"Freddy King Sings" by FREDDIE KING – September 1961 US Debut Album on King Records in Mono – Inside "Taking Care Of Business: 1956 - 1973" (May 2009 GERMAN Bear Family 7CD Box Set Compilation of Remasters – Jurgen Crasser Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

1961 US Debut Album on King Records 

Remastered Inside "Taking Care Of Business" CD Box Set

 

"…I Swim The Deepest River…”

 

Bear Family box sets are famous for their sumptuousness, but I would venture to say that this absolute peach is one of the best tomes they've ever produced - and given their ludicrously high standards with content, sound and presentation - that's really saying something. I'm properly blown away - I really am.

 

"Taking Care Of Business 1956-1973" by FRED
DIE KING was released May 2009 on Bear Family BCD 16979 GK in Germany and contains 167 remastered tracks across 7 fully featured CDs.

 

Inside is a 106-page LP-Sized HARDBACK BOOK (shrink-wrapped for protection, a nice touch) and as you can imagine is a thing of beauty in itself.  Rare photos, trade adverts, concert posters, singles on Federal and King, albums on Cotillion and Shelter punctuate a huge essay on King's life and music by noted expert BILL DAHL. The updated Discography by BILL DAHL and RICHARD WEIZE is presented in a far-clearer manner than before (even if there are a few mistakes and omissions) and there's also a track-by-track alphabetical list that follows it. The whole set reeks of care and affection.

 

Track Mixing and Remastering is by BILL INGLOT (of Rhino fame) and JURGEN CRASSER (of Bear Family) and the quality is GORGEOUS throughout - especially on the last three discs. Each jewel case carries a different photo-inlay and each label reflects the recording period - Federal on 1 to 3, King on 4, Cotillion on 5 and Shelter on 6 and 7.  And as you can see from the list below, there's some eye-catching extended playing times...

 

Disc 1, 25 Tracks, 70:46 minutes, Disc 2, 26 Tracks, 77:15 minutes

Disc 3, 22 Tracks, 70:56 minutes, Disc 4, 32 Tracks, 87:16 minutes

Disc 5, 25 Tracks, 84:46 minutes, Disc 6, 17 Tracks, 77:35 minutes

Disc 7, 20 Tracks, 77:49 minutes

SINGLES:

"Taking Care Of Business" will also allow you to sequence the A&B sides of 36 x 7" singles - every one from his rare debut "Country Boy" in 1956 on El-Bee 157 right up to "Woman Across The River" on Leon Russell's Shelter label in 1973 (Shelter 7333). The six-tracks of his 1961 "Bossa Nova And Blues" EP on King KSS-7 821 are here too.

 

ALBUMS:

All of the following LPs are complete too (relevant tracks only on 3, 4, 8 and 15):

 

1. "Freddy King Sings" (King 762, Mono, 1961)

2. "Let's Hide Away And Dance Away With Freddy King" (King 773, Mono, 1961)

3. "Boy-Girl-Boy" (King 777, Mono, 1962)

[Credited to Freddy King, Lula Reed & Sonny Thompson with 4 tracks featuring Lula Reed with Freddy King]

4. A Carnival Of Songs" (King 819, 1963, A Various Artists compilation featuring 1 exclusive track - "Closed Door")

5. "Bossa Nova And Blues" (King 821, Mono, 1962)

6. "Freddy King...Gives You A Bonanza Of Instrumentals" (King 928, Mono, 1965)

7. "Freddy King Sings Again" (King 931, Mono, 1965, see LP Discography)

8. "All His Hits" (King 5012, 1965 Compilation LP featuring "Christmas Tears")

9. "24 Vocals And Instrumentals" (King 964, Mono, 1966)

10. "Freddie King Is A Blues Master" (Cotillion SD-9004, Stereo, 1969)

11. "My Feeling For The Blues" (Cotillion SD-9016, 1970)

12. "Getting Ready" (Shelter SHE-8905. 1971)

13. "Texas Cannonball" (Shelter SW-8913, 1972)

14. "Woman Across The River" (Shelter SW-8919, 1973)

15. "Ann Arbor Blues And Jazz Festival" (Atlantic SD2-502, 1973 2LP set featuring 1 exclusive track "Goin' Down")

 

Debut Album

"Freddy King Sings", 1961, King Records 762 [Mono]

Side 1:

1. See See Baby [1/4]

2. Lonesome Whistle Blues [1/9]

3. Takin' Care Of Business [2/5]

4. Have You Ever Loved A Woman [1/6]

5. You Know That You Love Me (But You Never Tell Me So) [1/19]

6. I'm Tore Down [1/12]

 

Side 2:

1. I Love The Woman [1/8]

2. Let Me Be (Stay Away From Me) [2/4]

3. It's Too Bad (Things Are Going So Tough) [1/11]

4. You've Got To Love Her With A Feeling [1/5]

5. If You Believe (In What You Do) [1/10]

6. You Mean, Mean Woman (How Can Your Love Be True) [2/6]

 

The debut has stuff that goes back to 1956 and contains the Box Set’s title tune "Takin' Care Of Business" as well as great Blues Standards like "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" and "I'm Tore Down". But those deep album cuts like "You've Got To Love Her With A Feeling" and "Lonesome Whistle Blues" that thrill precisely because they don’t surface that often. Most of the outtakes and unreleased concentrate on the later albums, but this is a fantastic beginning for a Bluesman many feel never got the accolades so due to him.

 

This kind of quality and class doesn't come cheap though - there's little change out of one hundred and fifty sterling or three hundred dollars - but it is BEAUTIFUL.

 

Freddie King died 28 December 1976 aged only 42. But at least this truly stunning box set celebrates his musical legacy in real style. Roll on Lightnin' Hopkins, Albert King, Big Joe Turner...