Sweet Home Chicago and Let The Good Times Roll – Freddie King Live at the Travis County Jail, 1976.
This is an excerpt from a 13.5 minute piece I produced, shot and edited in 1976, sadly, not too long before Freddie’s untimely demise. Here’s the story: Freddie was in Austin to play at the Armadillo World Headquarters. Richard Halpin (who, at the time, had an organization called the Jail Arts & Education Project) got Freddie and his half-brother Bennie to play for the inmates at the Travis Co. Jail. The prisoners loved it. So did the musicians. I shot it with help from William McLellan & Linda Evans. It was shot with a single tube camera and recorded on a 1/2″ reel-reel portapack. It is a funky old video but a record of terrific performance and selfless act by the late great artist, Freddie King.
— Ric Sternberg
Who says you can’t have fun in jail?
This clip is so touching. Everyone in the world should see this. This is joy in the face of life!
