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Little Freddie King

"Gut Bucket Blues"

Little Freddie's real name is Fread E. Martin and he was born in McComb, Mississippi, July 19, 1940 down the road from Bo Diddley place. His father, Jessie James Martin, was a blues guitarist that worked the weekend southern circuit in the Delta. His father would bring him out on the town when he was out there playing. Little Freddie King eventually taught himself how to play guitar and develop his country-style blues or as he calls it "Gut Bucket Blues". At the age of 17, Little Freddie King moved from the farm to New Orleans to stay with his sister. There he met such upcoming stars as Buddy Guy and Slim Harpo. It was in the early 1960's that Little Freddie King was hung with the Little Freddie King appellation as he'd been using his real name on gigs up to that point. "Freddie King was really hot then with songs like Hideaway and San-Ho-Zay" said Little Freddie King. "People kept telling me I sounded just like Freddie King, so they started calling me Little Freddie King." Generally the 1960's were busy years for Little Freddie King, as he played with the likes of Polka Dot Slim, Guitar Grady, Guitar Ray, Snooks Eaglin, Billy Tate, Harmonica Williams, Boogie Bill Webb, Rev. Charles Jacobs (his cousin) and Eddie Lang. Little Freddie King became a charter member an annual attraction at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and toured Europe with Bo Diddley, Texas Alexander and John Lee Hooker in 1976. His most amazing gig though occurred in 1981, when he embarked on a six-month tour of the Western States when he hosted workshops on the Blues. His 1970 recording titled Harmonica Williams and Little Freddie King is believed to be the first electric blues album recorded in New Orleans.

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