The Freeloader Unreleased Sessions (1): Snake In The Grass
The New Orleans DJ and producer Snowblood first stumbled across Freeloader when he found a reel-to reel recording at a Louisiana boot sale several years ago. He was amazed to discover a potent brew of tough funk breaks, gritty soul and filthy rock n roll. “I was totally blown away,” he told Spin magazine. “It sounded like a long lost Norman Whitfield production of Sly Stone’s band with Keith Richards on guitar.”
After much digging around, he could only find snippets of information about the band and most of that was shrouded in hearsay and urban myth. “By all accounts, their career was intense, messy and short-lived,” he says. “A huge appetite for drugs meant the five-piece imploded after a cruelly short time. And an acrimonious falling out with the record company meant their recordings were never released.”
The producer recalls one story that involved the drummer receiving death threats after appropriating ‘sacred’ Voodoo syncopations - which he’d learnt while traveling in West Africa - on a number of Freeloader tracks.
Snowblood has since spent time in the studio, re-editing the original tracks to give them a contemporary feel. “The recordings were very rough,” he says. “They were crying out for some love and attention. I’m sure if any of the band were around today, this is how they would’ve wanted them to sound.” This track is taken from ‘#1 Sessions' E.P which will be released on Snowblood's Southern Edits label in January. Two other Freeloader tracks - "Higher Ground" and "Succumb" - will be previewed on AOR Disco in November.
Freeloader - Snake In The Grass �by� trouble in mind
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