Frederick Segrest was born in December of 1926, in Alabama. He was one of fifteen children born into a family of sharecroppers.
At the age of fifteen, he lied about his age in order to join the United States Marines. Frederick consequently saw active duty in Guam and Iwo Jima during the Second World War.
After the War, Frederick moved to California where he joined the band of Lefty Frizzell, a star of country music. Lefty was responsible for Freddie Hart, as Frederick was professionally known, obtaining a contract to record for Capitol Records, in 1953.
Although Freddie recorded from that year, it was not until he was signed to Columbia Records that he firstly entered the charts, with “The Wall”, in 1959. In 1969, Freddie re-signed with Capitol Records and became a part of the Bakersfield sound when he became affiliated with a company owned by Buck Owens.
In 1971, Freddie released the self-penned single, “Easy Loving”, which he had actually recorded two years earlier. It spent three weeks at No.1 and crossed over to the pop charts and peaked at No.17 in the United States, and No. 10 in Australia. It was followed by a succession of hits that also topped the country charts: “My Hang-Up Is You”, “Bless Your Heart”, “Got The All Overs For You (All Over Me)”, “Super Kind Of Woman” and “Trip To Heaven”.
http://youtu.be/OCNQ5kdo7gs
Freddie’s last hit to enter the Top 10 was “When Lovers Turn To Strangers”, in 1977. He continued to release singles until 1987, and, in 2001, was inducted into the Alabama’s Music Hall Of Fame.
Martial arts was another of Freddie’s passions. He opened a chain of studios for those wishing to learn self-defence and was, himself, a master of karate.
http://youtu.be/t8-dhCk90YU
The names of more tracks by Freddie Hart can be found in the selected playlists. Whilst there, why not peruse the list of my favourite recordings? I shall be adding to it from time to time.