Freddie Salem, who joined The Outlaws as they were rising to headliner status in 1978, died September 23 from complications of cancer. He was 70.

Born in Akron, Ohio, Salem played in local bands while growing up and later became a session guitarist in Los Angeles studios, including playing acoustic guitar on a Barbra Streisand album. Replacing rhythm guitarist Henry Paul in The Outlaws, Salem brought a harder-rocking attitude to the group and became a third lead player, wailing next to original members Hughie Thomasson and Billy Jones when he debuted on the tour that spawned the double-live LP, Bring It Back Alive. The definitive portrait of the Florida Guitar Army, sadly, all three have now passed.

In 2021, Salem told VG, “Hughie and Billy wanted to push the envelope, and I brought a heavier edge to the group. I first met [them] in Los Angeles and we stayed in touch; about a year later they invited me to Tampa to jam. I didn’t realize they were thinking of me as a new member until my arrival. We rehearsed for a week or so, hit the road, and my first gig was at Boston Garden.”

Salem played on The Outlaws’ radio track “You Are the Show” and their 1980 hit “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” a cover of the Stan Jones 1948 cowboy classic. For gear, you rarely saw him without a Les Paul, including a refin tobacco-sunburst Standard, and white ’74 Custom.

Discussing his youth in Ohio, he once told the Akron Beacon Journal, “Those were good times. I learned an awful lot at the Lion’s Den [club]. Guys like Buddy Miles and Rick Derringer used to sit in on some of those after-hours, all-night sessions. I loved it.”

This article originally appeared in VG’s December 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.