"The Stumble" is a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

guitar instrumental composed and recorded by American blues artist Freddie King, for his 1961 album ''

Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King ''Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King'' is a 1961 instrumental album by blues guitarist and singer Freddie King (at the time spelled "Freddy"). Released on King Records, the album contained a number of influential songs and two hit s ...

''. It is considered a blues classic and follows in a string of popular instrumentals recorded by King in the early 1960s, including " Hide Away", "San-Ho-Zay", and "Sen-Sa-Shun". King uses a melodic guitar line and a chord progression that differs somewhat from that of the typical I–IV–V 12-bar format, such as starting on the IV (or

subdominant In music, the subdominant is the fourth tonal degree () of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance ''below'' the tonic as the dominant is ''above'' the tonicin other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdomina ...

) chord and a vi–ii–V–I turnaround. In comparison to the more widely-known "Hide Away", music writer Dave Ruben describes it as "a virtuosic recording, with only ing's'Remington Ride' hot on its tail in the chops-required department". "The Stumble", along with several other of King's most well-known instrumentals, is included on Rhino Entertainment's ''Hide Away: The Best of Freddy King'' (1993). As perhaps King's second most popular instrumental, "The Stumble" has been recorded by many artists. Rubin notes recordings by: *

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...

with the Yardbirds (1965, ''

Glimpses 1963–1968 ''Glimpses 1963–1968'' is a 5-CD compilation boxed set by English rock group the Yardbirds. It contains various live and demo recordings interspersed with interviews with group members. Released on 5 December 2011 by Easy Action Recordings, the ...

'') * Peter Green with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers (1967, '' A Hard Road'') *

Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with pub rock and new wave, having many hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has alwa ...

with Love Sculpture (1968, ''Blues Helping'') *

Bugs Henderson Buddy Henderson ''(né'' Harry Fisher Henderson; October 20, 1943 – March 9, 2012), better known as "Bugs" Henderson, was an American blues guitarist. He was popular in Europe and from the 1970s, was based in Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dall ...

(1998, ''Heartbroke Again'')

References

1961 songs Freddie King songs Blues songs 1960s instrumentals 1962 singles Federal Records singles Songs written by Sonny Thompson {{Blues-song-stub