Memphis Slim was immensely proud of this album, the first he ever made in his home state of Tennessee. It was recorded at Wayne Moss' Cinderella Studio, a converted garage in Madison, a suburb of Nashville perched between two lakes, in February of 1975. Backed by seven of the area's top session men led by harmonica ace Charlie McCoy, Slim sounds perfectly at home with pedal steel guitar and clavinet. This chapter in Memphis Slim's career combines elements of country and Southern rock with the funky big blues revue sound of the mid-'70s, as background female soul vocals were added later during follow-up production in Bogalusa, LA. The lead singer was Geraldine "Sister Gerry" Richard of Baton Rouge. What you encounter here is much different from Slim's earlier gutsy Arkansas/Mississippi/Chicago piano persona…

In his powerfully insightful book of blues-inspired poetry Fattening Frogs for Snakes - Delta Sound Suite, John Sinclair cites blues and jazz scholar Robert Palmer as a source for the theory that the linguistic taproots of the word "boogie" probably reach back to West Africa, as the Hausa "buga" and the Mandingo "bug" both mean "to beat" as in "to beat a drum." This makes sense given the rhythmic potency of boogie-woogie, a style that emerged during the early 20th century among Southern black laborers who lived, toiled, and partied near the very bottom of the U.S. social hierarchy, usually living in an environment that was secluded from the rest of the population and often engaging in the production of turpentine…

Recorded in New York City during May and June of 1969, this excellent album reveals the very core of Memphis Slim's blues artistry. He kneads the piano and sings his heart out in front of a tough little band comprised of R&B tenor sax legend Eddie Chamblee, an unidentified organist, guitarist Billy Butler, bassist Lloyd Trotman, and drummer Herb Lovelle. An anonymous utility horn section shows up during the rocking "Sassy Mae." "Ramble This Highway" (better known as "Key to the Highway") was written by Jazz Gillum, "Rock Me Baby" is credited to Big Bill Broonzy, and the famous "Caldonia" was composed by Fleecie Moore. The rest of the material heard on this album comes straight out of Slim's catalog of original songs. Check out Slim's relaxed sermon on "Freedom" and his candid statement about having the blues because he is black…

This early-'60s date was the second - and one of the best - of Memphis Slim's many top-notch Bluesville recordings. Featuring Slim accompanying himself on the piano, All Kinds of Blues is a vintage set of mellow yet deep blues by one of the music's most urbane performers. Whether reveling in his considerable boogie-woogie chops ("Three-in-One-Boogie") or tossing off a wryly sexual romp ("Grinder Man Blues"), Slim always seems to be totally at ease and in command. And while newcomers are advised to start out with one of his early-'50s sets on Chess, this will be one collection no Memphis Slim fan will want to overlook.

Unlike Mississippi Fred McDowell, who hailed from Rossville, TN, Memphis Slim was actually from Memphis, although his real name was Peter Chatman. By any name, Slim was a masterful blues pianist with a distinctive style. This satisfying drummerless two-fer was originally issued as 1960s albums Just Blues and No Strain, all songs written by the prolific pianist, recorded in the same session and re-released the year after he died in Paris in 1988. The 23-tune collection opens with "Beer Drinking Woman" (with sly Funeral March quotes), followed by one of his patented, totally believable spoken intros. Fully nine of these tracks feature just piano and voice, illustrating beyond a doubt that this bluesman was the real deal who needed no help to get his point across.

Erotic, humorous, and loaded with double entendres, these dozen tunes were recorded between 1956-1961 by Memphis Slim, Tampa Red, Victoria Spivey, Lonnie Johnson, Pink Anderson, Memphis Willie B., and Blind Willie McTell. The collection includes "Let Me Play with Your Poodle," "I'm a Red Hot Mama," and "If You See Kay."

Memphis Slim devoted all but one of the ten songs on this April 1961 session to covers of some of his favorite songwriters. He's only accompanied by his own piano playing as he provides serviceable, laidback interpretations of numbers by Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Willie Dixon, Sonny Boy Williamson, and others, as well as his own "Sunnyland Train."

