Freddie King: Feeling Alright: The Complete 1975 Nancy Jazz Pulsation Concerts

Some archival releases simply take up space on the record shelf, while others are rare discoveries that reignite passion, danger, and significance in an artist's legacy. Freddie King—Feeling Alright: The Complete 1975 Nancy Jazz Pulsation Concerts, is issued by Elemental Records in a limited edition 3-LP set in time for Record Store Day and later available in CD and digital formats. Sourced from ORTF (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française) original recordings, this set clearly belongs in the latter category. This previously unreleased 16- track collection presents King not as a museum piece, but as a living, dynamic force, an artist fully in command of his history.

In this concert, King (also known as The Texas Cannonball) was supported by an experienced road ensemble that included organist Alvin Hemphill, guitarist Ed Lively, pianist Lewis Stephens, bassist Benny Turner, and drummer Calep Emphrey, Jr.. The band plays the material with a mix of precision and abandon that feels almost recklessly alive, reaffirming that King had become a bridge between the raw earth of post-war blues and the amplified swagger of rock stages.

The concert opens with the commanding "Have You Ever Loved A Woman," seamlessly flowing into B.B. King's "Whole Lot Of Lovin.'" This sequence crosses genres and shows why King stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the greats. There is weight in his singing, but never stiffness. He pleads, boasts, testifies; his guitar weeps, and the band grooves in a rhythm that just will not stop. The Guitar Slim classic "The Things I Used To Do" is delivered with rare depth, with King's vocal phrasing lingering just behind the beat in true blues fashion. This is not just a period piece but a living testament filled with rue swagger and hard-won resignation.

One of those rock-facing staples from King's later period of authority is Don Nix 's, "Goin' Down." It arrives like a challenge, leaner, harder, and edged with momentum, making it one of his late-career signature pieces. The guitar work is sharp, economical, and unpretentious until he chooses to expand with a controlled burst of soloing. The closing track of this set is "Stormy Monday Blues." The song exudes late-night gravitas as King leans into the lyric with a weary elegance, then responds with stinging, declarative fills. There is a seasoned patience to the performance, the kind that comes when King no longer feels he must rush the blues, but allows it to gather its own weather.

The second set kicks off with the instrumental pairing of King's "Sen-Sa-Shun" and John Lee Hooker's "Looking Good." The track is full of edge, grease, and serves as a reminder that his thumb-and-finger-pick attack can hit hard. The medley crackles with a loose- limbed confidence that only a veteran road band can summon, as each phrase is driven forward by the rhythm section with snap and a steady groove. The Muddy Waters classic "Got My Mojo Working" is anything but routine. Led by King's vocals and fiery guitar runs, the band performs this tune with rough-edged exuberance that elevates the rendition to revival-meeting intensity, with full-throated audience participation while maintaining its groove.

"Sweet Home Chicago," often watered down to a bar-band routine, regains its edge here, driven with muscular swagger rooted in the tune's club-born grit. King delivers the familiar refrain with blunt streetwise confidence, refusing to sanitize what was always meant to move bodies as much as evoke memories. Dave Mason's title track "Feeling Alright," provides King with the opportunity to strip away any trace of laid-back pop looseness and recast the tune as a thick-grooved rock workout. His vocal rides the backbeat with gruff relish while the band locks into a broad rolling pulse.

The set ends with "You're the One," which King introduces with a confident, relaxed late-set vibe, allowing the lyric to find its natural space and letting the groove settle into its own deep pocket. His voice reaches for one last burst of power, while the guitar responds in brief, glowing phrases.

This is a major blues archive release, bold, generous, and historically significant.

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