Fred Sings the Blues

"Fred Sings the Blues" has Fred writing love songs like "Life is Just a Bowl of Warm Menudo" and "I Left My Heart in El Segundo," all of which are ridiculed by Lamont, who delivers a surprise for Father's Day, two tickets to see B.B. (Blues Boy) King perform at the Club Lucifer (he sings "How Blue Can You Get"). Sanford and Son invite him over for a pleasant evening with 'down home folks,' which he happily accepts, offering his autobiography for Fred to read. The most shocking detail is learning that a certain woman named 'E. Winfield' broke his heart in St. Louis and married a man going into business in California, so Fred assumes that she was Elizabeth and that B.B. King is coming to kill him! It's perhaps an even greater surprise when the woman turns out to be Aunt Esther, as Uncle Woody (Raymond Allen, last of nine) was her betrothed, receiving a check for $1000 from a grateful King, who otherwise might never have left Missouri to earn fame and fortune. The finale has Fred, Bubba, and Esther joining the artist on stage for their rendition of "St. Louis Blues." As the penultimate episode we learn a great deal of family background, making for one of the final season's most enjoyable highlights.