Music from Freek Creek - the long lost supersession album - recorded from pristine vinyl pressing
 
 

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1. No One Knows      listen to song
(words by Tom Cosgrove & Stu Woods, music by Moogy Klingman)
Lead Guitar - Eric Clapton
Lead Vocal - Eric Mercury
Organ - Dr. John
Piano - Moogy Klingman
Bass - Stu Woods
Drums - Richard Crooks
The Free Creek Horns* & the Free Creek singers*

2. Road Song (written by Moogy Klingman)
Lead Guitar - Eric Clapton
Piano - Dr. John
Lead Vocals - Tommy Cosgrove & Buzzy Linhart
Organ - Moogy Klingman
Rhythm Guitar - Delaney Bramlett
Bass - Stu Woods
Drums - Richard Crooks
3. Getting Back To Molly (written by Moogy Klingman) hear sample
Lead Guitars - Eric Clapton (1st solo), Dr. John (2nd solo)
Lead Vocal - Earl Dowd
Harmonica - Moogy Klingman
Free Creeks Singers*

The Jeff Beck Session

4. Cissy Strut     listen to song
(written by A. Neville, L. Nocenville, G. Porter & J. Modeliste)
Lead Guitars - Jeff Beck (1st solo), Todd Rundgren (2nd solo)
Organ - Moogy Klingman
Bass - Stu Woods
Drums - Roy Markowitz
The Free Creek Horns*

5. Big City Woman (written by Moogy Klingman) hear sample
Lead Guitar - Jeff Beck
Piano - Moogy Klingman
Bass - Stu Woods
Drums - Roy Markowitz
Lead Vocal - Tommy Cosgrove

6. Cherrypicker
(written by Jeff Beck, Moogy Klingman, Stu Woods & Roy Markowitz)
Lead Guitar - Jeff Beck
Organ - Moogy Klingman
Bass - Stu Woods
Drums - Roy Markowitz

7. Working In a Coalmine (Written by Allan Toussaint)
Lead Guitar - Jeff Beck
Organ - Moogy Klingman
Bass - Stu Woods
Drums - Roy Markowitz

The Keith Emerson Session

8. Freedom Jazz Dance (written by Eddie Harris) listen to song
Organ - Keith Emerson
Lead Guitar - Buzzy Feiton
Drums - Mitch Mitchell
Piano - Moogy Klingman
Bass - Chuck Rainy

9. On the Rebound (written by Floyd Kramer)
Piano - Keith Emerson
Lead Guitar - Buzzy Feiton
Bass - Chuck Rainy
Drums - Mitch Mitchell
Occasional Voice - Geri Miller

10. Mother Nature's Son (Written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney)
Piano - Keith Emerson
Acoustic Guitar - Carol Hunter
String Bass - Richard Davis

The Harvey Mandel Session

11. Sympathy Jam (written by Harvey Mandell & Moogy Klingman) listen to sample
Lead Guitar - Harvey Mandel
Rhythm Guitar - Jack Wilkens
Organ - Moogy Klingman
Piano - Jimmy Greenspoon
Bass - Larry Taylor
Violin - Larry Packer
Drums - Fito de la Parra
Congas - Billy Chesboro
Bongos - Didymus

12. Earl's Shuffle (written by Harvey Mandel & Earl Dowd)
Lead Guitar - Harvey Mandel
Pedal Steel Guitar - Red Rhodes
Organ - Jimmy Greenspoon
Bass - Larry Taylor
Drums Gito de la Parra

Odds & Sods
13. Hey Jude (written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney)
Lead Guitar - Buzzy Feiton
Organ - Moogy Klingman
Drums - Mitch Mitchell
Bass - Richard Davis
Rhythm Guitar - Elliot Randall
The Free Creek Horns*
14. Lay Lady Lay (written by Bob Dylan)
Flutes - Joe Farrell(solo), Chris Wood
Piano - Moogy Klingman
Lead Guitar - Doug Rodriquez
Bass - Stu Woods
Drums - Roy Markowitz
15. Kilpatrick's Defeat (written by Moogy Klingman & Mike Gayle) listen to sample
Lead Vocal - Timmy Harrison
Guitars - Carol Hunter & Buzzy Feiton
Bass - Stu Woods

