I am thoroughly enjoying the remaster reissues of classic albums coming out on Concord, and here we have the 1959 debut by the wonderful Memphis Slim. The guitarist on this record is none other than Matt “Guitar” Murphy, who notably was a major influence on other guitarists and played with many amazing musicians, but for me will always be the husband of Aretha Franklin in ‘The Blues Brothers’. Like many other blues musicians of the period, Memphis Slim cut his teeth by playing anywhere and everywhere and releasing singles in the pre-war period. He often played with Big Bill Broonzy, and “Messin’ Around” was a #1 single for him in 1948 and this album includes not only a version of that but quite a few of his best-known songs, including “Mother Earth”, “Gotta Find My Baby”, “Rockin’ the Blues”, “Steppin’ Out”, and “Slim’s Blues”.
His version of the blues was often horn led, with his piano often in the background, and there is no doubt his relationship with Matt Murphy was incredibly important as it was often Murphy providing the nuances and additional touches which allowed his music to lift and swing. It is no surprise that we get honky tonk piano, and there are plenty of signs of how the intertwined his style of blues was with early rock ‘n’ roll, with “Gotta Find My Baby” being case in point as it could easily have been released by a white rocker as opposed to a classic bluesman. One of the annoying things about this album is that we do get some fade outs, and although it is a studio recording it feels very much like a live release, so it is somewhat strange to have no audience sound, but it was just the band cooking up a storm in the studio. This album is nearly 70 years old now, but is still a joy to listen to.
Rating: 8/10
Links:
https://craftrecordings.com/