Magic Slim - Slow Blues '2024

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. You Put It on Me
02. 1839 Blues
03. So Easy to Love You
04. I Wonder Who (Who’s Gonna Be Your Sweet Man) [Live]
05. Bad Avenue
06. Country Boy
07. Just to Be With (Live)
08. Blues Behind Closed Doors
09. She’s Too Much
10. When I Met My Baby
11. Double Trouble (Live)
12. You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had
13. I’m a Bluesman (Live)
14. Please Don’t Dog Me (Live)
15. Take the Bitter with the Sweet
16. Hard Luck Blues (Live)

Magic Slim & the Teardrops proudly upheld the tradition of what a Chicago blues
band should sound like. Their emphasis on ensemble playing and a humongous
repertoire that allegedly ranged upwards of a few hundred songs gave the
towering guitarist's live performances an endearing off-the-cuff quality: you
never knew what obscurity he'd pull out of his oversized hat next. Born Morris
Holt on August 7, 1937, the Mississippi native was forced to give up playing the
piano when he lost his little finger in a cotton gin mishap. Boyhood pal Magic
Sam bestowed his magical moniker on the budding guitarist. Holt first came to
Chicago in 1955, but found that breaking into the competitive local blues
circuit was a tough proposition. Although he managed to secure a steady gig for
a while with Robert Perkins' band (Mr. Pitiful & the Teardrops), Slim wasn't
good enough to progress into the upper ranks of Chicago bluesdom.

So he retreated to Mississippi for a spell to hone his chops. When he returned
to Chicago in 1965 (with brothers Nick and Lee Baby as his new rhythm section),
Slim's detractors were quickly forced to change their tune. Utilizing the
Teardrops name and holding onto his Magic Slim handle, the big man cut a couple
of 45s for Ja-Wes and established himself as a formidable force on the South
Side. His guitar work dripped vibrato-enriched nastiness and his roaring vocals
were as gruff and uncompromising as anyone's on the scene. All of a sudden, the
recording floodgates opened up for the Teardrops in 1979 after they cut four
tunes for Alligator's Living Chicago Blues anthology series. After that, a
series of tough-as-nails albums for Rooster Blues, Alligator, and a slew for the
Austrian Wolf logo fattened Slim's discography considerably. 

The Teardrops weathered a potentially devastating change when longtime second
guitarist John Primer cut his own major-label debut for Code Blue, but with Slim
and bass-wielding brother Nick Holt still on board, it became doubtful that the
quartet's overall sound would change dramatically in Primer's absence. In 1996,
Slim signed with Blind Pig and cut some of the most celebrated albums of his
career, including Scufflin' in 1996, Black Tornado in 1998, Snakebite in 2000,
and Blue Magic in 2002. A live recording taped in 2005 at the Sierra Nevada
Brewery was released that same year on both DVD and CD as Anything Can Happen.
Tin Pan Alley, a set of recordings made between 1992 and 1998 in Chicago and
Europe, was released in 2006 by Austria's Wolf Records. Midnight Blues appeared
in 2008, followed by Raising the Bar in 2010. Bad Boy, a collection of covers
given the Magic Slim makeover, hit the streets in 2012. However, while on tour
with the Teardrops in January 2013, Slim experienced breathing difficulties and
was hospitalized first in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania and then in Philadelphia;
he died there on February 21, 2013 at the age of 75. ~ Bill Dahl & Al Campbell

Voir plus
By any yardstick, Chicago guitarist John Primer has paid his dues. Prior to
making The Real Deal for Mike Vernon's Atlantic-distributed Code Blue label,
Primer spent 13 years as the ever-reliable rhythm guitarist with Magic Slim &
the Teardrops. Before that, he filled the same role behind Chicago immortals
Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon.

All that grounding has paid off handsomely for Primer. His sound is rooted in
the classic Windy City blues sound of decades past: rough-edged and
uncompromising and satisfying in the extreme. He's one of the last real
traditionalists in town.

By the time he came to Chicago in 1963, Primer was thoroughly familiar with the
lowdown sounds of Waters, Wolf, Jimmy Reed, B.B. and Albert King, and Elmore
James. He fronted a West Side outfit for a while called the Maintainers, dishing
out a mix of soul and blues before joining the house band at the Southside blues
mecca Theresa's Lounge for what ended up being a nine-year run. Elegant
guitarist Sammy Lawhorn proved quite influential on Primer's maturing guitar
approach during this period.

Always on the lookout for aspiring talent, Willie Dixon spirited him away for a
1979 gig in Mexico City. After a year or so as one of Dixon's All-Stars, Primer
was recruited to join the last band of Muddy Waters, playing with the Chicago
blues king until his 1983 death. Right after that, Primer joined forces with
Magic Slim; their styles interlocked so seamlessly that their partnership seemed
like an eternal bond.

But Primer deserved his own share of the spotlight. In 1993, Michael Frank's
Chicago-based Earwig logo issued Primer's debut domestic disc, Stuff You Got to
Watch. It was a glorious return to the classic '50s Chicago sound, powered by
Primer's uncommonly concise guitar work and gruff, no-nonsense vocals. With the
1995 emergence of The Real Deal -- produced by Vernon and featuring all-star
backing by harpist Billy Branch, pianist David Maxwell, and bassist Johnny B.
Gayden, Primer's star appeared ready to ascend. He soon transferred back to the
Wolf label for sets such as 1997's Cold Blooded Blues Man, 1998's Blues Behind
Closed Doors, and 2000's It's a Blues Life.



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