Hide Away
Encyclopedia
"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.
(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.
's songs, you know, I just pitched it all in like this. Made a commercial thing out of it. But - it sold". Freddie King also added a section of "The Peter Gunn Theme" from a popular television series of the time. Bill Willis, who played bass at the recording session, recalled the cue King used for that section "He [King] would be playing—like when we did the 'Peter Gunn' thing in 'Hide Away'—and just before he started it, he would take his hand and point it like a pistol at us. 'Okay, we're going into "Peter Gunn"'". The following section features a guitar figure similar to one in "Guitar Boogie Shuffle", a 1959 guitar instrumental hit.
"Hide Away" was recorded in 1960 and backing King (guitar) were Sonny Thompson (piano), Bill Willis (bass), and Philip Paul (drums). The following year it spent nineteen weeks in the Billboard R&B chart where it reached #5. The song also reached #29 in the Billboard Hot 100
, making it one of the highest showings in the pop chart by a blues artist.
was introduced to "Hide Away" (and the single's B-side "I Love the Woman") by fellow bandmate Tom McGuinness of The Roosters. Later in 1966, he recorded "Hideaway" for the John Mayall
Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton album. The version followed the original, but with a jazzier rhythm-section arrangement and more vamping by Clapton, including an Elmore James
-style riff
. The "Peter Gunn Theme" section was dropped in favor of a loose take on "Baby Elephant Walk
". The album was popular in England, where it reached #6 in the UK Albums Chart
. Clapton called it "the breakthrough album that really brought my playing to people's attention" and where he developed his signature overdriven Les Paul guitar
sound.
recorded "Hide Away" with Cornell Dupree
on guitar. Freddie King recorded an updated version for his 1969 album Freddie King Is A Blues Master (which was produced by King Curtis). A version of "Hide Away" performed by Stevie Ray Vaughan
is included on the 1999 remaster of his album Couldn't Stand the Weather
. During "Stevie Speaks" (an interview with Vaughan from the album), he uses the song to compare the blues styles he grew up with by playing King's and Clapton's versions of the song. "Hide Away" is included on the 1988 album See the Light by Jeff Healey
.
The song is included in the Johnny Winter
live album Live in NYC '97
.
list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". The song was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award
in 1999 and in 2007 was inducted into the Blues Foundation
Hall of Fame.
Freddie King
Freddie King , thought to have been born as Frederick Christian, originally recording as Freddy King, and nicknamed "the Texas Cannonball", was an influential African-American blues guitarist and singer. He is often mentioned as one of "the Three Kings" of electric blues guitar, along with Albert...
, the song became an R&B and pop chart hit. Since then, it has been interpreted and recorded by numerous blues and other musicians.
Origins
Although "Hide Away" is credited to Freddie King and Sonny ThompsonSonny Thompson
Sonny Thompson was an American R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s.Born Alfonso Thompson in Centreville, Mississippi, he began recording in 1946, and in 1948 achieved two #1 R&B chart hits on the Miracle label – "Long Gone " and "Late Freight", both featuring saxophonist...
(pianist and A&R man at Federal Records
Federal Records
Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to Rhythm & Blues releases. But also hillbilly and rockabilly recordings were released,...
) in an interview, Freddie King said that "Hide Away" came from a Hound Dog Taylor
Hound Dog Taylor
Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer.-Career:Taylor was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1915 . He originally played piano, but began playing guitar when he was 20...
song called "Taylor's Boogie". Shakey Jake Harris
Shakey Jake Harris
Shakey Jake Harris was an American Chicago blues singer, harmonicist and songwriter. Harris released five albums over a period of almost 25 years, and he was often musically associated with his nephew, Magic Sam....
, a harmonica player who played with Magic Sam
Magic Sam
Samuel "Magic Sam" Gene Maghett was an American Chicago blues musician. Maghett was born in Grenada, Mississippi, United States, and learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and Little Walter...
, 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
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
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
Cobra Records
Cobra Records was an independent record label that operated from 1956 to 1959. The label was important for launching the recording careers of Chicago blues artists Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Buddy Guy and "signaled the arrival of a new generation of [blues] artists and a new sound .....
, but none of his Cobra material was ever issued.