The Linda Ronstadt Session
16. Living Like a Fool (written by Maxwell & Crutchfield)
Lead Vocal - Linda Ronstadt
Guitar - Bernie Leadon
Pedal Steel Guitar - Red Rhodes
Piano - Jimmy Greenspoon
Bass - John London
Drums - John Ware
17. He Darked the Sun (written by B. Leadon & Clarke) listen to sample
Lead Vocal - Linda Ronstadt
Guitar - Bernie Leadon
Pedal Steel Guitar - Red Rhodes
Piano - Jimmy Greenspoon
Bass - John London
Drums - John Ware
Violin - Chris Darrow

The Free Creek Horns are: Lou Delgatto, Bobby Keller, Meco Monardo, & Tom Malone - Trombones, Lou Soloff, Alan Rubin & Bill Chase - Trumpets
The Free Creek Singers are: Valerie Simpson, Maretha Stewart & Hida Harris

"Music From Free Creek" was recorded and mixed in New York City at the Record Plant, June, July &  August, 1969

Produced by Earle Downd & Tom Flye
Executive Producer & Musical Director: Moogy Klingman
Engineers: Tony Bongiovi & Jack Hunt -
Additional mixes - Keith Emerson & Neil Slaven
Cover painting by Ronchetti & Day
                       **************************************************

The following interview took place in the Fanzine "Heavy Metal Mayhem" in 2001 with I.C.Timerow interviewing Moogy Klingman

IC - How did you, a relative unknown at the time, get involved with all these superstars on the Free Creek album?

Moogy - Good question. Sometimes I think it never really happened. That it all was just a dream. But the record's reputation, it's legend, continues to grow. The album was never released in America and when it came here on import from England, it was on two different labels with different titles yet! - Clapton and Beck didn't use their real names. Eric was "King Cool" and Jeff was "A.N. Other". So the effect of the record initially was muted. But with time, it did develop a reputation as being the ultimate super-session album. It's been written about in many books. Books on Clapton and Jeff Beck talk about it, and there's even a small section in a book on Todd Rundgren about the record. Most of the info about it was either incorrect or incomplete, so I'm glad we have a chance to set the record straight here.
      There I was, around 19 years old at the time and I just kind of stumbled into working with all these superstars. And in many instances, I wasn't just working with them, I was running the show. Telling people like Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton what to do..... It was almost an "Emperor's New Clothes" situation. At any moment someone could yell out "who the fuck are you, sonny,  to tell us what to do?", but that never happened. Well, it almost happened a few times, but I knew when to back off.

I C - And just what had you done in the music business back in '69 to merit your inclusion?

Moogy - A lot of it was being in the right place at the right time. I had left high school and moved to Greenwich Village from Great Neck, Long Island, several years earlier. I
was really an early starter in the music biz. I was jamming in the village with everyone there for several years already. I had even played in Jimi Hendrix's group "Jimi James and the Blue Flames" when I was 16!
     My group, the Glitterhouse, had just broken up. We had done two albums for Bob Crewe's label Dynovoice, including the soundtrack to the movie, "Barbarella". I was playing with a big Long Island band at the time called the Vagrants featuring Leslie West. And I was always jamming the blues at the clubs and lofts around town til the wee hours, so I was pretty precocious. I tried to meet and hang and jam with many of best rock and blues musicians around then. I guess I was too young to know any better.

I C - So how did you get involved with the production end of Free Creek?

Moogy - I was hanging out with Todd Rundgren at the time, the spring and summer of 69. He had just quit his group, the Nazz, and was working as a freelance producer and engineer while being managed by Albert Grossman. Todd was using me on his first sessions as a producer. I played keyboards on singles for Ian and Sylvia, James Cotten, Libby Titus and even some early Todd solo stuff. Todd told me he was going to use me on this upcoming supersession album with Earl Dowd. Todd was going to be what I became, executive producer and musical director. Todd, Earl and I all met and we got along well.

