FREDDIE KING

FEELING ALRIGHT: THE COMPLETE 1975 NANCY PULSATIONS CONCERT in FRANCE

Elemental Records

Freddie King, guitar/vocals; Alvin Hemphill, organ; Ed Lively, guitar; Lewis Stephens, piano; Benny Turner, bass; Calep Emphrey, drums.

Elemental Records recently discovered a pot of gold that had been waiting to be uncovered since 1975, fifty-one years ago. These tapes are a piece of solid gold history featuring Freddie King’s performance at a Nancy Pulsations concert in France. On this double set album, you will enjoy sixteen blues tunes, elevated by Freddie King’s voice, guitar playing, and his strong blues band.

His pianist at the time, Lewis Stephens, recalled they were playing a blistering five or six-week run of concerts throughout France.

“Freddie had truly hit his stride as a blues/rock star in Europe and the United States,” he reflected.

They open CD #1 with “Have You Ever Loved a Woman?”  It sets the mood for what is to come by offering a medley of classic blues tunes that any blues-lover will recognize and love. The roar of a full-house crowd invites Freddie King and his blues band to the stage.  The air is electric with excitement as Freddie coaches a sexy blues medley from his guitar. After he and the band have primed the audience with low-down instrumental blues, Freddie steps to the microphone to sing with that little growl in his tone. I am as captivated as his French audience.

Track #2 shuffles us a little higher, elevating the tempo and putting us in the mood for a juke joint evening of dance and drink.  This one had my heel patting a hole in the floor of my listening room. Freddie King teases with his lyrics about a “Whole Lot of Lovin’.”  Calep Emphrey slaps the groove into place on his hypnotic trap drums. Benny Turner takes an impressive bass solo, and the party is on when the guitar joins in.  Alvin Hemphill adds his arpeggio accents on keyboards, and we are swept away by the band’s energy.

Next comes a medley of “Hey Baby” and “Mojo Boogie,” another blues shuffle, heavy on the instrumental energy. The band pumps the audience up. Freddie sings, “Hey Baby, don’t you wanna come on and go with me?”  The audience applause screams, “Yes!”

This is an album that had 50,000 people in the audience swaying and clapping in their seats or dancing in the aisles. You can here all 100,000 hands slapping together on the two and the four! Their energy encourages the commanding vocals and guitar playing of Freddie King.  He offers gut-bucket, African American blues, and historic back-alley grooves.

Issued in cooperation with the Freddie King Estate, once again producer and record executive Zev Feldman (fondly known as the ‘Jazz Detective’) has struck gold. He manages to discover or uncover historic masters by some of our blues and jazz iconic artists.

Freddie King (known as the Texas Cannonball) is one such artist. You’ll hear blues standards like “Got My Mojo Working” and “Sweet Little Angel”; “The Things I used to do,” “Stormy Monday” and “Sweet Home Chicago.”

This release includes a pictorial biography of Freddie King with stories about the artist from Zev Feldman, and an in-depth look at the artists’ career written by Cary Baker, who’s a Southern California journalist with Chicago roots. Billy F. Gibbons also writes a nice piece about this great blues artist titled “Ready for Freddie” in the booklet.

A year after this recording was made, On December 28, 1976, Freddie King died in Dallas Texas.  He was a Texas native who was raised under the influence of bluesmen like Lightnin’ Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, and B. B. King.  This album is an uncovered treasure and a prize for blues collectors.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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