) and Freddy King Gives You a Bonanza of Instrumentals (’65). Freddie and songwriting partner/pianist Sonny Thompson were joined in the studio by Fred Jordan (rhythm guitar), Bill Willis (bass guitar), Phillip Paul (drums), and saxophonists Gene Redd and Clifford Scott. Though Freddie preferred a mid-’50s Gibson GA40T, he might’ve plugged into Federal’s house amps, a standard studio M.O. But, according to neighbor Jay Lewis, he claimed to have recorded the tracks with his new Gibson ES-345SV instead of the ’54 Les Paul. His unique sound was the result of plastic thumbpick and metal fingerpick articulation (reputedly inspired by Jimmy Rogers and Eddie Taylor), dynamic attack, judicious palm/hand muting to personalize his phrasing, and the timbre of both pickups blended. “The Stumble” was a masterpiece, second in significance only to the album’s title track. This excerpt is definitive. Freddie’s conception emerges in his economic pentatonic lines in E major (over E9), E minor (over A9) and B minor (over B7); setting up short call-and-response statements in the theme. Freddie punctuates these fragments with syncopated chord hits in measures 2, 4 and 6. He improvises blues licks over stop-time rhythms in 10-13, renders a trademark line in parallel-sixths over the turnaround in 14-15, and concludes with reinterpreted country-blues mannerisms utilizing open strings and sustained chord shapes. “Hide Away,” intended as B-side of “I Love the Woman,” became Freddie’s signature song and began the pairing of vocal and instrumental numbers on his singles. Named after the Chicago blues club Mel’s Hideaway Lounge, it’s as indispensable as Buck Owens’ “Buckaroo” is to country or Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” to surf music. Embraced by bar bands and surf groups, it has been covered by Clapton, Jeff Healey, and SRV. Its 12-bar E blues is made more interesting by alternating shuffles and straight 4/4 grooves, along with catchy hooks and riffs – some familiar, some obscure, some reinvented. King reworks Hound Dog Taylor’s “Taylor’s Boogie” in the shuffling head. The tune was also recorded by Magic Sam as “Do the Camel Walk”; the 4/4 contrast riff came from pianist Jimmy McCracklin’s “The Walk.” A boogie-bass-line riff reinstates the shuffle groove. Freddie strums an E9 chord shape learned from Robert Lockwood Junior (Johnny Winter dubbed it the “Hideaway chord”) as a fanfare over ensemble stop-time rhythms, followed by his signature break in parallel-sixth dyads. A double-time 4/4 feel and muted quote of Mancini’s “Peter Gunn” theme distinguish the chorus along with a brief nod to “Guitar Boogie Shuffle” in its turnaround. The final section recaps the theme and ends on a traditional blues cadence line. “Butterscotch” is one of eight tracks recorded in a productive April 5 session. The altered C blues employs an uncommon 44-bar blues-with-bridge structure in A-A-B-A form, found in many jazz standards. Each A section is a 12-bar blues while the eight-bar bridge moves through F7-C7-F7-G7 changes. King develops a characteristically catchy melody over the moderate shuffle, immediately establishing his intuitive soulful melody style, with alternation of a solid minimal riff answered by improvised lead responses. His two-chorus solo flaunts textbook electric-blues mannerisms reconciling his Texas/Chicago lineage. Freddie’s theme restatement is abbreviated (two A sections), colored by additional muted textures, and concludes with a reinterpreted swing-jazz (“A Train”) gesture. “Sen-Sa-Shun” (“I’m Tore Down” B-side, Oct ’61) hit #5 on R&B charts, increasing the reach of Freddie’s instrumentals. His loose take on “Got My Mojo Working” affected enumerable instrumental bands and was highly influential to upcoming rockers, Jerry Garcia chief among them. Freddie maintains a sense of structure during multiple choruses of the 12-bar A blues with thoughtful pacing and musical contrasts. He decorates the “Mojo” theme with double-stops, rake-picked embellishments, and chord stabs, improvises a BB-inspired single-note solo, develops low-register ostinato