I C - So why did Todd not stay on?

Moogy - It was about the money. Grossman wanted big money upfront for anything that Todd did and Earl did not have any money. So Todd had to bow out and recommended me to Earl and I was given the spot. I figured that Earl would pay up eventually and what an opportunity! Earl Dowd was the producer of the First Family Albums with Vaughn Meader. Comedy albums that were big hits parodying President Kennedy and his family. Hugh sellers till the assasination. When JFK was killed, those parody records never sold another copy.
     Earl knew nothing about music or recording music. He just had this idea which he brought to the Record Plant in New York. He wanted to produce a supersession album with the biggest amount of the biggest stars. Record Plant had just opened it's doors and needed people like Earl to bring stars to it's facilities, with hopes they might record their albums there. So they gave Earl as much studio time as he wanted, free! The Record Plant was a big, beautiful modern group of studios and Earl had Carte Blanche as they say. He just never had any money. No one got paid. They didn't know it til many months or years after the session, as people usually got paid weeks later for any recording work they did. So Earl was always telling everyone that the check was in the mail. But that mail never arrived.
      Anyhow, Earl and I were friendly and he really needed me or someone like me cause he didn't know anything about music.

I C - What was the first session like?

Moogy - I can still remember walking into the studio for the first session with Earl and seeing an array of great musicians. Mitch Mitchell from the "Jimi Hendrix Experience" was banging away at the drums. Keith Emerson of "Emerson, Lake and Palmer", was playing Hammond Organ, Chris Wood, the flutist from "Traffic", was blowing riffs in the corner and Buzzy Feiton, the new lead guitarist from the "Paul Butterfield Band" was burning some stinging solos as I sat down at the piano and kind of shrunk a little after hearing Keith and Buzzy and Mitch just really play some wild riffs.
    But things were disorganized as no one was really in charge. I went into the control room and Earl said "Moogy, get things going out there. I'm depending on you." So, I went out and let them know that I was kind of running things for Earl. "Now, who has any ideas for recording?" I said. The first thing we recorded was "Freedom Jazz Dance", which was an amazing jazzy jam from these rockers. Mitch Mitchell reminded me of Elvin Jones on the drums. Keith Emerson sounded like Jimmy Smith to me, really soulfull. I was surprised. It was Buzzy Feiton's idea to do the song. I mostly comped at the piano. Chris Wood couldn't really find the groove, so we left him off of it.
     Next was my song, "Kilpatrick's Defeat" which was a two piano country jam with me and Keith at the keys. But before the record came out, Emerson and I were both taken off the song and replaced with acoustic guitars and a singer brought in by Earl after I was no longer on the project. The song still sounds nice though, I wish I had a copy of the original version.
     Keith Emerson did "On The Rebound" a Floyd Kramer song with Buzzy Feiton and Mitch Mitchell. He did it kind of as a response to "Kilpatrick's Defeat", my country piano song. All through this album I pushed some of the British rock stars to places they didn't normally go. Keith Emerson doing jazz and country was something you didn't hear him often do with his own records or group. Keith also had a great arrangement of "Mother Nature's Son" which I insisted he record. He was a sweet guy. Humble and self-effacing. Mitch Mitchell was great and a little angry. He had just been put on suspension by Jimi Hendrix while Jimi was working with other musicians, putting the Experience on ice for a while. Only a year later Jimi was to leave us all for good.
       Buzzy Feiton was an amazing guitarist and a real tough kid.  He reminded me of "Peck's Bad Boy" from the movie "Yankee Doodle Dandy". He was young, but played beyond his years.He had inherited the spot in the Paul Butterfield Band from MIke Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop. It was a really big deal at the time.
     The last song we recorded was "Hey Jude" which was Buzzy's arrangement. Keith Emerson had left by that time, there so I took over the organ duties and Mitch Mitchell kicked it on the drums.
       Earl was happy. We had recorded five songs over two days and they all sounded good. So Earl was going to give me more responsibility in upcoming sessions.

