Freddie Mack

This article is about the singer and boxer. For the Bank group, see Freddie Mac.

Freddie Mack (15 September 1934[1] – 11 January 2009), sometimes also spelled Freddy Mack and also known as Mr. Superbad, was a retired light-heavyweight boxer, who took the Gold medal for the United States at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics in Finland. He later enjoyed success in the UK as a Funk/Soul singer and DJ.

Biography

He was born on a cotton plantation in Bennettsville, South Carolina, to father Fred Mack, black American foreman of the Carolina Breeding Estate and mother Florence Purvis, an Italian kitchen worker originally from Bracciano, just outside Rome, Italy.

A childhood friend of Floyd Patterson, who introduced him to boxing at Cus D'Amato's gym on 14th Street, Manhattan,[2]

As a light-heavyweight boxer, he reached 3rd place in the world ranking and is remembered for his knockouts against Sante Amonti, Jack Bodell, Chick Calderwood and Roman Morais, among others.[3]

After 66 professional fights he became a sparring partner for, among others, Henry Cooper, Billy Walker (The Blonde Bomber) and John "Cowboy" McCormack.

After living some time in Rome, he retired to England, c. 1965, where he was introduced to the movie scene by fight fans Sir Richard Burton and Rex Harrison. Freddie enjoyed a short film career especially his part in Cleopatra where, as one of the black slaves, he carried Elizabeth Taylor into Rome.[4] He can also be found in small acting roles in the Invisible Man, Two Escapes from Singh Singh with Donald Pleasence, The Great Rock n Roll Swindle with the Sex Pistols and Scotland's very own Taggart.

Then he embarked on yet another initially successful career as a singer/entertainer backed by an ever-changing band of British jazz and R&B musicians.

His first "group" was an R&B show with singers, dancers and two bands. This settled down into one backing band, called "The Mack Sound" put together by baritone sax player Roger Warwick. The band featured four to five horns, including, for a time, Otis Redding's trombone player Clarence Johnson, and full rhythm section with Alan Cartwright and B.J. Wilson.

From 1967 onwards his line-ups for the "Freddie Mack Sound", the "Fantastic Freddie Mack Show" or the "Freddie Mack Extravaganza" included, variously, Mel Day (vocals), Ray Lewis (bass), Dave Roffey (lead guitar), Ged Peck (lead guitar), Rod Jones (bass), Dick Morrissey (tenor sax), B.J. Wilson (drums), Roger Truth (drums). Alan Cartwright (bass), Johnny Orlando (vocals), Eddie 'Tan Tan' Thomas (trumpet), Bobby Morris (keyboards), Tex Makin (bass), Bill Davidson (organ), Art Regis(Organ), Viv Prince (Drums), Derry Wilkie (vocals), Tony Gomez (keyboards), Tony Morgan (vocals), Kookie Etan (vocals), Bob Mundy (vocals), Steve Mustang Sallis (lead guitar), Brian Williams (bass), Jeff Bridge (Tenor saxophone), Phil Presland (Baritone saxophone) John Walsh (organ), Pat Green (drums) and Chris Burdett (Tenor Saxophone) among many others.

In 1969 he was arrested for being an illegal alien in the UK but managed to avoid deportation.

At the end of 1974, Mack signed to K-Tel Records as Mr. Superbad and recorded many records under this label. He also sang on the 1975 hit "Kung Fu Man" on UltraFunk for Contempo Records.

He went to live in Plains, North Lanarkshire in 1979 and spent the time from then till his retirement in 2005 working as a Radio DJ and doing gigs with his Disco Show. His sexy American voice and his love of Soul Music could be heard over the airwaves of Radio Clyde every Saturday night for many years.

In 1981, his strong American voice featured on the Tight Fit megamix song Back to the Sixties. The track reached number 4 in the UK Charts. His words are at the start of the song and are "Wam Bam Alakazam, that's the sound, the super sound of the 60's, going back and checking it out, ready for some more? Hit that floor! The great days are back again!"

In 2001 he founded The Scot's Boxing Hall of Fame of which he was named President and there have been three Induction Events with a fourth on 13 September 2008 in the Quality Inn, Glasgow Central Hotel.

Between 2002 and 2003 he presented the Superbad Saturday Night programme on Lanarkshire radio station Clan FM which was a mix of soul music and chat. Mack died on 11 January 2009.[1]

Discography

As Freddie Mack's Extravanganza in Sounds (Extravaganza is misspelt on 7" release):

As Mr Superbad:

