Updated March, 2022

Left-handed guitarist Fred Prue came from Newport, Vermont, the eldest of thirteen children. His father Frederick Adelbert Prue was also a guitarist, with a record as Fred Prue with Roy Baxter & His Combo – “Don’t Wink at Me” / “Lookin for Joe” (both songs by Prue & George Zorich) on Arctic 45-100 in 1957.

Fred Prue started the Volcanoes, but I am not sure who was in the early lineups of the band. Al Roberts, who had been with the Thunderbolts from Plattsburgh, NY joined sometime around 1964. Prue and Roberts would be constants in the lineups of Freddie & the Freeloaders over the next couple years.

The 1965 lineup of the Volcanoes or Freddie & the Freeloaders seems to have included:

Fred Prue – guitar and vocals
Al Roberts – organ
Bob Dennis – guitar
Joe Seta – bass
Dennis Broadbelt – drums

The Volcanoes met Johnny Baylor, probably in New York City while touring. The Volcanoes were among Baylor’s first record productions, their single released on his B&J Records 100 in early 1965.

“Two of a Kind” is a slow weeper with a long dramatic introduction. I prefer the flip, “Someone Like You”, a rocker with swirling organ, a couple good shouts, decent guitar solo and a solid rhythm section. Frederick C. Prue wrote both songs, though Amy Prue told me her grandfather wrote the original version of “Someone Like You”. The red-label stock copy has a different logo at top, and oddly, a second vocal track on “Someone Like You”.

Also in early 1965, the Volcanoes changed their name to Freddie and the Freeloaders, based out of Burlington, VT, but touring constantly. They made another single with Johnny Baylor producing, “Shindig Dance” (Betty Newsome, Eddie Silvers) b/w “Two of a Kind” (written by Fred C. Prue), arranged & conducted by Eddie Silvers.

The only other artist Baylor produced on B and J Records and Baylor Records was Little Dooley and the Fabulous Tears. Baylor would relocate his operations to Memphis, Tennessee, where he started the Koko label in 1966, and would eventually become involved with Stax Records.

The connection with Baylor may have brought Freddie & the Freeloaders to Memphis, where they would cut their next single at Sun Studios. The rockin’ “Patty” is credited to Fred Prue and Gene Simmons, Arkmil Pub. Co., and “The Octopus Song” is by James Mitchell & John Franzese. The initial release was on Crossroad 103/4 out of West Memphis, Arkansas in March, 1966.

Laurie Records immediately picked it up for national distribution as Laurie LR 3334. The single even saw release in Germany on Ariola 18 880 AT.

An article in the Nashua Telegraph (Nashua, New Hampshire, not far from Boston) on December 31, 1966 lists the members as:

Fred Prue – lead guitar
Al Roberts – rhythm guitar
Joe Seta – bass
Robert Allen – organ
Bob Bennet – drums

Freddie and the Freeloaders from Burlington, VT … have made many records such as “The Octopus Song” and “That’s the Kind of Man I Am.” They were recording in Memphis, Tenn for Laurie Records and came from there [via] the Fred Petty Agency.

Some of their college dates have been at Tufts, Rensselaer and Princeton.

Ranging in age from 20 to 23, the boys, Fred Prue, lead guitar; Al Robert, rhythm guitar; Joe Seta, base guitar; Robert Allen, organ and Bob Bennet, drums, have a style of Rock and Roll combined with rhythm and blues … very much their own.

A photo from an ad for February, 1967 shows in Somerville, MA includes:

Fred Prue – lead guitar
Al Roberts – rhythm guitar
Joe Seta – bass
Dennis Broadbelt – drums
unknown – ?

I am not sure when Freddie & the Freeloaders split up. Fred Prue continued playing music, including Prues Blues. He passed away on February 15, 2020.

Thank you to Amy Prue for the photos & information on her father’s bands.

Thanks also to James for the scan of “Someone Like You”.

Sources include: The Story Of The Thunderbolts by Will Shade.

There were most certainly not the Volcanoes from Canada, who made “Sympathize” / “Listen to the Clouds” on Sound Inc (and picked up by Sparton in Canada), two songs written by Ron Allan Neilson & Harry Olsen and produced by Getz-Powers.

Also, there were three other Freddie and the Freeloaders acts with records. None of these are related to Fred Prue’s group:

Freddie and the Freeloaders with Fred Halls from Danville, Illinois who recorded on Redd Hedd.

Freddie and the Freeloaders – “Say It” (Freddie W.) / Little Prince & the Freeloaders – “Nursery Love” on M and M 1263 in 1963

Freddie and The Freeloaders from the Baltimore area – “Little One” / “You’re Gone” on Dome SR 4014