I C - What session came next? Wasn't it Jeff Beck? Details please!

Moogy - Yeah, it was the Jeff Beck session. Earl called me and told me to get a bass player and a drummer and meet him at the Record Plant, as Jeff Beck was coming in. Wow! I was a big Beck fan. I called Stu Woods, who was playing with me in the Vagrants at the time, and Roy Markowitz on the drums. Roy had just left the Janis Joplin Band and was doing a lot of club dates in the Catskills at the time. Roy had that Catskills comedy thing down. When he wasn't playing, he was making you laff.
      Any way we were doing our thing, jamming away in our own tribute to the meters and Allan Tousaint. We loved those grooves when Jeff Beck walked in on us. He was definately surprised by what we were playing and decided he wanted to record some of those songs with us. So, we recorded "Cissy Strut" and "Working in a Coalmine", two classic New Orleans grooves, with Jeff Beck on guitar. It was a whole new bag for Jeff and he did great. We did a classic blues, and an uptempo funk jam as well. Four songs in one afternoon. It was a very fruitful session. Beck seemed very impressed with Roy, Stu and I. He told us that he wanted us for his new band. We were very happy to accept his offer. Jeff said he'd be back the next day to continue recording.
    The next day the three of us were back at the studio waiting for Jeff Beck. I had invited another guitarist down in case Beck didn't show. And he didn't. We never did hear from Jeff again, So Doug Rodriguez, a guitarist from my home town, Great Neck, recorded with us instead. Doug was playing with Mitch Ryder at the time and he sounded great. We recorded "Lay Lady Lay" with Doug and Chris Wood on flute. Later Joe Farrell was brought in to embellish the flute part and play a solo. It was a thrill for me to work with Joe Farrell, who was one of my jazz idols, as I had seen him play with Chick Corea many times.

I C - How about the Clapton session? Are we getting there yet?

Moogy - Yeah. That was the biggie. My absolute guitar idol, along with Jimi Hendrix. Eric Clapton. I had seen him play many times with Cream at the Cafe A Go Go. I had seen him jam late nite in the villlage and had even jammed with him once myself. Though I'm sure he wouldn't have remembered it. I was also still in good steed with Earl Dowd at the time. So the call came that one nite in August I think it was, Eric Clapton would be coming over to Record Plant at midnite to jam. He was playing with Blind Faith at Madison Square Garden and would be coming over after the show. Wow!
     I called Stu Woods to play some bass, and we waited. Would Eric Clapton really show? Could Earl Dowd talk Eric into it?
     At around 1 am, in walked Eric Clapton with an entourage. Delany Bramlett, who was opening for Blind Faith on their tour with his Delaney and Bonnie Band. Dr. John, the night Tripper, who was also opening for Blind Faith at Madison square Garden. And Richie Crooks, Dr. John's drummer, came along to play. So we all went to the big room at Record Plant and everyone turned to me. I was in charge and I just made up songs on the spot. The first one we recorded was "Road Song", a minor key blues who's lyrics I'd write the next day.
      I was on organ and Dr. John was at the piano. He blew everyone's mind with his playing. The greatest blues-funk organist/pianist I'd ever heard. I think Eric was pretty surprised and impressed with him too. Most of us didn't know that Dr. John's real name was Mac Rebbenek and he was New Orleans' top session man. Stu Woods locked in with Richard Crooks and everyone just turned each other on in a big way. Delaney Bramlett played rhythm guitar on this song and Clapton played thru a leslie speaker for most of the songs that nite and got a real down home sound.
      The next song I made up on the spot. I was at the piano and said to everyone "Here's the next tune." And I just made up a bunch of chords that sounded good. I was making up the song as I was teaching Eric Clapton and Dr. John the song. It was a risky approach but I took it. The song became "No One Knows", a gospel jam that had great solos by Eric and Dr. John on the organ. Stu Woods and Tommy Cosgrove, both from my group at the time, the Vagrants, wrote the words with me the next day.
      Eric spoke very little but just got into playing his guitar and smiling a lot. It was late but I told everyone I had one more song. I pulled out my harmonica and playing a one chord blues riff I had been working on with some words I had that went, "Getting Back to Molly". Dr. John picked up a guitar and we had our third song. Two guitars battling with my wailing blues harp. Everyone had a great time. By the time we left the studio, it was light outside and we all had smiles on all our faces.
      I've always thought that this was a pivital session for Eric Clapton. After years of playing loud and long heavy metal guitars solos in ego driven supergroups, Cream and Blind Faith, Eric was back to doing some roots music with some absolutely great players. He quit Blind Faith right after the Madison Sq. Garden gig and joined his opening act, Delaney and Bonnie, while working on a solo album with Delaney Bramlett producing.I have a feeling, that the Free Creek session had an influence on Eric's sudden change of musical direction at that time.

