Freddie King
September 3, 1934 – December 28, 1976
Freddie King was a Texas blues guitarist who directly inspired no less than Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton. He, B.B. King, and Albert King were known as the “Three Kings of the Blues Guitar.” Over a career that spanned almost 30 years, King released over a dozen albums that included such classic blues recordings as “Hide Away,” “Have You Ever Loved a Woman,” and “I Love the Woman.” Rolling Stone magazine listed King at #25 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 1973, Grand Funk Railroad honored King by namechecking him in their classic song, “We’re an American Band,” an homage to life on the road for a rock ‘n roll band. The lyric, “Up all night with Freddie King / I got to tell you poker’s his thing / Booze and ladies keep me right / as long as we can make it to the show tonight.” Freddie King was just 42 when he died of heart failure on December 28, 1976.
What You Should Own
