Guitarist Charlie Freeman is a revered figure in his hometown of Memphis, yet few people outside of that city know of his legend or his work. In a town that spawned such great talents as Steve Cropper, Jim Dickinson, and Tommy McClure, it was Freeman whose musical ability was looked upon with envy. Yet, it was also Freeman whose untimely death at the age of 31 after a lifetime of life of drug and alcohol abuse, sent a warning signal about the rock & roll lifestyle to those who knew him.

Attending Messick High School, along with fellow Memphis icons Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, and Don Nix, Charlie Freeman formed the Royal Spades in the late '50s, an R&B band designed to play the roadhouses and bars around Memphis. Already able to read music far beyond the ability level needed to play roadhouses, Freeman graduated from Messick leaving the Royal Spades (now going by the name the Mar-Keys) to tour with the Joe Lee Orchestra. During a gig in Chicago with the orchestra, Freeman heard a radio announcer introduce the hit single Last Night by his old band the Mar-Keys. Racing back to Memphis, he rejoined the group and toured with them for the next two years, playing one-nighters across the country.

After the Mar-Keys' success fizzled, Freeman returned to the road with Jerry Lee Lewis, touring with the Killer through the mid-South and Texas, where they were both arrested for drug possession, making Walter Cronkite's CBS news report in the process. In the mid-'60s, Freeman again returned to Memphis, this time securing a more stable job as a session guitarist. For the next two years, he added his tasteful, sophisticated guitar playing to records by Chuck Berry, Slim Harpo, and Bobby Bland, while gigging at local blues and country festivals with Memphis musicians like Jim Dickinson.

Eventually, Freeman fell into a steady gig as a session man at Stan Kessler's Sounds of Memphis studio. Playing alongside bassist Tommy McClure, pianist Jim Dickinson, and drummer Sammy Creason, the group had provided backup on Albert Collins' Grammy-nominated Trash Talkin' album, catching the attention of Atlantic head Jerry Wexler. Wexler, who had recently relocated to Miami, was looking for a house band along the lines of those he had seen at Stax, FAME, and American. Calling themselves the Dixie Flyers, Freeman and company signed a one-year deal with Atlantic and moved to Miami.

Their first big session was Aretha Franklin's Spirit in the Dark album, a record that was to make or break her career. Playing flawless guitar, Freeman's solos prompted Wexler to exclaim in praise, "Charlie Freeman is the only one who can take a real solo." The record was a hit, and Freeman and company went on to play on 14 albums in a six-month period for such diverse artists as Sam Dave, Lulu, Sam the Sham, Ronnie Hawkins, and Jerry Jeff Walker. Yet the work was sporadic, and eventually, after recording an unreleased instrumental album, the group accepted a job as a touring band backing Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson.

Out of work and returning once again to Memphis in 1972, Freeman had plenty of time to continue the drug-and-alcohol spiral he had started years earlier. Near the end of his life, he seldom played guitar, and when he finally accepted an offer from Tommy McClure to play with Texas guitarist Marc Benno, the move resulted in his death. On only his fourth night in Texas, after an evening of heavy drug consumption, Freeman passed out and died the undignified death of many of music's finest -- choking on his own vomit. ~ Steve Kurutz, Rovi