180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl! Pressed at Pallas in Germany!
For the most part, this is a 1961 session wherein the blues raconteur and pianist Memphis Slim runs through a good chunk of his repertoire, the songs that came to mind that afternoon. As such, it's relaxed entertainment, rather than a fixed recording for a larger audience. Which is not to say an audience can't enjoy this music. Slim's piano playing is dynamically rich, delicate at times, and pounding when necessary. His vocals are strong, too, but just as capable of dropping down to just above a whisper to make a point. They just don't make records like this anymore, documents of an artist at work without any attempt to be outside the moment.
A quote from Nat Hentoff's liner notes: "Aside from the usual hyperbole of record liners, I do think that engineer Bob d'Orleans has caught the full sonic impact of Slim more accurately than on any previous recordings by the Chicago-based wanderer. The best description I know of the sound of Memphis Slim is Stanley Dance's in the British Jazz Journal: 'It's an outdoors voice with a hard strength that suggests inflexibility, but it bends at the right times. It has a somber gravity, dignity, shyness, and a shade of melancholy. As he sings, he often seems to withdraw into memories, fond and sad, of other days, other places and other faces.'"
Beautifully remastered from the original analog tapes by Graeme Durham at The Exchange.
Features:
180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl
Pressed at Pallas in Germany
Musicians:
Memphis Slim, vocals, piano
Jazz Gillum, vocals, harmonica
Arbee Stidham, vocals, guitar
Selections:
1. Born with the Blues
2. Just Let Me Be
3. Red Haired Boogie
4. Blue And Disgusted
5. New Key To The Highway
6. I'd Take Her To Chicago
7. Harlem Bound
8. El Capitan
9. I just Landed In Your Town
10. John Henry
11. I Believe I'll Settle Down
12. Bad Luck and Troubles
13. Late Afternoon Blues
11. Memphis Slim U.S.A.
For the most part, this is a 1961 session wherein the blues raconteur and pianist Memphis Slim runs through a good chunk of his repertoire, the songs that came to mind that afternoon. As such, it's relaxed entertainment, rather than a fixed recording for a larger audience. Which is not to say an audience can't enjoy this music. Slim's piano playing is dynamically rich, delicate at times, and pounding when necessary. His vocals are strong, too, but just as capable of dropping down to just above a whisper to make a point. They just don't make records like this anymore, documents of an artist at work without any attempt to be outside the moment.
A quote from Nat Hentoff's liner notes: "Aside from the usual hyperbole of record liners, I do think that engineer Bob d'Orleans has caught the full sonic impact of Slim more accurately than on any previous recordings by the Chicago-based wanderer. The best description I know of the sound of Memphis Slim is Stanley Dance's in the British Jazz Journal: 'It's an outdoors voice with a hard strength that suggests inflexibility, but it bends at the right times. It has a somber gravity, dignity, shyness, and a shade of melancholy. As he sings, he often seems to withdraw into memories, fond and sad, of other days, other places and other faces.'"
Beautifully remastered from the original analog tapes by Graeme Durham at The Exchange.
Features:
180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl
Pressed at Pallas in Germany
Musicians:
Memphis Slim, vocals, piano
Jazz Gillum, vocals, harmonica
Arbee Stidham, vocals, guitar
Selections:
1. Born with the Blues
2. Just Let Me Be
3. Red Haired Boogie
4. Blue And Disgusted
5. New Key To The Highway
6. I'd Take Her To Chicago
7. Harlem Bound
8. El Capitan
9. I just Landed In Your Town
10. John Henry
11. I Believe I'll Settle Down
12. Bad Luck and Troubles
13. Late Afternoon Blues
11. Memphis Slim U.S.A.
