THE FREDDIE FACTOR

When the 60s UK ‘Blues Boom’ took hold, the career of Texas guitarist Freddie King was in the doldrums. He’d already recorded a slew of great sides, like Have

You Ever Loved A Woman, that would later become classics. But it was his instrumentals that were first seized upon by the class of 1966, Eric Clapton recording Freddie’s Hideaway for the Bluesbreakers’ ‘The Beano Album’, while Peter Green’s roaring take of The Stumble on John Mayall’s Hard Road and Mick Taylor’s Driving Sideways on Crusade, are both masterclasses of tone and feel.

“He taught me just about everything I needed to know – when and when not to make a stand; when and when not to show your hand; and most important of all, how to make love to a guitar,” said Eric Clapton.

Mayall’s record, Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, also known as ‘The Beano Album’ was released in 1966