Professional boxing record

27 Wins (14 knockouts, 12 decisions, 1 DQ), 19 Losses (4 knockouts, 15 decisions), 3 Draws, 2 No Contests
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Loss 24–6 United Kingdom Jack Bodell PTS 8 7 September 1965 United Kingdom Earls Court Arena, Kensington, London Mathis knocked out at 2:58 of the second round.
Win 40–5–1 Scotland Chic Calderwood KO 8 3 February 1965 United Kingdom Wolverhampton, West Midlands
Win 16–4 United Kingdom Jack Bodell TKO 5 29 September 1964 United Kingdom Embassy Sportsdrome, Birmingham, West Midlands Referee stopped the bout at 1:15 of the fifth round.
Win 16–1–1 Italy Giuseppe Migliari KO 8 12 September 1964 Italy Rome
Loss 23–0–3 Italy Piero Del Papa PTS 10 24 May 1964 Italy Brescia, Lombardy
Win 15–1 Italy Benito Penna PTS 10 6 May 1964 Italy PalaLido, Milan Referee stopped the bout at 1:15 of the fifth round.
Win 18–13–2 United Kingdom Ray Shiel TKO 5 25 March 1964 United Kingdom Midlands Sporting Club, Solihull, West Midlands
Win 17–15–2 United Kingdom Ron Gray DQ 2 3 March 1964 United Kingdom Granby Halls, Leicester, Leicestershire
Loss 17–12–2 United Kingdom Ray Shiel PTS 8 6 February 1964 United Kingdom Tower Circus, Blackpool, Lancashire
Draw 19–1–2 Italy Piero Tomasoni PTS 10 15 November 1963 Italy Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome
Win 11–7–1 Ghana Joey Armstrong TKO 4 23 October 1963 United Kingdom Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, West Midlands
Win 6–2 Nigeria Joe Louis KO 1 25 September 1963 United Kingdom Midlands Sporting Club, Solihull, West Midlands Louis knocked out at 0:45 of the first round.
Loss 42–6–1 Wales Joe Erskine PTS 10 10 August 1963 Wales Newtown Pavilion, Newtown, Powys
Loss 13–4 United States Sonny Banks SD 10 5 June 1963 United States Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan
No Contest 6–3 Brazil Renato Moraes NC 7 18 January 1963 Italy Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome
Draw 13–0–1 Italy Piero Tomasoni PTS 10 20 September 1962 Italy Brescia, Lombardy
No Contest 6–5 France Georges Torrecillas ND 4 19 August 1962 Italy Casino Municipale, San Remo, Liguria
Win 5–2 Brazil Renato Moraes KO 7 13 April 1962 Italy Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome
Win 24–7 Italy Ottavio Panunzi KO 2 19 January 1962 Italy Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome
Loss 29–10 United States Jesse Bowdry PTS 10 24 November 1961 Italy Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome
Win 40–2–2 Italy Santo Amonti TKO 3 6 October 1961 Italy Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome
Draw 5–7–1 United States Chuck Garrett PTS 10 21 August 1961 United States Vogue Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Loss 30–2–2 Peru Mauro Mina PTS 10 29 July 1961 Peru Estadio Nacional, Lima
Loss 29–2–2 Peru Mauro Mina PTS 10 12 April 1961 Peru Estadio Nacional, Lima
Loss 23–5 Italy Giulio Rinaldi PTS 10 24 February 1961 Italy Rome
Win 14–6–1 Cuba Lino Rendon UD 10 30 January 1961 United States St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Win 8–1 Puerto Rico Wilfredo Avellez TKO 1 7 January 1961 United States Madison Square Garden, New York City
Win 19–7 United States Young Beau Jack KO 6 8 July 1960 Canada Sydney, Nova Scotia
Win 36–4–2 United States Junius Washington PTS 6 10 December 1958 Canada Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec
Win 3–4 United States Eddie Bramlett PTS 6 1 December 1958 United States St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Loss 76–19–2 Canada Yvon Durelle PTS 10 28 August 1958 Canada Moncton, New Brunswick
Loss 5–13–1 United States Al Anderson TKO 4 5 May 1958 United States St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Win 3–2 United States Eddie Bramlett PTS 6 7 April 1958 United States St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Win 0–1 United States Louis "Baby" Jones UD 6 15 March 1958 United States Boxing From Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York
Loss 10–12–1 United States Curtis Bruce SD 6 10 February 1958 United States St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Win 5–3 United States Floyd McCoy PTS 6 13 January 1958 United States St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Loss 22–5–1 United States Jerry Luedee TKO 8 2 September 1957 United States St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Win 9–2–1 United States Dennis McCann TKO 5 23 July 1957 United States Ansonia, Connecticut
Win 4–1 United States Floyd McCoy PTS 6 18 July 1957 Canada Sherbrooke, Quebec
Win 2–0 United States Wilson Hannibal PTS 6 24 June 1957 United States St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Win 5–11–3 United States Lou Perry PTS 6 13 May 1957 United States St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Loss 8–2–1 United States Dennis McCann PTS 6 19 April 1957 United States Hartford, Connecticut
Win 3–0 United States Rudy Williams KO 1 8 November 1956 United States Sunnyside Gardens, Queens, New York City
Win 2–1 United States Charley Black PTS 4 29 September 1955 United States Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Loss 9–1 United States Angelo DeFendis PTS 6 28 June 1955 United States Freeport Stadium, Freeport, New York
Loss 4–7 United States Al Anderson PTS 6 14 June 1955 United States Freeport Stadium, Freeport, New York
Loss 24–4–2 United States Paul Pender TKO 4 6 January 1955 United States Mechanics Hall, Boston, Massachusetts
Loss 2–2–2 Argentina David Bondulich TKO 3 8 November 1954 United States St. Nicholas Arena, New York City Referee stopped the bout at 2:05 of the third round.
Win 1–1 United States Tommy Selkirk PTS 4 23 August 1954 United States Boxing From Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York
Loss 0–1–1 United States Lou Perry PTS 4 16 August 1954 United States Boxing From Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York
Loss 1–0 United States Alan Watson KO 2 12 August 1954 United States Eintracht Oval, Astoria, Queens, New York City

References

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