The Smokinest Guitar Player on the Panet!

As an adolescent and young teen in Dallas, Texas in the late1950’s, I heard on the radio the radical new sounds of people like Little Richard, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, and Chicago and Louisiana blues artists like Muddy waters and Slim Harpo. I would go to concerts that featured folks like Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley, Ruth Brown, and the Clovers. In the 60’s there was Jimi Hendrix and Cream, and the wonderful jazz of the time. All of it contributed to the music that I would come to play. 

After growing up in Dallas, going to college in north Texas, and a brief sojourn in L.A., I moved to Austin, Texas in 1970. Jimmie Vaughan, Doyle Bramhall, and Stevie Vaughan, and Paul Ray soon followed. If you were a musician, a part of the sub culture, or just had long hair, Austin was the place to be in that part of the world, at that time. It wasn’t so much of a music town, at that time, yet.  It was the kind of place that musicians, and other young folks, in the early 70’s, found hospitable. Lots of pretty girls, cheap rent, a laid back atmosphere, and those things were especially helpful, in those days. The word got around and musicians are still moving there, today, although things have changed, like everywhere else, and cheap rent is certainly a thing of the past.

The main thing, though, that us Dallas folks had in common, was that we came ready to play blues. Unhappy with the direction rock was heading after the demise of Cream and Jimi Hendrix, blues was the only thing that appealed to us and a few other people, at that time. But still it was a struggle. Of course, Jimmie, w/ his Fabulous Thunderbirds, and Stevie finally found some commercial success. I lived and played with Jimmie and Stevie off and on through the 70’s and 80’s. There just weren’t many players interested in playing blues, so the pool was small. I first heard Jimmie Vaughan play in Dallas, when he was 16 and Stevie a few years later, in Austin, when he was around 17. It was obvious, even then, that we would be hearing from these guys. It took a while, but eventually most fans of guitar, the world over, came to know about them, too. We became friends, roommates and bandmates. Stevie still owes me $30 rent.

 I played with Jimmie’s first Austin band, Storm, and in 1975, while playing in another great Austin band, Paul Ray and the Cobras, I got to play on a regular basis for a few years with Stevie, when he joined the band, in 1975. In the ’80’s I also played with Austin vocalists Lou Ann Barton and Angela Strehli.

In 1975, the world famous Antones Night Club opened up. At first, the Fabulous Thunderbirds Birds was the house band, providing backing for the famous Chicago, and other, blues artists that were booked. In the early 80’s, another house band was formed, and I had guitar and piano duties, backing up blues giants like Otis Rush, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Jr. Wells, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Lazy Lester, and many, many more. It was beyond anything I could have imagined. I never thought I’d see most of these guys, much less get to play with them. Some of the shows were recorded, so I’m even on records with my heroes.

The Music

The Amazing Denny Freeman

The Cobras – Caught Live at the Continental Club

The Amazing Denny Freeman Press

Austin Chronicle – Review – Jay Trachtenberg – December 29th, 2023

Denny Freeman – Biography

Past Denny Interviews

J.J. Vicars – Denny Freeman Interview – Part 1 – May 23, 2011
J.J. Vicars – Denny Freeman Interview – Part 2 – May 23, 2011

Glitch Magazine – Denny Freeman Interview – December 1988

Denny Freeman – August 7, 1944 – April 25, 2021

Austin Chronicle – Beyond the Horizon with Denny Freeman – April 27th, 2021
AA Statesman – ‘As soulful as humans get’: Austin guitar great Denny Freeman remembered – April 26, 2021

Austin Chronicle – Watch This: A Tribute to Denny Freeman in His Own Words – August 8, 2022
Produced by the Society for the Preservation of Texas Music with the Austin Museum of Popular Culture and Arts+Labor

Denny Freeman’s Official Website – https://www.dennyfreeman.com/

Cobras

Listen/Buy: The Cobras – Caught Live at the Continental Club

Austin Chronicle – Reviewed by Jay Trachtenberg – April 15, 2021
Bentley’s Bandstand (Americana Highways) – Bill Bentley – May 6 2021
AAS – On The Record – Peter Blackstock – June 4, 2021

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