<back - GUITAR SLIM - Guitar Slim was born Eddie Jones in 1926 in Greenwood Ms, and he managed to cram a significant amount of intensely powerful music into a life cut short by hard living. Such were his talents that, aside from his timeless musical contributions, many regard his true legacy as the most compelling performer to ever venture onto a stage. He single-handedly extended the boundaries of showmanship. Beforehand, stage choreography, weird contortions, and even downright mimicry, were popular gimmicks by performers as Louis Jordan, T-Bone Walker, and Howlin' Wolf.

But after Guitar Slim came along, things got really wild. He loved to wear outlandishly colored suits, with matching shoes and co-coordinated hair. However, the most spectacular aspect of his act was when he would walk throughout the audience, trailed by a 350-foot guitar cord, never missing a note. This was a level of flamboyance beyond the normal theatrics of that or any other era, and one can’t overstate the profound influence Guitar Slim would have on the stage antics of future performers such as Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Guitar Shorty. In his autobiography, Buddy Guy told of an epiphany upon viewing Guitar Slim: 'When I saw him, I’d made up my mind. I wanted to play like BB (King), but act like Guitar Slim.' Music at its core is performance art, and that makes Guitar Slim its master craftsman. For his performance genius alone Guitar Slim belongs in the Blues Hall Of Fame, but the music he gave us is every bit as compelling. As a young guitarist, he was heavily influenced by slide legend Robert Nighthawk, but his true love for the instrument was based on the sounds he heard from Texas, specifically T-Bone Walker and Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown. After Slim had perfected his notorious stage act, he took up residence in New Orleans in 1950 and began exploring newer guitar sounds that featured lots of distortion. Slim signed with Specialty in 1953, and had a massive hit with The Things I Used To Do, He quickly embarked on a national tour, and sold out New York’s Apollo Theatre for a full week. For another 2 years he continued to put out sides on Specialty, like The Story Of My Life and Sufferin' Mind. A partial sampling of other magnificent sides from his Specialty years include I Done Got Over It, Letter To My Girlfriend (aka Prison Blues), Quicksand, and Certainly All. After Specialty, he signed with Atco, and charted with 4 releases, including It Hurts To Love Someone and Down Through The Years. By the late 50s, Slim’s full-fisted life style was inflicting a dreadful toll. He passed away in February 1959. How do we fully measure the extent of Guitar Slim's greatness. Those who knew him, such as Albert Collins, Chuck Berry, among others, put him on the same level as BB King and Ray Charles.
-GaryTate/ MP3- Things that I Use to Do |