Customer Reviews

Ultimate Collection

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4 star:		(2)
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This is the best single disc Freddie King Collection on the market, considering that Hideaway: The best of Freddie King is out of print. Two or three selections are doubtful (Dust my broom and Sugar sweet), but mostly it is really good, combining his trademark instrumentals (Hideaway, The Stumble, etc) with wocal tracks. Freddie's sharp, melodic and intense guitar playing influenced a lot white blues guitarists - most obviously - at least to my ears - Eric Clapton on the John Mayall's Bluesbrakers with Eric Clapton album. If you like blues, or just great guitar playing (and there's some fine singing from Freddie as well), get this record.

I don't have this actual CD, but I have most of the songs that are on it from other collections and they are all great. This is a great collection of Freddie King's work from his earliest recordings (1960's "Have You Ever Loved A Woman") to his later Shelter records material (1969's "Palace of the King" and "Going Down"). If you like blues guitar, then at least one Freddie King CD should be in your collection. He influenced countless guitarists, particularly Eric Clapton. This is a good place to start if you're new to this blues guitar master.

Freddie King is a one-of-kind-artist ~ his talent is tremendous ~ check out the style you've come to love from this down-home-finger-picking icon.

Of course there are stand outs ~ "HAVE YOU EVER LOVED A WOMAN", "HIDE AWAY" and "AIN'T NOBODY'S BUSINESS" are just but a few that grab you, but then the whole album pulls you in ~ hook, line and sinker.

The influence of this great artist can still be heard through recordings of the musicians of today ~ the short time this legend was here on this planet will be missed, but they'll never be another to pass this way again ~ FREDDIE KING!

Total Time: 59:43 on 18 Tracks ~ Hip-O Records 314 520 909 2 ~ (2001)

I like some rock mixed with my blues. That said, I love Freddie King's Ultimate Collection cd! Ultimate Collection samples Freddie King's entire musical career. Freddie is both an excellent guitar player and an excellent vocalist, which cannot be said for any other legendary blues artist. Every song on Ultimate Collection is very pleasurable to hear and enjoy. The sound quality of this remastered cd is terrific. Ultimate Collection is so filled with fabulous blues music that it takes many listenings to fully comprehand its complete musical beauty. Ultimate Collection will never fail to fascinate you. Using Ultimate Collection and Freddy King Sings as sufficient documentation, Freddie King rightfully assumes the title of "King of the Blues." Listening to Freddie King's Ultimate Collection makes you want to dance. His blues really rock and swing, while retaining a true traditional blues character. Ultimate Collection is a MUST BUY if you like the blues and rock blues musical genres and/or if you are searching for at least one outstanding legendary blues artist to highly esteem, regularly listen to, and much enjoy. I cannot help but consider how much more fabulous Elvis Presley, and ultimately rock and roll, would have sounded if Elvis had only exchanged his prescription drugs, country music leanings, trust of Colonel Tom Parker, and the strange desire to be the next Frank Sinatra for a much stronger and an ongoing singing and recording commitment to Freddie King like blues and rock blues music. Elvis did sing and record one great Freddie King song titled Reconsider Baby. In addition, Elvis' famous logo, the initials T, C, and B with a lightning bolt intersecting the initials, stands for Takin' Care of Business, which is the title of a song Freddie King recorded in 1961 on Freddy King Sings. Thanks to the technologies of cds and remastering, Freddie King remains with us, both as an outstanding legendary blues master and as the true pioneer of the rock blues genre. Ultimate Collection does a fabulous job of capturing, summarizing, and very clearly displaying Freddie King's outstanding musical talents. While you are sampling Freddie King's music, do yourself a favor and purchase both Ultimate Collection and Freddy King Sings.

John

This collection is truly some of his greatest hits. My favorite is Hideaway. Who could have a real blues collection without Freddie, and if you own only one CD of his, this is it.

I heard the Freddie King version of "Goin' Down" (a classic I heard performed first by Jeff Beck back in 1971)on Pandora Radio. There are several great versions of this song (John Mayall), but this was hands down the best version I had heard yet. I found "Freddie King" - Ultimate Collection on Amazon. This collection lives up to it's name. I thought I was an educated listener of all music types, but I had never actually listened to anything he had done before other than "Hideaway", or at least I had thought that I hadn't heard these tunes before. All I can say is I learned a thing or two. Freddie King is the King. This white-boy has been schooled, and it was worth it. It is a favorite.

I had been looking for a good compilation of Freddie's music for a while. This one does the trick! This really is the best of his earlier work!

Freddie King was a master blues player. If you want to know where a lot of Clapton licks came from, listen to this guy. He was the original. The three Kings, Freddie, Albert and BB are the original masters. Unfortunately Freddie has been gone a lot of years but his legacy continues on. If you are into Blues, buy this CD. John

They say timing is everything, and in Freddie King's case, that certainly was true. His early hits, especially the classic instrumentals, "Hide Away" and "San-Ho-Zay," came out in 1960 and '61, at precisely the right moment for his career to intersect with the SoCal surf scene (which also centered on instrumental numbers) and the nascent British blues revival, which was ever eager to find American bluesmen to latch onto and laud. Here, white kids on both sides of the Atlantic had a guy who bridged the gap between raw authenticity and pop polish, setting the standard for the zilllion-and-one future Fendermen who sought to sharpen their guitar chops. Fittingly, King cracked into the US Top 40 while also picking up flocks of converts (such as Eric Clapton) who worshipped his fluid, pop-tinged electric guitar leads. King's style was a perfect distillation of the smooth yet soulful postwar blues style, rootsy yet accessible and perfectly pitched for the ears of adoring white blues fans. His career had its ups and downs, but by the time he passed away in 1976, he had packed them in on the pop and blues circuits... This disc covers the breadth of his career, matching the ace oldies up with a good selection of his often overly-bombastic later material.

If this is your first freddie king cd, this is a great collection!!!
Freddie had a major influence on many of the newer Blues players.