Not to be confused with various actors and writers with the same name, this Sam Freed belongs to the second generation of great American studio musicians. His name, unfortunately, also comes up in data base searches in connection with passionate sex scenes, as in "Sam freed her of her blouse." Ironically, the actual artistic efforts of Freed on both violin and viola must have been a crucial element in many real -- as opposed to online -- seductions. He's part of the cast of studio orchestras on famous hits by singers such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Bing Crosby, meaning the touch of his bow is an important aspect of a great romantic era of music and all subsequent sentimentality. He would have had to have lived in England to play violin on Beatles records, but Freed was still garnering credits in the rock era from his perch in Hollywood. It is an undisputed truth, however, that fans of the Monkees reacted much less favorably to the presence of orchestra players such as Freed than the previous generation of pop listeners. Jazz buffs may recognize Freed from expanded orchestral recording projects, including a concert band assembled by Tommy Dorsey. The violinist even had a recording career of his own that included cutting an album of Richard Strauss' waltzes for Capitol. Freed's studio work began to taper off in the late '60s, by which time he is estimated to have appeared on nearly 200 sessions. ~ Eugene Chadbourne