WANDA KING, TEXAS SLIM
FOR BOOKING EMAIL WKBLUES@AOL.COM OR CALL 972-285-7222 and 972-822-0026
Influences
FREDDIE KING, BB KING, ALBERT KING, BOBBY BLUE BLAND, JOHNNY TAYLOR, BOBBY WOMACK, JOHNNY WATSON, MEMPHIS MINNIE, BILLIE HOLIDAY ELLA FITZGERALD, SARAH VAUGHAN, NINA SIMONE, ETTA JAMES, KOKO TAYLOR, BESSIE SMITH GLADY KNIGHT, ARETHA FRANKLIN BARBARA LYNN, JULIE LONDON AND MANY MANY MORE....
Sounds Like
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RECORDING ARTIST WANDA KING
FOR BOOKING EMAIL WKBLUES@AOL.COM OR CALL 972-285-7222
It Was Love From The First Time I Heard The Blues
Wanda King the daughter of the late blues master Freddie King began singing at an early age. She learned from the best. The King's home was always filled with music and musicians of the era Howlin Wolf, Albert King ,B.B. King, Magic Sam, Tyrone Davis, Johnnie Taylor, just to name a few.
Her brother Fred Jr. formed a band in grade school. Wanda was the vocalist and keyboardist, Fred Jr. was the bassman, Carmen "Cookie" Mcgee
(recording artist for JSP Records) was the guitarist. The band won so many talent shows that competing in these talent shows was no longer a challenge so they went professional. the oldest member of the band was 11 years old.
Their band played private parties and made more money on Friday and Saturday than some folks could earn in a week.
" I was 8 years old when I attended my first R&B show at the Regal Theater in Chicago IL. It was a Matinee all star revue show featuring Freddie King ,Jackie Wilson, Chuck Jackson, The Shirelles, Maxine Brown, Gene Chandler, and Redd Foxx was the MC".
She became serious about blues music as a teenager At age fifteen she attended her first blues club show her father's gig.""I saw and experienced first hand the power of the blues groove, the feeling was hypnotic, it was intoxicating and it was a rush and I knew by the end of that night I was hooked".
She tried to convert her brother to R&B and blues but he was into funk, rock, loud music and she didn't like screaming her vocals over the band amped up volume, so she quit.
Her father began calling her up to the do background vocals or lead a song when he performed locally. He realized that she was serious about the business, so he began educating her on the do's and the don't and the who and the what in the music business.
All those early dreams of a music career ended when Freddie King passed on Dec 28 1976. She was so grief striven she stop performing professionally. Her attention turn to helping her mother (who was devastated by her husband untimely death) raise the other siblings. She went to college got a job continued to write poetry and lyrics and was content for a while but gradually as time began to slip into the future her need to perform professionally was to strong to resist.
The opportunity presented it self when she was laid off from her day job. One door closes and another door opens. She contacted some talented musicans She had seen perform locally Sonny Collie and Robin "Texas Slim" Sullivan (who worked with Fred Jr.) told them that she wanted to hire them to assist on her CD project they agreed. Her first CD FROM A BLUES POINT OF VIEW recorded in the Fall of 2002.
"I hired the best side available in the Dallas blues community. I worked hard to re-establish myself as a serious blues vocalist.. I did a quick step when I found that promoters would not invest in blues I started promoting blues shows. My first shows included many of the local blues bands. When I became President of the Freddie King Blues foundation Inc. the foundation began bringing headliners Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Smokin Joe Kubek and Bnois King, Little Charlie and the Nightcats and others to Dallas. I now host a annual Bluesfest " Freddie King Bluesfest"."
This Is My Latest CD Release SONGS IN THE KEY OF BLUES available on CDBaby.com
Thank you for the add. Up here in NJ, I'm doing what I can to keep your father's memory and music alive. I wish that I could attend your father's memorial concert. It looks like a great line up. Keep singing the blues. Sincerely Jersey Bill
Hey Wanda!!!! WOW!!!!!...sounds GREAT!!!!! Thank you for including me!!!I'm Lookin' forward to hearing more from ya(the preassure is on lol)! See ya on the road!!! Sending Peace and Love to You, Sweet Papa Dave
Hallo Wanda King,thanx for friend request,im realy enjoyed your song "Fool Gold " thats a great song,great working keep blues,im waiting your comment,peace from Malaysia.
HELLO WANDA. I have a photo of us at the Granada from the Freddie King concert and it is in my pics on my Myspace site. Check it out. I also got to see you again at Poor Davids Pub in January where I also got your new CD and I absoutly love it. I also took some photos there as well but they are in my phone and I will figure out how to get them out and get you a copy if you would like. David Simmons Fan in Dallas Keep up the good work.
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