figures, milks an open-string trill lick, suggests slide-guitar impressions, recalls previous ostinatos, and reprises the “Mojo” theme, closing with a blues cadence line and jazzy A7#9 chord. “Side Tracked,” attributed solely to King, purveys an unusual repetitive chord-outlining theme conjoining Jimmy Reed Chicago and T-Bone Walker Texas blues with Ventures surf rock. Cruising on a moderate shuffle, it’s another example of blues-with-bridge A-A-B-A form. The four-bar intro begins on D7 (V chord in G), a familiar blues strategy. “Side Tracked” utilizes standard 12-bar structures in G, modulates to C9 (IV chord) for the eight-bar bridge B section, returning via an enriched A7-D7 (II-V) cadence. Freddie takes two improvised choruses where his T-Bone influence is evident in longer strings of triplet lines. He recalls the bridge theme with its characteristic bends, and ends with a single A section, final cadence of tritone dyads and an Ab9-G9 cadence. “San-Ho-Zay” was a solid hit. After establishing an effective theme that alternated simple riff patterns with freer solo sections, Freddie created a strong set of improvised solos, underscoring his soulful musicianship. This climax chorus (1:39) finds him gaining momentum with more energetic phrases containing 16th-note figures and rhythmic surprises. His line in measures 1-4 exploit a familiar major/minor/major blues move adopted by countless blues-rock players. Also noteworthy are his expressive string bends and tasteful major/minor blues combinations over the final four bars. “The Stumble” (A-side of “Takin’ Care of Business,” ’62) is a King classic covered by Jeff Beck, Peter Green, Dave Edmunds, Gary Moore, et al. Freddie develops a catchy pentatonic theme in E, reminiscent of “Hide Away” and equally weighty, applying stop-time lead breaks and signature parallel-sixths in the head. The altered 16-bar E blues enters on A (IV), repurposes idiomatic blues lead licks as hooks, and acknowledges jazz/gospel roots in the diminished sonority and sophisticated chords of the turnaround – A#–E/B-C#7-F#7-B7. He adopts a hook-conscious approach in his two-chorus solo with a mix of single-note lines in different registers, double-stop riffs, and winding triplet phrases. “Wash Out,” a 12-bar G blues, implies a Jimmy Reed influence in the relaxed shuffle feel and streamlined arrangement, while the simple main riff of walk-up bass-line melody and dyads suggest a brisk reinterpretation of Magic Sam’s “All Your Love.” Freddie states the theme twice (24 bars) and improvises one of his most succinct and swinging solos, distinguished by suave triplet runs offset by soulful string bending and terse rhythmic ornaments. He returns to the theme and closes authoritatively with a simple descending blues-scale run and chromatic cadence (Ab9-G9). “San-Ho-Zay,” another chart success (#47 on Hot 100, #4 on R&B, ’61), was the most straightforward of Freddie’s instrumentals. The 12-bar C blues exploits hypnotic riffs of dyads and single notes over a cycling moderate-rock groove, interrupted only three times by stop-time breaks. The deceptively simple, concise arrangement suited the era’s twist-party dance ethos, however, in its course Freddie transcended predictability. He solos over 16-bar altered-blues forms (doubling the first four bars to eight) while retaining 12-bar-blues structures elsewhere. Freddie builds complementary improvisations; conveying forward motion from a basic eighth-note feel to aggressive unison-bend riffs and more active 16th-note rhythms. Its allure wasn’t lost on blues-rock insiders; Magic Sam covered the tune and Jerry Garcia confessed “I got almost all my ideas and phrasing off that record.” “Just Pickin,’” credited to only King, presents a precursor of Buddy Guy’s “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (also associated with Earl Hooker and covered by SRV) instrumentally. The key, chord changes, feel and attitude are virtually identical. The altered 16-bar E blues, arranged in eight-bar sections, applies IV-I-V-I changes and bears a familiar call-and-response theme alternating