When it came to combining funk, rock, and howling blues guitar, no one could top Freddie King, the Texas Cannonball. More than any bluesman before or since, the late King harnessed the groove of the ’70s with the musical cry of his forebears, and this comes across loud and clear in Live in Europe, a thrilling DVD that documents the mighty King at the peak of his powers. The set contains ten songs culled from three concerts recorded in 1973 and 1974. 
The DVD opens with four songs from King’s performance at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival. The band is decked out in period hippie-disco finery, and King’s tone is sweet and singing as he alternately pounds and caresses his ES-355, playing “Have You Ever Loved a Woman,” a boogaloo version of “Look Over Yonders Wall,” and a jazzy take of “Ain’t No Sunshine.” The young crowd has no problem catching the spirit, and by the second song, they’re up on their feet, dancing in the aisles.
The funk is even deeper in King’s 1974 show at the Fun House in Stockholm Sweden. “Woman Across the River” melds gospel-inflected piano, a steamy backbeat, and King’s toothy licks into a percolating blues stew. In “Ghetto Woman” Freddie pays tribute to the song’s author, B.B. King, before launching an extended double-time boogie, and then closing with a soulful “Sweet Home Chicago.”
King’s tone is fat and raunchy in the final, three-song segment shot in 1973 at Oppopoppa, also in Stockholm. It’s an outdoor show, and King and his tight band are cranked up and on fire. In fact, King’s 100-watt Quad Reverb is so loud on “Have You Ever Loved a Woman,” you can feel his metal fingerpick—which he always wore on his index finger—rubbing the strings as he digs into his trademark bends. The band’s signature boogie, “Blues Band Shuffle,” is mean and throbbing, and King stretches notes like a man possessed.
In the early ’70s, funk dominated popular music. Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis were playing funkified jazz, while Tower of Power, Stevie Wonder, Little Feat, Sly Stone—and a host of imitators—ruled the pop roost. Listening to Live in Europe, it’s obvious that Freddie King wasn’t about to miss out on the party and good-time vibes, and this set represent funk blues at its best. King’s sharp-dressed bands play with relentless precision and power, and his fleet fingers and raspy voice keep the festival crowds on their feet, grooving to the blues.