Little Freddie King

Fried Rice & Chicken

Orleans Records

Fread Eugene Martin a.k.a. Little Freddie King was born in McComb, Mississippi, in July of 1940. He was a cousin to Lightnin’ Hopkins and moved to New Orleans when he was seventeen where he honed his guitar skills playing with Slim Harpo and Champion Jack Dupree. In 1976 King toured with Bo Diddley and John Lee Hooker.

King was 55 years old in 1995 when he released his solo debut recording “Swamp Boogie” on Orleans Records. After releasing the album King appeared at major European and American Blues festivals. King appeared on TV in HBO’s “Treme” and on NCIS: New Orleans. “Cleo’s Back”, the opening track from “Swamp Boogie” was featured in the 2011 Tom Hanks/Sandra Bullock movie “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”.  King has played the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival each year for the last 42 years. He is a member of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and was honored with a Mississippi Blues Trail marker. King has recorded eleven albums the latest being 2015’s “Messin’ Around The Living Room” on Madewright Records.

The first six songs are from “Swamp Boogie” including the instrumental “Cleo’s Back” written by Willie Woods especially for Junior Walker & The All Stars. Included also are King’s own Jimmy Reed styled “I Used To Be Down”; Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say”; and “Kinky Cotton Fields” King’s instrumental interpretation of Leadbelly’s classic.

The remaining five tracks are from Kings 2000 live follow-up recording “Sing, Sang, Sung” also on Orleans Records. On these King plays with his longtime band members “Wacko” Wade Wright, drums; Anthony “Skeet” Anderson, bass; and Bobby Lewis Ditullio, harmonica. The live tracks were recorded at the Dream Palace on Frenchman Street.

“There is no one in New Orleans playing that type of music any longer…Freddie is that raw, what-you-see-is what-you-get blues artist”. “You couldn’t script what came out of these people. It was real. And Freddie is the last link of that music left in New Orleans. He’s it”.

This re-issue just might be the “Historic Album of The Year”. Thank you Little Freddie King.

Richard Ludmerer

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