Customer Reviews

My Feeling for the Blues

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an amazing Freddie King album. The other review is right when he says that the album deserves five stars just for Freddie's acoustic version of "Things that I Used To Do". This is one of the Freddie King albums that, unfortunatly, is getting harder to find and will probably be impossible to find within the next few years. Do yourself a favor and buy this album before you can't find it. This is an amazing blues album that does show Freddie King's budding talent.

The mid-to-late Sixties was a strange and difficult time for many Blues men - most were without contracts, forgotten and under-appreciated. Then the Blues boom happened (particularly in the UK) and many had their careers kick-started all over again.

Freddie King was no exception. His last album had been for Federal in 1964, but with a new lease of life on the mighty Atlantic label, he produced two much revered LPs in rapid succession. The first was "Freddie King Is A Blues Master" released in 1969 on SD 9004 - and then this peach - "My Feeling For The Blues" on Cotillion SD 9016 released in early 1970.

This 1991 Repertoire CD (REP 4170-WZ) is a straightforward transfer of that second 11-track album (36:03 minutes).

Ace saxophonist KING CURTIS produced the record - with all arrangements by Atlantic's newest soul protégé DONNY HATHAWAY (except "Woke Up This Morning" which was Arranged by King Curtis).

The musicians for the sessions were:
Lead Guitar & Vocals - FREDDIE KING
Rhythm Guitar - CORNELL DUPREE
Tenor Saxophones - GEORGE COLEMAN and FRANK WESS
Tenor & Baritone Saxophones - TREVOR LAWRENCE and WILLE BRIDGES
Trumpets - ERNIE ROYAL and MARTIN BANKS
Piano - GEORGE STUBBS
Bass - JERRY JEMMOTT
Drums - KEVIN RICE
"What'd I Say" features Bass Marimba and Sax Solo by KING CURTIS
"You Don't Have To Go" and "The Things I Used To Do" feature Harmonica by HUGH McCRACKEN

The 3-way foldout inlay has a brief but informative history of King's career by BERND MATHEJA that is sided on Page 3 by a selected Discography. Although licensed from East West, it doesn't advise who remastered what - but the sound quality is great nonetheless - clean, muscular and so enjoyable. Repertoire as a label has always had a good reputation when it comes to transfers.

Side 1 opens with the down and dirty "Yonder Wall" which not surprisingly for the date it was recorded name-checks men coming home from the Vietnam War. It's followed by a cracking Freddie King instrumental called "The Stumble" - the kind of cool boppin' blues tune that turns up on those hip compilations you read about. "I Wonder Why" and "Stormy Monday" (BB King and Jimmy Witherspoon covers) get the brassy treatment like "Yonder Wall" to great effect, while Side 1 ends with a wonderful take on Willie Mabon's "I Don't Know" with the bass really forward and funky in the mix.

Side 2 opens with a version of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" that builds like the Atlantic original did, which is followed by one of my favourites, a fabulous soulful take on Jimmy Witherspoon's standard "Ain't Nobody's Business What We Do" (lyrics above). It's followed by a superb harmonica driven shuffle, a cover of Jimmy Reed's "You Don't Have To Go" which features Freddie giving it some funky blues - such a cool number. The pace is then expertly changed to another "...my baby is gone..." song, a cover of B.B. King's "Woke Up This Morning" with punchy brass fills (you can so hear Hathaway's soulfulness in a lot of the arrangements).

This album has been reissued subsequently in 2008 by another company but apparently the sound isn't the greatest; the only other stop is the July 2009 Bear Family Box Set called "Taking Care Of Business" that covers everything from 1956 through to 1973 across 7 CDs and a Hardback Book - a Christmas treat I feel certain I'm going to allow myself.

Born in 1934, Freddie King suffered a heart attack whilst playing a Christmas concert in 1976 and passed away in hospital two days later. Name-checked by luminaries such as Eric Clapton and Peter Green, on hearing this totally forgotten peach of an album, it's easy to see why this bluesman is remembered with such affection.

A nice CD and worth seeking out - next stop the bank-manager and Bear Family's stupendous box set...

I bought this as a gift, along with other Freddie King albums, and the receiver of the gifts was thrilled.

freddie is one of the best as a singer to song writer to musican.too bad i never got to see him live!

While not his best work to be sure, overall a satisfying effort. I love the acoustic version of 'Things I Used to Do'. The other cuts are not on par with his best stuff but whose are. I give it 5 stars cuz I love Freddie King and everything he did is way better than most. You'll like it lots.

My Feeling for the Blues is one of Freddie King's three best cds. I believe that only Ultimate Collection, Freddy King Sings, and My Feeling for the Blues are worth purchasing if you enjoy Freddie King best when he both sings and plays the guitar. The songs on My Feeling for the Blues do not have the energy or "punch" that the songs on Ultimate Collection and Freddy King Sings both have. My Feeling for the Blues has a more subdued, yet technically perfect studio sound, character. This lack of energy or "punch" earns My Feeling for the Blues a four star rating. However, since I believe that Freddie King, not B. B. King, is the true "King of the Blues" because Freddie was a bettter singer and guitar player, My Feeling for the Blues remains a MUST BUY cd for every devoted fan of either Freddie King or THE BLUES.

John