These incredible blues recordings are set to see their 60th anniversary - remastered and reissued. Recorded live at the Blues Festival in Oberhausen, West Germany 1963, this is the first vinyl reissue since its original pressing on the UK blues label Red Lightnin' in 1986. These 11 songs feature Memphis Slim and Sonny Boy Williamson backed by Matt "Guitar" Murphy (the blues brother), Willie Dixon, and drummer Bill Stepney. This particular show was formerly quite rare, and captures some truly smoking performances, particularly Memphis Slim's rarely-heard "I Wrote This Song", and Sonny Boy Williamson's "All My Love In Vain".

Like many of the black blues and jazz musicians of his generation, Memphis Slim found both an audience and a home in Europe for the last 20-plus years of his life, basing himself in Paris beginning in 1962 and remaining there until his death in 1988. In that span he recorded an astounding 50 or so albums, not including the various recordings of his live performances that still continue to surface. While it could be argued that his peak years were in the '40s and '50s, the recordings he made in the last third of his life were incredibly intimate and frank, and he didn't shy away from addressing racial and social injustice in the later songs, even while he kept his blues performances smooth and accessible. This fine set, recorded in New York in 1967 on one of his U.S. tours, is a case in point. Slim sounds warm, assured, and often pointedly poignant on songs like the majestic "Freedom" and the direct and honest "I Am the Blues"…

This four-disc, 68-track collection paints a broad definition of the blues, with cuts ranging from vintage country blues (Robert Johnson's “Cross Road Blues,” Son House's “Death Letter Blues”) to uptown jazz blues (Nina Simone's “Blues for My Mama,” Billie Holiday's “Billie’s Blues”), Chicago blues (a live version of “Howling Wolf” by Muddy Waters), British blues (Jeff Beck's “JB’s Blues”), and contemporary acoustic blues (“Am I Wrong” by Keb' Mo'), with plenty of stops in between, making for a random but varied playlist that circles the different approaches and musical definitions of the genre.

Memphis Heat documents Chicago blues piano legend Memphis Slim's studio collaborations with the rock group Canned Heat in France on September 18, 1970, and July 11, 1973. The results are tasty indeed. Slim's voice and piano are well matched by Henry Vestine's electric guitar, Canned Heat's rockin' rhythm section, and (on six out of 13 tracks) the Memphis Horns, a solid wind quintet of trumpet, trombone, two tenors, and a baritone sax. Memphis Slim tried on a lot of different styles and instrumental combinations during the 1970s. His Canned Heat sessions have been both praised and panned over the years, a state of affairs that often revealed more about the reviewers than the music itself.

In 1970, expatriate pianist Memphis Slim hooked up with fellow Chicago blues great Buddy Guy while the guitarist was touring Europe with the Rolling Stones, and recorded the tracks for South Side Reunion, originally released on Warner Bros. in 1972. Slim's rollicking piano and Guy's guitar-slinging prowess are complemented by Windy City musicians Phillip Guy, Ernest Johnson, and Roosevelt Shaw, plus saxophonists A.C. Reed and Jimmy Conley. While harpist Junior Wells (who was also part of the Stones tour) is listed as if he played a prominent role in this endeavor, he's only heard on the tracks "Good Time Charlie," "No," and "Help Me Some."

A straight CD reissue of a vintage Chess LP, its contents dating back to the early '50s and most tracks originally issued on the Premium logo. Includes an early and very nice reading of "Mother Earth;" also sharp as a tack is "Rockin' the Pad." In an unusual move, Slim is joined by a smooth vocal group, the Vagabonds, for "Really Got the Blues."

Like Slim's other Bluesville work, this is a characteristic and very consistent effort, though not what you would single out as the cream of his recorded work. He varies the program between originals and covers of standards like "Mean Mistreatin' Mama," "Rock Me Baby," and "Goin' Down Slow," providing a touch of unpredictability by switching from the piano to the organ on a few tracks.