Going Down – Bonamassa, Trucks and Gibbons Do Freddie King Classic
Man if you are going to tackle one of the King’s (in this case Freddie King) classics you better be up for it, and in this case Derek Trucks, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill of ZZTop led by Joe Bonamassa brought their A game.
Going Down is a classic Freddie King number that demands tons of energy, power and prowess – these 4 treat his legacy right on the night he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame…and you get to enjoy the outcome.
Just for kicks I thought I would throw the original down below so you can see how it was really done decades ago by the blues guitar master Freddie King. I don’t know about you, but when I see Freddie I can’t help but get “the bug” again and ramp up the energy no matter what I’m playing.
And now for the original by the late, great Mr King (take special note of the energy, power and sheer embodiment of the blues)
Draw the same conclusion I did?
Even though Bonamassa, Gibbons and Trucks brought their top playing, they can’t come close to the great Freddie King – do you agree? Leave us a comment and vote?
Filed under freddie king by on Oct 15th, 2012. Comment. 
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Comments on Going Down – Bonamassa, Trucks and Gibbons Do Freddie King Classic
My vote is for Freddie King. He’s playing with all his heart and soul. Bonamassa, Gibbons and Trucks playing was lame. I couldn’t wait for that video to end. In my opinion, if you’re going to play something like Freddie’s Going Down, you have to be willing to dig as deep inside yourself as you can. My definition of “lame” is playing the same old licks as fast and as loud as you can. That doesn’t cut it when playing the blues in my book, no matter how great of “guitar player” you are.
If you can’t dig deep enough to play it like Freddie, which few can, then make it your own when you play it. My favorite cover of Going Down I’ve ever seen is from the first G3 tour in the mid-nineties. It’s on youTube with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Eric Johnson. Satriani’s playing, specially, on this is over the top. He turns this old blues song into an amazing rock arrangement and truly makes it into his own style of rock tune. I was there in person that night of the taping and was blown away by it.
SRV was the master of remaking songs in his own style and voice AND playing them with feeling. After Stevie, it’s hard to watch someone like Bonamassa who is all flash and volume and little soul. Or if there is soul it comes from somewhere different than where Freddie got it.
Agree that Freddie blows them away in the passion and uniqueness department. Also agree with Bonamassa, he has such talent, just can’t seem to dig deep enough and connect with people, too much flash with not enough feeling. Of the 3 I thought Billy did the best at sounding real and adding feeling even though his skills are somewhat limited. I’ve always found it tough to move from SRV, Freddie, BB, Albert, et al…to Satriana, Beck, Eric Johnson, etc… I like these guys, respect the hell out of their talent and creative side, but it doesn’t hit me in the same place as SRV and the blues guys.