Freddie Green

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Freddie Green, in full Frederick William Green, was an American swing guitarist who played rhythm guitar for almost fifty years in Count Basie's orchestra. He was born on 31 March 1911 in Charleston, South Carolina, and died on 1 March 1987. He first learned banjo and took up the guitar as a young teenager. A friend of his father's, Sam Walker, taught him to read music and arranged his first performance in a local group, in which the later trumpeter Cat Anderson also played. After the death of his parents he went to New York, where he played in clubs as a teenager.

Music and breakthrough

The talent scout John Hammond heard him there and introduced him to Basie. In 1937 Basie visited a performance by Green with his orchestra and offered him work on the spot. Apart from a brief interruption, Green remained a fixture in the band for the next fifty years. He himself made only a few records under his own name, such as Mr. Rhythm from 1956 and Swing Reunion from 1985.

Influence

Green's role was to accompany, and he rarely played solo. He changed chords often, sometimes on every beat, and used his left hand to mute the strings that were not meant to sound. He said that you should never hear the guitar separately, but as part of the drums, as if the drummer were playing chords. In this way he helped to establish rhythm guitar as a regular part of the rhythm section of a big band. His even, beat-counting playing is an important part of the sound associated with Basie.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1956Mr. Rhythm
• 1985Swing Reunion

In School of Rock

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