Hideaway - Freddie King

"Hide Away" or "Hideaway" is a blues guitar instrumental that has become "a standard for countless blues and rock musicians performing today". First recorded in 1960 by Freddie King, the song became an R&B and pop chart hit. Since then, it has been interpreted and recorded by numerous blues and other musicians. King's original "Hide Away" has been acknowledged by the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Although "Hide Away" is credited to Freddie King and Sonny Thompson (pianist and A&R man at Federal Records) in an interview, Freddie King said that "Hide Away" came from a Hound Dog Taylor song called "Taylor's Boogie". Shakey Jake Harris, a harmonica player who played with Magic Sam, said "At that time me and Sam was playing at Mel's Hideaway [Mel's Hide Away Lounge, a Chicago blues club where many of the blues musicians of the era played]. That's where Freddie King's 'Hide Away' comes from. We stole it from Hound Dog Taylor, and Freddie King stole it from us. It used to be our theme song. It was Magic Sam's theme song. And so Freddie King would come in and jam with us until he learnt that song". Magic Sam recorded a variation of the song, "Do The Camel Walk", in 1961 (Chief 7026).

In his autobiography, Willie Dixon suggests that he named the song "Hideaway". He went on to say that "the guy who really wrote 'Hideaway' was this guy called Irving Spencer, the one I used to play with back on Madison Street, that was on Koko Taylor's first first recording. He was playing that 'Hideaway' for years before anybody paid any attention to it". Dixon also claimed that Freddie King had recorded "Hideaway" earlier for Cobra Records, but none of his Cobra material was ever issued.
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