LIGHTNIN' SLIM
Lightnin 'Slim (Otis V. Hicks, St. Louis, Missouri 13 de marzo de 1913 - Detroit, Michigan, 27 de julio de 1974) fue un músico de blues Louisiana afroamericano-que grabó para Excello Records, a menudo colaborando con su " hermano" , Slim Harpo , la hermana de éste le tenía alquilada una habitación ; y con el tambien armonicista Lazy Lester .
Lightnin Slim se trasladó a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a la edad de trece años. aprendió a tocar la guitarra por las enseñanzas de su su hermano mayor Layfield,Lightnin' Slim , estuvo principalmente en Baton Rouge por la década de 1940.
Debutó discográficamente con el sello JD "Jay" de Miller en 1954 con "Bad Luck Blues " ( "Si no fuera por la mala suerte, yo no tengo nada de suerte" , solía decir .... ). con ánterioridad había registrado para Excello Records que le contrató doce años, a partir de mediados de 1950Determinó alejarse por algun tiempo de la escena y se puso a trabajar en la fundición de Pontiac, Michigan, su puesto de trabajo era duro y constantemente sufría al tener que exponer sus manos a altas temperaturas. Fué re-descubierto por Fred Reif en 1970, en Pontiac, donde vivía en una habitación alquilada en la casa de la hermana de Slim Harpo. Reif pronto le volvió de nuevo y realizar un nuevo contrato de grabación con Excello, esta vez a través del filial Howell, que era el presidente de la compañía. Su primer concierto fue un concierto de reunión en el 1971 de la Universidad de Chicago Festival de Folk con Lazy Lester, quien Reif había traído de Baton Rouge, en enero de 1971.
En la década de 1970, Slim realizó en viajes en Europa, tanto en el Reino Unido y en el Festival de Jazz de Montreux en Suiza, donde fue acompañado a menudo por medio de Moses "Whispering" Smith a la armónica
La última vez que visitó el Reino Unido en 1973, juntamente con otras leyendas del,
Blues americano.
Slim murió de cáncer de estómago en Detroit, Michigan, en 1974 . a los 61 años de edad.
Slim ha sido citado como una influencia importante por varios artistas de blues contemporáneo, entre ellos el Capitán Beefheart, quien en una entrevista de radio 1987 con Kristine McKenna, declaró que Lightnin Slim fue el único artista que podría recomendar a alguien que quisiera escuchar Blues Ed Denson le ha clasificado como uno de los cinco grandes bluesmen de la década de 1950, junto con Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin 'Wolf y Sonny Boy Williamson.
Lightnin' Slim (March 13, 1913 – July 27, 1974) was an African-American Louisiana blues musician,who recorded for Excello Records and played in a style similar to its other Louisiana artists. Blues critic ED Denson has ranked him as one of the five great bluesmen of the 1950s, along with Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson.
Lightnin' Slim was born Otis V. Hicks on a farm outside St. Louis, Missouri.] moving to Baton Rouge, Louisiana at the age of thirteen. Taught guitar by his older brother Layfield, Slim was playing in bars in Baton Rouge by the late 1940s.
He debuted on J. D. "Jay" Miller's Feature Records label in 1954 with "Bad Luck Blues" ("If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all").Slim then recorded for Excello Records for twelve years, starting in the mid-1950s, often collaborating with his brother-in-law, Slim Harpo and with harmonica player Lazy Lester.
Slim took time off from the blues for a period of time and ended up working in a foundry in Pontiac, Michigan,[citation needed] which resulted in him suffering from constantly having his hands exposed to high temperatures. He was re-discovered by Fred Reif in 1970, in Pontiac, where he was living in a rented room at Slim Harpo's sister's house. Reif soon got him back performing again and a new recording contract with Excello, this time through Bud Howell, the present President of the company. His first gig was a reunion concert in 1971 at the University of Chicago Folk Festival with Lazy Lester, whom Reif had brought from Baton Rouge in January 1971.
In the 1970s, Slim performed on tours in Europe, both in the United Kingdom and at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland where he was often accompanied by Moses "Whispering" Smith on harmonica. He last toured the UK in 1973, with the American Blues Legends package.
In July 1974, Slim died of stomach cancer in Detroit, Michigan, aged 61.
Slim has been cited as a major influence by several contemporary blues artists, including Captain Beefheart, who in a 1987 radio interview with Kristine McKenna, stated that Lightnin' Slim was the only artist he could recommend somebody listening to.
The acknowledged kingpin of the Louisiana school of blues, Lightnin' Slim built his style on his grainy but expressive vocals and rudimentary guitar work, with usually nothing more than a harmonica and a drummer in support. It was down-home country blues edged two steps further into the mainstream, first by virtue of his electric guitar, and second by the sound of the local Crowley, LA musicians who backed him being bathed in simmering, pulsating tape echo. As the first great star of producer J.D. Miller's blues talent stable, Lightnin' Slim had a successful formula that scored regional hits on the Nashville-based Excello label for over a decade, with one of them, "Rooster Blues," making the national R&B charts in 1959. Combining the country ambience of a Lightnin' Hopkins with the plodding insistence of a Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Slim's music belonged uniquely to him, the perfect blues raconteur, even when he was reshaping others' material to his dark, somber style.
He also possessed one of the truly great blues voices, unadorned and unaffected, making the world-weariness of a Sonny Boy Williamson sound like the second coming of Good Time Charlie by comparison. His exhortation to "blow your harmonica, son" has become one of the great, mournful catch phrases of the blues, and even on his most rockin' numbers, there's a sense that you are listening less to an uptempo offering than a slow blues just being played faster. Lightnin' always sounded like bad luck just moved into his home approximately an hour after his mother-in-law did.
He was born with the unglamorous handle of Otis Hicks in St. Louis, MO, on March 13, 1913. After 13 years of living on a farm outside of the city, the Hicks family moved to Louisiana, first settling in St. Francisville. Young Otis took to the guitar early, first shown the rudiments by his father, then later by his older brother, Layfield. Given his recorded output, it's highly doubtful that either his father or brother knew how to play in any key other than E natural, as Lightnin' used the same patterns over and over on his recordings, only changing keys when he used a capo or had his guitar detuned a full step.
But the rudiments were all he needed, and by the late '30s/early '40s he was a mainstay of the local picnic/country supper circuit around St. Francisville. In 1946 he moved to Baton Rouge, playing on weekends in local ghetto bars, and started to make a name for himself on the local circuit, first working as a member of Big Poppa's band, then on his own.
The '50s dawned with harmonica player Schoolboy Cleve in tow, Lightnin' and Schoolboy working club dates and broadcasting over the radio together. It was local disc jockey Ray "Diggy Do" Meaders who then persuaded Miller to record Lightnin'. He recorded for 12 years as an Excello artist, starting out originally on Miller's Feature label. As the late '60s found Lightnin' working and living in Detroit, a second career blossomed as European blues audiences brought him over to tour, and he also started working the American festival and hippie ballroom circuit with Slim Harpo as a double act. When Harpo died unexpectedly in 1970, Lightnin' went on alone, recording sporadically, while performing as part of the American Blues Legends tour until his death in 1974. Lazy, rolling, and insistent, Lightnin' Slim is Louisiana blues at its finest.
LIGHTNIN ' SLIM en uno de sus conciertos por Europa.
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