World renowned Pickens County blues musician
Willie King died of a heart attack Sunday near his home in Old Memphis. He was 65. King, whose Freedom Creek Festival has attracted top blues musicians and bands since 1997 when he started the two day festival on his farm near the Mississippi state line, first came to prominence outside West Alabama with his critically-acclaimed 2000 CD 'Freedom Creek' on the Rooster Blues Record. With a voice reminiscent at times of Howlin' Wolf and a style similar to John Lee Hooker's, King also brought an understanding of history and contemporary subject matter to the forefront with songs like 'Second Coming,' which invoked both abolitionist John Brown and Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King.
