Freddie King, the Texas Cannonball…

Freddie King based his guitar style on Texas and Chicago influences and was one of the first bluesmen to have a multi-racial backing band at live performances. He is best known for singles such as “Have You Ever Loved A Woman” (1960) and his Top 40 hit “Hide Away” (1961). He is also known for albums such as the early, instrumental-packed Let’s Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King (1961) and the later album Burglar (1974), which displayed King’s mature versatility as both player and singer in a range of blues and funk styles.

Many of Freddie’s songwriting credits under the King label contract were shared with Sonny Thompson. They would have marathon sessions of 16 hrs and more. The first 45 release: side A ” Have You Ever Loved A Woman”, side B “Hide Away”. Both sides were big hits on the R&B charts. The surprise was the Hide Away release. It became a crossover hit on the Pop chart reaching # 29. This was a first, a blues artist registering a hit on the Pop chart. No other blues artist had accomplished this before. Young whites were digging Freddie’s blues style. Freddie sold more albums during this period (1961-63) than any other blues artist including B.B. King.
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