Born in Viroqua, Wisconsin, he learned to play drums as a boy. Later he took up xylophone and at 13 changed to piano. He studied with a local teacher throughout high school. At 17 his parents moved to Chicago where he continued his musical training. He met Rosy McHargue, a well known clarinetist, who took him to hear many leading musicians including Bix Beiderbecke and Earl Hines. His first job was with Johnny Tobin at the Beach View Gardens. He later moved to Los Angeles where he worked with Henry Halstead, Earl Burtnett and Lennie Hayton, before joining Ben Pollack in 1934.
He played with the Jimmy Dorsey Band in the 1930s and was a charter member of the Will Bradley Orchestra when it formed in 1939. Known to bandmates as "Daddy Slack," he played the piano solo on Bradley's recording of "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", one of the early white boogie-woogie hits and a classic of the Big Band era.
After forming his own band in 1942 and signing with the newly-founded Capitol Records, he recorded three songs at the third Capitol recording session on May 21, 1942. His recording of "Cow Cow Boogie," sung by the 17-year-old Ella Mae Morse, was the second record Capitol issued on July 1, and by July 25 it had reached number 1 on the hit parade. It was Capitol's first gold single.
T-Bone Walker was a member of Slack's band from 1942 to 1944 and Slack later accompanied Walker on his first solo recording for Capitol, Mean Old World. This band also had a hit with "Strange Cargo."
Slack continued to record with Capitol until at least 1950, recording some 80 tracks for the label.
Slack also recorded as an accompanist for Big Joe Turner, Johnny Mercer, Margaret Whiting, and Lisa Morrow.
In the original version of the song "Down the Road a Piece", recorded in 1940 by the Will Bradley Orchestra, Slack is mentioned in the lyrics:
If you wanna' hear some boogie then I know the place
It's just an old piano and a knocked-out bass.
The drummer-man's a guy they call 8-beat Mack
You remember Doc and old "Beat Me Daddy" Slack.
Man it's better than chicken fried in bacon grease
Come along with me boys, it's just down the road a piece.
"Eight Beat Mack" refers to drummer Ray McKinley, and "Doc" refers to the band's bass player, Doc Goldberg.
His 1955 album Boogie Woogie on the 88 featured a horn section including jazz musicians Shorty Sherock and Herbie Harper among others, and with arrangements by Benny Carter.
He also co-wrote the 1945 classic "The House of Blue Lights" first recorded with singer Ella Mae Morse, and later by Chuck Miller, The Andrews Sisters, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis.
St. Louis Blues
Freddie Slack Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I hate to see that evening sun go down
Cause my baby, he's gone left this town
Feelin' tomorrow like I feel today
If I'm feelin' tomorrow like I feel today
I'll pack my truck and make my give-a-way
Pulls that man around by her, if it wasn't for her and her
That man I love would have gone nowhere, nowhere
I got the St. Louis blues, blues as I can be
That man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea
Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me
I love my baby like a school boy loves his pie
Like a Kentucky colonel loves his mint 'n rye
I love my man till the day I die
The lyrics to Freddie Slack's song "St. Louis Blues" convey a deep sense of heartbreak and longing. The opening line, "I hate to see that evening sun go down," sets the melancholic tone for the rest of the song. The singer laments the departure of their lover, with lines such as "Cause my baby, he's gone left this town" and "I got the St. Louis blues, blues as I can be." The repeated refrain of "feelin' tomorrow like I feel today" suggests that the singer is stuck in their grief and can't see a way out.
The song also contains references to a "St. Louis woman" who is able to control her man with her diamond ring. The singer seems jealous of her hold over their lover, singing "That man I love would have gone nowhere, nowhere." This jealousy adds another layer to the singer's heartbreak.
Overall, "St. Louis Blues" is a classic blues song that captures the pain of lost love and the feeling of being stuck in a cycle of sadness. The repetition of certain lines and phrases gives the song a hypnotic quality, heightening the sense of emotion conveyed in the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
I hate to see that evening sun go down
Feeling sorrowful as the sun sets over the horizon
Cause my baby, he's gone left this town
My lover has left and abandoned me here in this place
Feelin' tomorrow like I feel today
Expecting to still be unhappy and desolate tomorrow
If I'm feelin' tomorrow like I feel today
Preparing to leave and run away from this current circumstance
I'll pack my truck and make my give-a-way
Preparing to flee and start a new life somewhere else
St. Louis woman with her diamond ring
A wealthy and powerful woman from St. Louis with many jewels
Pulls that man around by her, if it wasn't for her and her
If she wasn't around, that man would not have any direction or purpose
That man I love would have gone nowhere, nowhere
My lover would have no future if it wasn't for that St. Louis woman
I got the St. Louis blues, blues as I can be
Feeling utterly dejected and depressed due to my current situation
That man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea
My lover has a hard and unfeeling heart, impossible to reach
Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me
If he truly loved me he would not have left and abandoned me
I love my baby like a school boy loves his pie
Loving my lover with a pure and innocent devotion
Like a Kentucky colonel loves his mint 'n rye
Loving my lover as deeply as a Kentucky Colonel loves their favorite drink
I love my man till the day I die
Loving my lover until the end of my days, with my whole heart
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: William Christopher Handy
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind