Memphis Slim - USA
ORDER LIMITED TO ONE ITEM PER CUSTOMER
Memphis Slim (vocals & piano), Jazz Gillum (vocals & harmonica), Arbee Stidham (vocals & guitar)
Composed by Peter Chatman except A7 composed by Memphis Slim, and B3 which is a traditionnal song
1 LP, standard sleeve
Limited edition
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Pallas
Label : Pure Pleasure Records
Original Label : Candid
Recorded at Nola Penthouse Studios, New York City, January 16th 1961
Recording engineer : Bob d’Orleans
Produced by Nat Hentoff
Originally released in 1961
Re-mastered by Graeme Durham at The Exchange
Reissued in 2005
Tracks :
Side A :
Side B :
Reviews :
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.
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 sombre 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.”
Ratings :
AllMusic : 3 / 5