It was usually in the middle of the night, around 4 a.m. or so. For the first few seconds, which seemed like minutes, I didn’t remember exactly where I was or what time it really was. Beside my bed, the green, orange and red lights of the equalizer on my stereo still danced up and down full of energy. As in my now tired ears Freddy King sings “If you keep trying you’ll make it through” and his guitar playing continues to echo, I realize that by now it is time to turn off the music and go to sleep without headphones on my head. Tomorrow is another day. And assume that’s another day where ‘Freddy King – His Early Years’ will be played.
In my late teens I found out about the existence of blues through Jimi Hendrix. An uncle of mine was a musician and he had recorded a number of records on cassette tapes, including this compilation LP of Freddie King: His Early Years. And in no time I was obsessed with old blues in which the early recordings of Muddy Waters and Freddy King were at the top of my rankings.
I had just picked up the guitar again after years of illness had prevented me from playing.And Freddy’s howling, screaming vocals that he perfectly interspersed with those pointed and then screaming, howling notes on his guitar fit that period perfectly. And if there was one goal in my life, it was to learn to play guitar like Freddy. And so I decided to brainwash myself by putting the cassette tape of Freddy King – His Early Years back on repeat at night and falling asleep to the beautiful sounds of this giant.