Freddie King version
Freddie King acknowledged that "Hide Away" has elements of several songs, but arranged in his own way. Starting with Hound Dog Taylor's song, he said he then "got a idea about these breaks and things in there". He credited Robert Jr. Lockwood with inspiring "the diminished chord I used on the break part" "and the thing I put in there like "The Walk." That came from one of Jimmy McCracklinJimmy McCracklin
Jimmy McCracklin is an American pianist, vocalist, and songwriter. His style contains West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career that has spanned seven decades, he says he has written almost a thousand songs and has recorded hundreds of them...
's songs, you know, I just pitched it all in like this. Made a commercial thing out of it. But - it sold". Freddie King also added a section of "The Peter Gunn Theme" from a popular television series of the time. Bill Willis, who played bass at the recording session, recalled the cue King used for that section "He [King] would be playing—like when we did the 'Peter Gunn' thing in 'Hide Away'—and just before he started it, he would take his hand and point it like a pistol at us. 'Okay, we're going into "Peter Gunn"'". The following section features a guitar figure similar to one in "Guitar Boogie Shuffle", a 1959 guitar instrumental hit.
"Hide Away" was recorded in 1960 and backing King (guitar) were Sonny Thompson (piano), Bill Willis (bass), and Philip Paul (drums). The following year it spent nineteen weeks in the Billboard R&B chart where it reached #5. The song also reached #29 in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, making it one of the highest showings in the pop chart by a blues artist.
John Mayall/Eric Clapton version
In 1963, Eric ClaptonEric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
was introduced to "Hide Away" (and the single's B-side "I Love the Woman") by fellow bandmate Tom McGuinness of The Roosters. Later in 1966, he recorded "Hideaway" for the John Mayall
John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...
Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton album. The version followed the original, but with a jazzier rhythm-section arrangement and more vamping by Clapton, including an Elmore James
Elmore James
Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
-style riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
. The "Peter Gunn Theme" section was dropped in favor of a loose take on "Baby Elephant Walk
Baby Elephant Walk
"Baby Elephant Walk" is a piece of music written in 1961 by composer Henry Mancini, for the 1962 release of the movie Hatari! The composer combines brass instruments and woodwind elements to convey the sense of a toddler that is large and plodding, but nonetheless filled with the exuberance of...
". The album was popular in England, where it reached #6 in the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. Clapton called it "the breakthrough album that really brought my playing to people's attention" and where he developed his signature overdriven Les Paul guitar
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
sound.
Other versions
In 1962 King CurtisKing Curtis
Curtis Ousley , who performed under the stage name King Curtis, was an American saxophone virtuoso known for rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, funk and soul jazz. Variously a bandleader, band member, and session musician, he was also a musical director and record producer...
recorded "Hide Away" with Cornell Dupree
Cornell Dupree
Cornell Luther Dupree was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis and Steve Gadd, appeared on David Letterman, and wrote a book on soul and blues guitar: Rhythm and Blues Guitar ISBN 0-634-00149-3...
on guitar. Freddie King recorded an updated version for his 1969 album Freddie King Is A Blues Master (which was produced by King Curtis). A version of "Hide Away" performed by Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
is included on the 1999 remaster of his album Couldn't Stand the Weather
Couldn't Stand the Weather
Couldn't Stand the Weather is the second studio album by American blues rock band Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. It was released on May 15, 1984 by Epic Records as the follow-up to the band's critically and commercially successful 1983 album Texas Flood. Recording sessions took place in...
. During "Stevie Speaks" (an interview with Vaughan from the album), he uses the song to compare the blues styles he grew up with by playing King's and Clapton's versions of the song. "Hide Away" is included on the 1988 album See the Light by Jeff Healey
Jeff Healey
Norman Jeffrey "Jeff" Healey was a blind Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
.
The song is included in the Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter
John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
live album Live in NYC '97
Live In NYC '97
Live in NYC '97 is a live album by blues musician Johnny Winter, recorded at the Bottom Line in Manhattan. Additional recording took place at Studio 900, New York City.-Track listing:# "Hide Away" - 7:28# "Medley:"...
.
Accolades
In 1995, "Hide Away" was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of FameRock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". The song was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award
Grammy Hall of Fame Award
The Grammy Hall of Fame Award is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance"...
in 1999 and in 2007 was inducted into the Blues Foundation
Blues Foundation
The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 Blues organizations from various parts of the world....
Hall of Fame.