The Very Best of Freddy King, Vol. 1

Performer: Freddy King
Distributor: Gotham Distributing Corp.

Notes: Liner Note Author: Victor Pearlin. Recording information: 08/1960-07/1961. The phrase "very best of" in an album title usually indicates a highly selective collection of an artist's career highlights. By that standard, in one sense Collectables Records' The Very Best of Freddy King, Vol. 1 should be called something else; a more accurate description of the contents would be "The Complete Freddy King on Federal Records, Vol. 1." That's because this is the first of three discs that present every recording King made for the King Records subsidiary Federal in chronological order. This disc traces King's Federal stint from his first recording session on August 26, 1960, to the following July. But in another sense, The Very Best of Freddy King is an apt title. King enjoyed all of his singles chart success during 1961, scoring six entries on the R&B charts and five on the pop charts, and all of those tracks are included here, from "You've Got to Love Her With a Feeling" to "Christmas Tears." King's biggest hit was the instrumental "Hide Away," which hit the pop Top 40 and the R&B Top Five and gained even more recognition when it was remade by John Mayall and Eric Clapton on the Bluesbreakers album. Perhaps King's best-known song was the B-side of "You've Got to Love Her With a Feeling," "Have You Ever Loved a Woman," which Clapton remade on the celebrated Derek & the Dominos album Layla, and of course King's version is included here. Indeed, it is difficult at this juncture to listen to almost any King recording and not be reminded of his chief disciple, Clapton. But that only means this collection is an essential addition to the basic library of blues fans. ~ William Ruhlmann

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