Freddy King – Just Pickin’ – Modern Blues MBXLCD-721 

The big man cut an amazing and powerful path through the blues world (and rock-n-roll, too), and in the process influenced countless guitarists who continue to cite his presence in their music to this day.

This CD release, dating to 1989, culls King’s sterling Cincinnati-based King Records albums entitled Let’s Hide Away And Dance Away With Freddy King (1961) and Freddy King Gives You A Bonanza Of Instrumentals (1965), with digital remastering, while also providing them in stereo sound for the first time.

This timeless compilation of 24 instrumentals, by the man called “The Texas Cannonball”, laid the groundwork for a cohort of guitar players, counting amongst its ranks such latter-day practitioners as Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, to name only two.  King’s substantial physical presence was daunting enough, but the brute might and dynamism of his guitar capabilities induced forward the heavy-handed blues designs even of somewhat earlier innovators like Otis Rush and Buddy Guy; he made the blues guitar yet more prominent.  One could plausibly argue that King facilitated setting the table for the union of guitar approaches into a new merger named “blues rock.”

King’s guitar efforts are sizzling and biting, thus anointing him as one of the instigators of the in-your-face guitar artists, the sizeable ranks of which in rock music would eventually and continually inflate due to his ongoing profound influence. 

Any blues guitarist of muster will know how to play the majority of their pieces, but they are also aware that to do so presents a certain peril; only King could offer them these ways, and as such, they deserve a particular level of reverential attempt.

This collection is considered essential due to its authenticity and passion, and with one listen, I believe you will agree.  Add this to your blues collection soon!

Below is the running track order of this substantially important CD.

Song Titles

• Hide Away
• Butterscotch
• Sen-Sa-Shun
• Side Tracked
• The Stumble
• Wash Out
• San-Ho-Zay
• Just Pickin’
• Heads Up
• In The Open
• Out Front
• Swooshy
• Manhole
• Freeway 75
• Low Tide
• The Sad Nite Owl
• Funnybone
• Nickelplated
• King-A-Ling
• Surf Monkey
• Freddy’s Midnite Dream
• Fish Fare
• Cloud Sailin’
• Remington Ride