Probably the most-played set-closing instrumental in the repertoires of blues bands around the country for more than 50 years has been the Freddy King smash ‘Hide Away,’ a Top 10 R&B hit on the Federal label in 1961. The 45, recorded in Cincinnati on August 26, 1960, also reached No. 29 on the Billboard Pop charts and its success led Chicago singer-guitarist Freddy King to record many more instrumentals during the early 1960s. The propulsive piece was named after Mel’s Hide Away Lounge on Chicago’s West Side and was credited to King and producer-pianist Sonny Thompson, although King himself acknowledged that he assembled ‘Hide Away’ (often subsequently spelled ‘Hideaway’) from music he’d heard by Hound Dog Taylor, Robert Lockwood Jr., and Jimmy McCracklin. The full LP Hide Away was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1987, while King (1934-1976) was elected in 1982.
