Product Description
POPA CHUBBY & FRIENDS - I LOVE FREDDY KING
FEATURING JOE BONAMASSA, ALBERT CASTIGLIA, ERIC GALES,
CHRISTONE "KINGFISH" INGRAM, MIKE ZITO, ARTHUR NEILSON, AND V.D. KING
COMING MARCH 28, 2025, RESERVE YOUR COPY TODAY!
POPA CHUBBY AND FRIENDS
I Love Freddie King
Gulf Coast Records
Once upon a time there were three kings, B.B., Albert, and Freddie (and a fourth King if you counted Earl, but nobody did). B.B. became world famous, having crossed over from the chitlin’ circuit to major concert halls, the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival, and even the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Albert recorded a string of very successful Stax albums and developed a sizable reputation too. But Freddie (originally Freddy) didn’t get nearly as much recognition, despite enviable vocal and instrumental skills.
For the longest time in his short career, Freddie’s best, head-over-heels fans were other guitarists, especially Brits who in the mid-‘60s seemed always the first to recognize American blues giants. Stan Webb of Chicken Shack loved Freddie, Eric Clapton covered “Hide Away” well on the John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers “Beano” album and Peter Green contributed an amazing version of “The Stumble” to Mayall’s epic A Hard Road.
These were early songs Freddie had recorded for the Cincinnati-based Federal label that mostly aired on AM stations aimed at Black audiences. A jump to Atlantic/Cotillion got him wider attention, but lacked the power of his earlier sessions. He then signed with Leon Russell’s boutique Shelter label and, wham, the three albums that followed were gems, each receiving heavy air-play on the then-new FM rock channels.
After Shelter, Freddie signed with RSO and recorded two more good albums for a label otherwise famous for putting out bad releases (unless you are that rare soul who actually likes Clapton’s 461 Ocean Blvd. or loves the proto-disco Bee Gees). Freddie passed away in 1976 at age 42 from ulcers and too hard a life on the road.
Backstory out of the way, there is now a strong Freddie King tribute album, courtesy of Popa Chubby and several other guitar-playing admirers, among them Joe Bonamassa, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Eric Gales, Albert Castiglia, Arthur Neilson, V.D. King, and Mike Zito, the last the producer for this 11-song, 45-minute release. How good are they covering the big man (Freddie was 6-5, 300 pounds)? Mostly they are up to it.
Popa Chubby, himself a Freddie-outsized player, does a solid job of covering the vocals, though his delivery is often more emphatic than smoother-voiced King’s. Popa and each guest guitarist also do a fair job of stretching out King’s two-to-three-minute songs with extra choruses so they can swap solos.
“Big-Legged Woman” with Chubby and Kingfish and axe battle with Bonamassa on “Goin’ Down” crackle with high voltage, and the four instrumentals where Chubby’s paired with Neilson on “Hide Away,” “Heads Up,” and “San Ho Zay” and with Castiglia on “The Stumble” pulse with megawatt energy.
About the only thing missing are versions of “Have You Ever Loved A Woman,” “I’m Tore Down,” “Someday After Awhile (You’ll Be Sorry),” and Freddie’s take of “Keys To The Highway.” But that would mean a volume two. This one and some prowling through used record bins in the K section will do nicely.
– Bill Wasserzieher