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Getting Ready...

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Getting Ready...
Studio album by
Freddie King
Released1971
StudioTer-Mar Chess
GenreBlues, rock
LabelShelter
ProducerLeon Russell, Don Nix
Freddie King chronology
My Feeling for the Blues
(1970) 		Getting Ready...
(1971) 		Texas Cannonball
(1972)

Getting Ready... is an album by the American musician Freddie King, released in 1971.[1][2] It was the first of three albums he recorded for Shelter Records.[3] The album contains "Going Down", which became one of King's most popular songs.[4] King supported Getting Ready... with a North American tour.[5]

Production

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Recorded at Ter-Mar Chess Studios and mixed at Ardent Studios, the album was produced by label head Leon Russell and Don Nix.[6][7][8] King was backed by Russell on piano, Duck Dunn on bass, Chuck Blackwell on drums, and Don Preston on guitar, among others.[8] King played a Gibson Les Paul; he thought his instrument sounded similar to a violin, as he often bended notes and avoided chords.[9][10] The studio version of Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway" was performed in a more casual, groove-oriented style, rather than the rock style of most of King's live versions of the song.[11][12] "Dust My Broom" is a cover of the Elmore James song.[13] "Five Long Years" was written by Eddie Boyd.[14] Jimmy Rogers, who also recorded for Shelter, composed "Walking by Myself".[15]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[16]
Los Angeles Times[17]
MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[18]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of the Blues[19]

The News-Chronicle noted that King "is only an average vocalist ... slurring some of the lines to the point of indistinction, but what you are able to hear is good."[20] The Reading Evening Post called the album "good solid blues that pushes along rather than rolls along."[21] The Arizona Republic praised King's vocals on "Key to the Highway".[11]

In 1989, the Los Angeles Times stated that the songs "provide a respectable showcase of King's feel for both rock and blues."[17] In 1997, Guitar Player said that "Freddie is comfortable and in total command".[8] The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings opined that the Shelter albums reflect "the awkward phase blues was going through in the early '70s."[22]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Same Old Blues"Don Nix3:57
2."Dust My Broom"Elmore James3:10
3."Worried Life Blues"Big Maceo2:50
4."Five Long Years"Eddie Boyd4:20
5."Key to the Highway"Charles Seger, William Broonzy3:24
6."Going Down"Don Nix3:21
7."Living on the Highway"Don Nix, Leon Russell4:14
8."Walking by Myself"Lane2:50
9."Tore Down"Freddie King4:09
10."Palace of the King"Don Nix, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Leon Russell3:38

Notes

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While the back cover of the original LP credits the songwriter of "Worried Life Blues" as "Big Maco" (which is likely a typo for Big Maceo) while the label on the record states the writer as Willie Dixon, and the song is stated as "Worry My Life No More".

"Tore Down" songwriter credit on the back cover is "Freddie King" while on the record label it is "Sonny Thompson" and the song is stated as "I'm Tore Down" on the latter. The original Federal single released in 1961 states the song as "I'm Tore Down" credited to "Sonny Thompson" thus the Freddie King credit likely is an error.

References

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  1. ^ Komara, Edward, ed. (2004). Encyclopedia of the Blues. Vol. 1. Taylor & Francis. p. 573.
  2. ^ O'Neal, Jim; van Singel, Amy (2013). The Voice of the Blues: Classic Interviews from Living Blues Magazine. Taylor & Francis. p. 360.
  3. ^ Fox, Darrin (August 2004). "Freddie King". Guitar Player. Vol. 38, no. 8. p. 186.
  4. ^ a b MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 214.
  5. ^ "Bluesman to Perform in Concert". The Bradenton Herald. August 3, 1971. p. 9A.
  6. ^ Rudis, Al (August 14, 1971). "When Freddie King...". Pause. Buffalo Evening News. p. 29.
  7. ^ Ellis, Bill (July 1, 2000). "Old Folks and Newcomers Give the Past Its Props". The Commercial Appeal. p. F8.
  8. ^ a b c Forte, Dan (October 1997). "The essential Freddie King collection". Guitar Player. Vol. 31, no. 10. p. 75.
  9. ^ Thompson, Art (December 1998). "Legends of the Paul". Guitar Player. Vol. 32, no. 12. p. 117.
  10. ^ McMahon, Peg (August 4, 1971). "Freddie King—Blues from Within". The Kansas City Star. p. 14A.
  11. ^ a b Price, Hardy (June 13, 1971). "Popular". The Arizona Republic. p. 8N.
  12. ^ Friedland, Ed (April 2015). "The Eight-Bar Blues". Bass Player. Vol. 26, no. 4. p. 52.
  13. ^ Bevan, Bev (November 24, 2024). "Albums of the Week". Weekend. Sunday Mercury. p. 3.
  14. ^ "Special Merit Picks". Billboard. Vol. 83, no. 19. May 8, 1971. p. 42.
  15. ^ Goins, Wayne Everett (2014). Blues All Day Long: The Jimmy Rogers Story. University of Illinois Press. p. 171.
  16. ^ "Getting Ready... Review by Richie Unterberger". AllMusic. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
  17. ^ a b Hilburn, Robert (September 15, 1989). "3 Shelter Albums Released in Joint Venture". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 20.
  18. ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 398.
  19. ^ The Virgin Encyclopedia of the Blues. Virgin Books. 1998. p. 213.
  20. ^ Bob, Baker (July 2, 1971). "Gimmicks, tricks don't make this King a 'B.B.'". News-Chronicle. p. 9.
  21. ^ Butterfield, Pete (July 23, 1971). "Pop". Reading Evening Post. p. 10.
  22. ^ The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin Books. 2006. p. 363.
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