Weller, Freddy (9 September 1947

Guitarist and singer-songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia, who found a banjo and mandolin in his father’s closet and began tinkering around on them at the age of eight.

He was still in high school when he started performing on a weekly radio show entitled The Georgia Jubilee. This put him in the company of other up-and-comers like Jerry Reed, Billy Joe Royal, Joe South, and Ray Stevens. He and South were in a band called The Believers and South was instrumental in getting him session work.

This led to a famous recording by Billy Joe Royal, “Down in the Boondocks”, on which Freddy played lead guitar. Paul Revere saw him playing a live concert with Royal and was so impressed he phoned him up and invited him to join The Raiders. He joined the band in the late ‘60s, at a time when they were really in peak form, playing on television programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show and Happening ’68. Eventually, they had their own show that ran for about three years.

Freddy honed his writing skills, as well, co-penning “Dizzy” and “Jam up and Jelly Tight” with Tommy Roe. Both records went multi-platinum. Paul was generous with his studio time and allowed Freddy to do a couple solo cuts, “Home” and “Games People Play”, which was written by Joe South. The latter was a huge hit and resulted in Freddy being named the Academy of Country Music’s Most Promising New Male Country Vocalist.

He followed up this impressive first act of his solo career with the #5 hit, “These Are Not My People”, also penned by South. In 1971, he repeated his success with three consecutive top-five smashes, “Indian Lake”, “Another Night of Love” and “The Promised Land”. He spent much of 1972 and 1973 in the top twenty, with songs such as “The Perfect Stranger”, “The Roadmaster” and “She Loves Me (Right out of My Mind)”. His last visit to the top ten was a 1973 remake of the Chuck Berry tune, “Too Much Monkey Business”. He would revisit the top twenty in 1974 with “You’re Not Getting Older (You’re Getting Better)” and “I’ve Just Got to Know (How Loving You Would Be)”.

Some of the albums he recorded include Back on the Street, Go for the Night, Love Got in the Way, and Ramblin’ Man. His last hit was 1980’s “Lost in Austin”. He has since moved to Brentwood, Tennessee, and planned for a comeback. All totalled, he released a dozen albums and hit the country charts thirty times. Some of his recordings have been captured on CDs such as Freddy Weller’s Greatest Hits and The Very Best of Freddy Weller.

Tommy Roe recordings
Dizzy (Tommy Roe/Freddy Weller)
ABC Records – 45-11164 (US)

Spurzz recordings
Cowboy Stomp! (Buzz Cason/Freddy Weller)

Sources:

Weller, Freddy (9 September 1947–Present)

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