low-register single-note phrases with chord strums and arpeggiations. A traditional quasi-country mood a la “Midnight Special” pervades the open arrangement while Freddie’s lead lines, emphasized by stop-time breaks, provide the undeniable Chicago/Texas blues quotient. “Heads Up” is a 12-bar G blues enlivened with Freddie’s patented feel changes and breaks. The head demonstrates his balance of singable jazzy major-blues melodies and simpler pentatonic riffs. The arrangement exploits an infectious moderate-rock beat that would appeal to teenage twisters and the surf-music crowd contrasted by bustling Latin rhythms aimed at martini-swilling hipsters. Freddie plays a solo before restating the theme. His brief coda employs the familiar tactic of repeating the last four bars. “Heads Up” was covered by the Grateful Dead and surf band The Lively Ones. “Side Tracked” remains one of Freddie’s most-unusual instrumentals. This selection depicts the intro and theme. The tactic of entering on the V chord (D7) and continuing into the form, as if foreshadowing the final four-bar phrase (D7-C7-G7), is a blues staple. However, Freddie’s theme is anything but typical; his propulsive melody of broken dyads in triplets creates a quirky rhythmic-displacement effect in measures 5-6 and 9-10, and partially but effectively spells G7 and C chord sounds. He develops greater interest in the arrangement by alternating his triplet theme with freer lead lines in 7-8 and 11-12. “In the Open,” the first of three tracks recorded on July 25, was issued as a single in November ’62. The altered A blues expands a common 12-bar progression, maintaining the same proportions into 24 bars. King juggles textures, syncopated figures, and single-note blues fragments for a call-and-response effect in the head, animated by the tune’s moderate-rock groove and cooking vamp feel. He alludes to open-string licks and arpeggio sounds of country blues in his first solo then improvises freely, changing register, varying rhythmic approaches from short riffs to longer lines, and inserting double-stops into lead phrases. Freddie recalls his vamp theme and rides the section into a fadeout. Though it remained esoteric, SRV chose “In the Open” to open his early shows (In the Beginning). “Out Front,” is a 12-bar E blues highlighting Freddie’s alternation of groove and rhythmic breaks, heard at the outset. The showy dyads over dramatic stop-time accents is pure blues-guitar theatre; originating with T-Bone, jump blues and Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” histrionics, it’s also prominent in SRV’s “Pride and Joy.” The two-part idea dominates the head, where Freddie alternates dyads and a boogie riff based on “The Walk.” He blends single-note licks and dyads over a straight shuffle in his solos, adding an abbreviated quote of “The Stumble” along the way (:59). An interlude of dyad riffs similar to Jimmy Smith’s “Midnight Special” signals a return to the opening theme. “Swooshy” boasts an atmospheric arrangement offering hints of country and doo-wop mixed with urban blues, rock and roll, and soul line-dancing. Sax riffs over the slower half-time R&B groove in the head deepen the mood and provide a key timbral element. One of Freddie’s most altered blues, the Bb blues-with-bridge features additional chordal refinements in the 12-bar A sections, where a IV-I-IV-I-V-IV-I progression is used. He establishes a simple riff theme punctuated with 9th-chord jabs but adopts a double-time swing groove and improvisatory rhythmically motivated lead attitude in the eight-bar bridge. Wolf Marshall is the founder and original Editor-In-Chief of GuitarOne magazine. A respected author and columnist, he has been influential in contemporary music education since the early 1980s. His latest book is Jazz Guitar Course: Mastering the Jazz Language. Others include 101 Must-Know Rock Licks, B.B. King: the Definitive Collection, and Best of Jazz Guitar. A list credits can be found at wolfmarshall.com. This article originally appeared in VG’s December 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.