I C - what came next?

Moogy - The next session was with Harvey Mandell and the rhythm section from Canned Heat. Harvey, a celebrated Chicago blues guitarist, had joined Canned Heat right before their tour, so he brought the bass play, drummer, percussonist and organist from the band with him to the session. I had always been a big Canned Heat fan and playing with their bassist Larry Taylor was a big thrill for me. We did record the "Sympathy Jam" together and that track had a lot of spirit and excitement to it. Harvey and his band also did a great job with "Earl's Shuffle" which was a burning blues track. Harvey Mandell liked to run the show and recorded a bossa nova version of "the Girl from Ipanema" which featured pedal steel guitar and kind of sounded like elevator music.

I C- Where did Linda Ronstadt fit into all this?

Moogy - Linda Ronstadt was playing for a few days with her band at the Bitter End in the village (downtown NYC), and she had her first hit at the time, "Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum", a Mike Neesmith song. She was being pushed as country rock at the time. Earl invited her whole band to the studio. We sat and talked with her
and played her the Eric Clapton track, "No One Knows" I had written, and she liked it and sang the lead vocal. She did a great job, but ultimately Earl decided to take her voice off and use Eric Mercury instead.
       Linda also decided that the jam thing wasn't her bag. So Earl let her record two songs from her set with her band. And that's what on the record. Linda and her band doing two straight ahead country songs from her live set. I didn't think it really fit into the concept of "supersession", but the concept was getting stretched a lot anyway. The fact that LInda Ronstadt become one of the top singers of the rock era has enhanced her presence on this album. So the Free Creek sessions ended with the Rondstadt recordings.

I C - Anything after that? What finally became of the project?

Moogy - Well, I hung in there for overdub sessions and editing sessions. Choosing takes and even editing songs down to a playable form. I arranged the background vocals on "No One Knows" and "Getting Back to Molly". And I helped find people to sing some songs. LIke "Big City Woman", I got Tommy Cosgrove to sing that and "Road Song". He was the lead singer in the band I was playing with at that time, the Vagrants. Then Earl brought in my good friend Buzzy Linhart to sing "Road Song" and ultimately Earl used both vocals alternating. It sounded interesting hearing Tom and Buzzy switch off with each other.
     Earl Dowd took Cosgrove's voice off "Getting Back to Molly" and sang it himself, as almost a Dr. John Tribute. And I was surprised by how good it sounded. But I was having problems with Earl during post production. Mainly, I was trying to get paid. Anything. Something. But Earl never came up with dollar one and ultimately finished up the album without me. A lot of people were pretty angry at Earl by that point. Earl took the record to England where he had it released on two different labels with two different titles and one came out as a single album called "Summit Meeting" and the other label put out a double album called "Music from Free Creek". So, I believe somewhere down the line someone got paid, just not me. And probably not most of the other people who worked so hard on that record.
       Still, I'm just glad that Earl gave me the opportunity. Even Todd Rundgren, who walked out at the beginning cause there was no funding, came back to play a solo on
a cut with Jeff Beck, "Cissy Strut". He just couldn't resist being in the company of some of his guitar gods.