Bay Area

IN MEMORIAM: Oakland Vocalist Freddie Hughes, 78

“(Freddie Hughes) was the epitome of the likes of Johnny Mathis,” noted Tillman Smith. “That’s how impressive he was. Most people have no knowledge of his schooling or if he ever had a job, but they do remember his love for singing. Every time you saw Freddie, he was always handing out his latest CD.”

Published

5 years ago

February 7, 2022

Oakland Post

Freddie Hughes passed away unexpectedly from leukemia and complications from COVID-19 on Jan. 18, 2022. He was 78 years old.

By Clifford L. Williams

Freddie Hughes, one of the most gifted vocalists and a great human being, passed away unexpectedly from leukemia and complications from COVID-19 on Jan. 18, 2022, according to drummer, songwriter and producer Paul Tillman Smith. He was 78 years old.

Hughes was born on Aug. 20, 1943, in Berkeley to parents who moved West from Texas seeking the plentiful jobs during WWII.

His father, Fred W. Hughes, was a longshoreman and pastor who helped found Oakland’s Good Samaritan Church of God in Christ, and his mother Lola Mae Anderson was a singer and missionary.

“Freddie has been singing and recording since a young child and had a huge hit in 1968 with the recording of ‘Send My Baby Back,’ said Tillman Smith. “The song showcased Hughes for the public at a time when everyone in the music business in the Bay was trying to find a way to get through…to find their niche.”

Hughes’ son Derick, a former lead vocalist with Tower of Power, has followed in his father’s footsteps, having recorded with Motown and Prince, and toured extensively with Roberta Flack.

Freddie and Derick are featured performers on a new CD, sponsored by the Bay Area Jazz Society and the West Coast Blues Society called “The Sounds of Oakland” to be released this month throughout the nation. The CD celebrates the legacy of East Bay soul and R&B.

“(Hughes) was the epitome of the likes of Johnny Mathis,” noted Tillman Smith. “That’s how impressive he was. Most people have no knowledge of his schooling or if he ever had a job, but they do remember his love for singing. Every time you saw Freddie, he was always handing out his latest CD.”

The East Bay Times noted that “Hughes was held in the highest esteem by his peers during the past six decades and was a pillar of the Bay Area music scene. Hughes played a central role in shaping the sound of East Bay soul during a pervasively influential era defined by church-reared Black vocalists bringing the fervent cadences of gospel music to secular settings.”

Oakland blues artist Johnny Talbot, a close friend of Hughes, said that his relationship with Hughes started in church when they were teenagers. “It was me, Freddie, Walter and Edwin Hawkins who sang in the choir at the Good Samaritan God in Christ Pentecostal Church,” said Talbot. “When Freddie was just 13, he sang lead in the grown-up choir, and the grown folks couldn’t take that away from him. That’s how good he was.”

Hughes is survived by his brother, Wayne Hughes of Oakland; five children, Sonia Hughes Farmah of Hanford, Derick Hughes of Oakland, Derene Hughes Jones of Alameda, Lena Hughes, and Jelani Hughes; 23 grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, at 11 a.m. at the Lily of the Valley Christian Center, located at 1010 91st Ave., Oakland. A repast will be held at 1 p.m. at St. Augustine Episcopal Church, located at 501 29th St. in Oakland.

The Bay Area Jazz Society, a 501(c)(3) organization, is asking the public to help raise money for Hughes’ memorial and burial. Hughes spent his lifetime performing throughout the Bay Area but didn’t leave behind a pension or available savings. The goal is to raise $20,000 in this effort. Please consider making a donation to www.gofundme/money-for-freddiehughes. For more information, contact Tillman Smith at 510-697-7130.