BLUES JUNCTION Productions
7343 El Camino Real
Suite 327
Atascadero, CA 93422-4697
info
It might seem to a relatively casual observer, like myself, that the halcyon days of the Austin, Texas, blues music scene is getting smaller in the rearview mirror. Maybe certain events jar us into the recognition that this may in fact the case.
The passing of Denny Freeman was such an event. Born in Orlando, Florida, and raised in Dallas, Freeman relocated to Austin in the early 70’s. Back then the Texas capital was known as a cosmic cowboy, college town but that was about to change. The story of Clifford Antone and his eponymously named nightclub has been told to death and I won’t repeat it here, but Denny Freeman was at the center of that scene and everywhere else it seemed in Austin in those days. The multi-instrumentalist played harmonica, as well as piano and organ, but it was on the electric guitar, where he gained the most notoriety.
He performed alongside, on stage and in the studio with Austin musicians who had gained wider notoriety such as Lou Ann Barton, both Jimmie and Stevie Vaughan, James Cotton, a long time Austin transplant, as well as Angela Strehli with whom he worked with some consistency, among others. In a town full of some very serious guitar slingers, he was a first call cat who could always be counted on to deliver. As the Austin American Statemen noted, recently upon his passing, Denny Freeman made everyone sound better.
After a move to my hometown of Los Angeles, where he settled for a few years, he returned to Texas. While in L.A. he worked steadily joining the back-up band of Taj Mahal for his 1996 seminal album Phantom Blues from which the all-star ensemble took its name. This mid-life, mid-career boost to Taj Mahal could be directly attributed to the stellar musicianship of Denny Freeman and the Phantom Blues Band. The PBB even put out albums, sans the boss, starting with Out of the Shadows on L.A. based Delta Groove Music.
When he wasn’t touring the world, headlining blues festivals and picking up Grammy Awards with the Phantom Blues Band, Denny Freeman could be found Wednesday nights in a great South Bay night spot called The Café Boogaloo in Hermosa Beach. He had a residency at this place where the food, drink and service were as good as the music.
It was here I met Denny for the first time on May 7, 1997. It was my 40th Birthday and my girlfriend told me she wanted to take take me out anywhere I wanted to go. It was a Wednesday, so I didn’t have to think twice and it was off to see Denny Freeman at the Café Boogaloo. His virtuosity on guitar was matched only by his versatility. He always put on an extraordinary evening of music.
He featured songs from his first four solo albums, Blues Cruise, Out of the Blue, A Tone For My Sins and Twang Bang.
Off stage, I found Denny to be modest to a fault, self-effacing and in possession of a dry wit. All of these things I appreciated dearly. That residency lasted a few years until he returned to Texas. By then the world of email allowed us to remain in contact. I particularly enjoyed receiving “E-Christmas” cards from Denny.
One day he told me that he got the gig that he described as “saving my life.” He joined up with Bob Dylan and what has been called ‘the endless tour’. Denny even played on Dylan’s Modern Times CD, which turned out to be one of the best-selling albums of the famed troubadour’s long and unparalleled career. After his association with Dylan, Freeman released a solo album of instrumentals entitled, Diggin’ on Dylan. This 2012 release features all Dylan penned tunes with which Freeman became familiar by performing them on stage with the sage from Hibbing, Minnesota, hundreds of times.
In recent years Denny had held down a long Friday residency at The Saxon Pub in Austin.
Getting back to the old days, we are reminded here in 2021 of Denny’s long association with one of Austin’s favorite bands, The Cobras. That seminal Austin ensemble has just reissued a CD entitled, Caught Live at the Continental Club. This album was recorded back in 1981. It is part of Charlie’s Re-Issue Rodeo which is one of our features here in the June 2021 edition of BLUES JUNCTION. It should be noted that besides Denny’s guitar the other featured soloist in the Cobras was the tenor sax of Joe Sublett who also was (is) a member of the Phantom Blues Band.
Dennis Edward Freeman passed away from abdominal cancer on April 25th, 2021. Austin, Texas will never quite sound the same.
- David Mac
Copyright 2022 BLUES JUNCTION Productions. All rights reserved.
BLUES JUNCTION Productions
7343 El Camino Real
Suite 327
Atascadero, CA 93422-4697
info