Music Diary – 28th December

Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 28th December!

Freddie King (3rd September 1934 – 28th December 1976)

On the 28th December 1976, Blues guitarist Freddie King died at the age of 42. Heart trouble and ulcers caused the death of the outstanding musician, who is often mentioned as one of the „Three Kings“ of Blues – beside Albert and B.B. King.

Already at the age of six years, Freddie was taught guitar lessons by his Mother Ella Mae and his uncle. In 1949 King moved with his family to Chicago, where he later get in touch with other great Blues musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin‘ Wolf, T-Bone Walker, Elmore James and Sonny Boy Williamson. Freddie King’s first band was called „The Every Hour Blues Boys“, featuring Jimmie Lee Robinson on guitar and Frank „Sonny“ Scott on drums. Also in the fifties he played with many other Blues legends – Jimmy Rogers, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Eddie Taylor, Hound Dog Taylor, Willie Dixon, Memphis Slim and Little Walter.

In 1960, Freddie King was signed to the label Federal Records and on the 26th August his debut single „Have You Ever Loved a Woman“ backed with „You’ve Got to Love Her with a Feeling“ was released. Also during these sessions, the instrumental „Hide Away“ was recorded, which reached one year later No. 5 on the R&B Charts and No. 29 on the Pop Singles Charts in the USA.

During that time, Freddie toured with Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and James Brown. The two LPs for Atlantic Records „Freddie King Is a Blues Master“ (1969) and „My Feeling for the Blues“ (1970) hit the stores, before Freddie King recorded the classic song „Goin‘ Down“ (1971), which was written by Leon Russell and Don Nix.

The LP „Burglar“ (1974) features guest appearances of Eric Clapton, George Terry, drummer Jamie Oldaker and bassist Carl Radle. After the release of „Larger Than Life“ (1975), King began suffering stomack ulcers. Complications from that sickness and an acute pancreatitis led to death. Freddie King died on the 28th December 1976 at the age of only 42 years.

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Music Diary – 3rd October

Welcomt to my Music Diary – today for the 3rd October!

Stevie Ray Vaughan (3rd October 1954 – 27th August 1990)

In 1954 Mr. Stephen „Stevie“ Ray Vaughan was born in Dallas, Texas (USA). Also nicknamed as SRV, Vaughan was an American Blues musician. The singer and songwriter is still considered as one of the most influentical guitar players. Or as Allmusic describes him as „a rocking powerhouse of a guitarist who gave blues a burst of momentum in the ’80s, with influence still felt long after his tragic death.“

And Chris Gill of Guitar World commented on Stevie’s unique style: „Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar tone was as dry as a San Antonio summer and as sparkling clean as a Dallas debutante, the product of the natural sound of amps with ample clean headroom. However, Vaughan occasionally used pedals to augment his sound, mainly to boost the signal, although he occasionally employed a rotating speaker cabinet and wah pedals for added textural flair.“

Stevie started guitar playing at the age of seven. In 1971 he was dropped out from school and one year later he moved from Dallas to Austin and started his career as a musician. At this time he played with people like Marc Benno (The Nightcrawlers) and Denny Freeman (Cobras). In 1977 SRV founded his own band called „Triple Threat Revue“ – shortly after that drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon joined the group and it was renamed in Double Trouble. Five years later at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival (1982) Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble became much more famous. The album debut „Texas Flood“ was released one year later and charted at No. 38 in the US charts. Before the album „In Step“ was recorded, Stevie Ray Vaughan went into rehab in 1986.

On the 27th August 1990 Stevie Ray Vaughan was killed in a helicopter crash. He died at the age of only 35. SRV earned six Grammy Awards and ten Austin Music Awards and he was inducted posthumously into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2014. The music magazin Rolling Stone ranked him as the twelfth greatest guitarist of all time.

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