History with Baltimore, TSU, and Freddie King ~ Freddie was one of my main memories of college life, many years ago. He was going back to school to get, I believe, his Masters of Arts or doctorate in conducting? I don’t remember which. I dO remember, however, those teeth of his. He was always popping them at us during performances. Drove us crazy trying not to laugh on stage, but oh the sound he got from us. – Malkah

Fred got most of his teeth knocked out playing football in high school. Rather than replacing those that had gone missing, he dentists said it would be simpler to just pull the ones that were left and go with a complete set of dentures. He happily concurred, and immediately incorporated his fake teeth into his over-sized personality.

I asked him once, (when I was in high school,) why he never bothered to use some kind of fastener to keep them in place. (I couldn’t imagine how humiliating it would be to be 18 years old and have your teeth fall out on a dinner date.) He just laughed. Fred had no personal relationship with concepts like humiliation. In fact, he reveled in experiences that most people would find embarrassing. He sought those moments out, and if he couldn’t find one organically, he would manufacture them. It was one of his great strengths – taking a liability and turning into an asset. I saw Fred’s teeth fall out of his mouth hundreds of times. But never by accident. And always to the horror of some innocent bystander. Walking down the street with him, or through an airport, was like watching an episode of Candid Camera without commercials.

Mike

Listen to Bonus Episode 64: It’s Good To Be The King – HERE