Slated for release by Elemental Music as an exclusive Record Store Day title on April 18, 2026, Feeling Alright: The Complete 1975 Nancy Jazz Pulsation Concerts unveils a monumental live document from blues guitar giant Freddie King. Captured before more than 50,000 fans at France’s Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival in October 1975, the limited-edition three-LP set preserves a towering artist in the final full year of his life, delivering the blues with unrelenting power and authority on an international stage.
Previously unreleased and sourced from original ORTF (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française) recordings, the newly restored 180-gram vinyl collection shines a long-overdue spotlight on a musician whose ferocious tone, commanding vocals, and genre-bridging vision helped reshape both modern blues and rock. Issued in cooperation with the Freddie King Estate, the release is produced by award-winning archivist Zev Feldman—widely known as the “Jazz Detective”—with mixing and sound restoration by Marc Doutrepont at EQuuS and mastering by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab. CD and digital editions will follow on April 24.
Known as the Texas Cannonball, Freddie King carved out a singular place in music history by fusing raw blues tradition with explosive modern energy. His stinging thumb-and-fingerpick attack produced instrumentals like “Hide Away” and “Sen-Sa-Shun” that became foundational texts for generations of guitarists. At the same time, his impassioned singing—heard here in a searing performance of “Have You Ever Loved a Woman”—matched the intensity of his guitar work. Onstage, King’s commanding presence and sheer force of delivery infused the blues with rock ’n’ roll urgency, directly influencing players from Eric Clapton to Stevie Ray Vaughan.
The expansive Feeling Alright set moves effortlessly through the breadth of King’s repertoire. Classic instrumentals such as “Sen-Sa-Shun,” paired in a medley with Magic Sam’s “Lookin’ Good,” sit alongside signature vocal performances including “Have You Ever Loved a Woman,” which segues into B.B. King’s “Whole Lot of Lovin’.” King also delivers authoritative readings of blues standards like “Sweet Little Angel,” “Got My Mojo Working,” “The Things I Used to Do,” “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Messin’ with the Kid,” “Danger Zone,” and “Stormy Monday,” reaffirming his command of the tradition he helped modernize.
Reflecting the rock musicians he inspired—and the audiences he increasingly reached—King includes two rock staples that had become fixtures in his live shows: Dave Mason’s “Feelin’ Alright,” popularized by Traffic and Joe Cocker, and Don Nix’s “Goin’ Down.” Across sixteen performances spanning six sides of vinyl, the collection captures a setlist as expansive as King’s influence.
The Nancy Jazz Pulsations performance represents a convergence of every phase of Freddie King’s career: the Texas swing roots, the Chicago blues sharpened in clubs, and the later rock-inflected sound shaped in collaboration with figures like Leon Russell and Don Nix. Delivered before a massive European festival crowd, the music reflects an artist fully in command of his powers, transcending genre and geography alike.
The album features King on guitar and vocals, backed by a formidable band including Alvin Hemphill on organ, Ed Lively on guitar, Lewis Stephens on piano, Benny Turner on bass, and Calep Emphrey on drums. Stephens, who played keyboards with King during those European dates, recalls the Nancy appearance as part of a “blistering” five- to six-week run through France, noting that King had truly hit his stride as a blues-rock star on both sides of the Atlantic.
Complementing the music, the set includes liner notes by music journalist and historian Cary Baker, author of Down on the Corner: Adventures in Busking and Street Music, along with reflections from producer Zev Feldman and appreciations from Freddie King’s daughter and estate administrator Wanda King, as well as ZZ Top guitarist Billy F. Gibbons. Gibbons captures the spirit of the performance succinctly, writing that at the Nancy show—just a year before his untimely passing—the Texas Cannonball “poured it on in a big way.”
For Feldman, the project is both a celebration and a restoration. He emphasizes Freddie King’s enduring status as a defining figure in blues and rock guitar, noting that these recordings capture a moment when King was transcending audiences and influencing players around the world. Working closely with Wanda King, Feldman describes the release as an opportunity not only to share extraordinary music, but to honor a legacy that continues to resonate. Feeling Alright presents Freddie King at his very best—fearless, commanding, and thrilling to hear.
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