Monday, February 26, 2007


Freddie King: Going Down and Gimme Some Lovin' [1970]

from the essential Getting Ready...

It's hard to believe that Going Down is not a traditional blues that has existed since the Dawn of Time but in fact a song written by a human being named Don Nix in (I guess?) the year 1970. Freddie's original version here is such a masterpiece. This is without question the greatest half-time groove that any band has ever laid down.

The band's take on Gimme Some Lovin' is another half-time spectacular that was left off the original album but appeared on the 1989 CD reissue. Jam-packed with rhythmic tension, this is the second greatest half-time groove that any band has ever laid down.

The band:
Freddie King - electric guitar & vocals
Leon Russell - piano & guitar
Don Preston - guitar
Jon Gallie - organ
Donald "Duck" Dunn - electric bass (for more of Duck's work, see here)
Charles Blackwell - drums
Charles Myers - drums

produced by Leon Russell & Don Nix
recorded in October 1970 at CHESS STUDIOS, Chicago

4 comments:

david said...

Amen on Goin' Down.
An all-time masterpiece!

david said...

Also re: Goin' Down...I never knew there were 2 drummers on that track.
There was another honkin track on Texas Cannonball called Me and My Guitar. Same Shelter band as the Gettin'Ready album.

Emmett said...

Hey David, thanks for the comment. Yeah, the 2 drummers are an essential component of the amazing choo-choo train feel. They just lay into it so thick...

Chuck Blackwell is a great drummer, he played with Taj Mahal in the 60's and w/Leon Russell on some stuff. In fact, C. Blackwell might be the official drummer of Art Decade...

Texas Cannonball and Woman Across The River are both great. I've got some nice Freddie King live stuff from '74/'75, maybe I'll post it here in the future...

david said...

I remember in its time, lying on the floor listening to Goin'Down over and over and over and over and over.
Ahhhhhhhhh.............
Thanks for the posts.