Memphis Slim

Memphis Slim

Memphis Slim (September 3, 1915 – February 24, 1988) was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxophones, bass, drums, and piano. A song he first cut in 1947, "Every Day I Have the Blues," has become a blues standard, recorded by many other artists. Slim made over 500 recordings.

Biography

Memphis Slim's birth name was John Len Chatman, and he was born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. His father Peter Chatman sang, played piano and guitar, and operated juke joints, and it is now commonly believed that he took the name to honor his father when he first recorded for Okeh Records in 1940. Although he started performing under the name Memphis Slim later that same year, he continued to publish songs under the name Peter Chatman.

He spent most of the 1930s performing in honky-tonks, dance halls, and gambling joints in West Memphis, Arkansas, and southeast Missouri. He settled in Chicago in 1939, and began teaming with Big Bill Broonzy in clubs soon afterward. In 1940 and 1941 he recorded two songs for Bluebird Records that became part of his repertoire for decades, "Beer Drinking Woman," and "Grinder Man Blues." These were released under the name "Memphis Slim," given to him by Bluebird's producer, Lester Melrose. Slim became a regular session musician for Bluebird, and his piano talents supported established stars such as John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, Washboard Sam, and Jazz Gillum. Many of Slim's recordings and performances until the mid-1940s were with guitarist and singer Broonzy, who had recruited Slim to be his piano player after Joshua Altheimer's death in 1940.

After World War II, Slim began leading bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump-blues, generally included saxophones, bass, drums, and piano. With the decline of blues recording by the majors, Slim worked with the emerging independent labels. Starting in late 1945, he recorded with trios for the small Chicago-based label Hy-Tone. With a lineup of alto saxophone, tenor sax, piano, and string bass (Willie Dixon played the instrument on the first session), he signed with the Miracle label in the fall of 1946. One of the numbers recorded at the first session was the ebuliient boogie "Rockin' the House," from which his band would take its name. Slim and the House Rockers recorded mainly for Miracle through 1949, enjoying commercial success. Among the songs they recorded were "Messin' Around" (which reached number one on the R&B charts in 1948 and "Harlem Bound." In 1947, the day after producing a concert by Slim, Broonzy, and Williamson at New York City's Town Hall, folklorist Alan Lomax brought the three musicians to the Decca studios and recorded with Slim's on vocal and piano. Lomax presented sections of this recording on BBC radio in the early 1950s as a documentary titled The Art of the Negro, and later released an expanded version as the LP Blues in the Mississippi Night. In 1949, Slim expanded his combo to a quintet by adding a drummer; the group was now spending most of its time on tour, leading to off-contract recording sessions for King in Cincinnati and Peacock in Houston.

One of Slim's 1947 recordings for Miracle, released in 1949, was originally titled "Nobody Loves Me." It has become famous as "Every Day I Have the Blues." The tune was recorded in 1950 by Lowell Fulson, and subsequently by a raft of artists including B. B. King, Elmore James, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Natalie Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix, Mahalia Jackson, Sarah Vaughan, Carlos Santana, and Lou Rawls. Joe Williams recorded it in 1952 for Checker; his remake from 1956 (included in Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings) was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1992. "Every Day I Have the Blues" is also seen in John Mayer's, Where The Light Is, a DVD (and CD) live recording in Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre featuring Steve Jordan (drums) and Pino Palladino (bass).

Early in 1950, Miracle succumbed to financial troubles, but its owners regrouped to form the Premium label, and Slim remained on board until the successor company faltered in the summer of 1951. His February 1951 session for Premium saw two changes in the House Rockers' lineup: Slim started using two tenor saxophones instead of the alto and tenor combination, and he made a trial of adding guitarist Ike Perkins. His last session for Premium kept the two-tenor lineup but dispensed with the guitar. During his time with Premium, Slim first recorded his song "Mother Earth."

Slim made just one session for King, but the company bought his Hy-Tone sides in 1948 and acquired his Miracle masters after that company went broke in 1950. He was never a Chess artist, but Leonard Chess bought most of the Premium masters after that company failed.

After a year with Mercury Records, Slim signed with United Records in Chicago; the A&R man, Lew Simpkins, knew him from Miracle and Premium. The timing was propitious, because he had just added Matt "Guitar" Murphy to his group. He remained with United through the end of 1954, when the company began to cut back on blues recording.

Slim's next steady relationship with a record company had to wait until 1958, when he was picked up by Vee-Jay. In 1959 his band, still featuring Matt "Guitar" Murphy, cut LP Memphis Slim at the Gate of the Horn, which featured a lineup of his best known songs, including "Mother Earth," "Gotta Find My Baby," "Rockin' the Blues," 'Steppin' Out," and "Slim's Blues."

Slim first appeared outside the United States in 1960, touring with Willie Dixon, with whom he returned to Europe in 1962 as a featured artist in the first of the series of American Folk Festival concerts organized by Dixon and promoter Willie Dixon that brought many notable blues artists to Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. The duo released several albums together on Folkways Records, including, Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon at the Village Gate with Pete Seeger, in 1962. That same year, he moved permanently to Paris and his engaging personality and well-honed presentation of playing, singing, and storytelling about the blues secured his position as the most prominent blues artist for nearly three decades. He appeared on television in numerous European countries, acted in several French films and wrote the score for another, and performed regularly in Paris, throughout Europe, and on return visits to the United States. In the last years of his life, he teamed up with respected jazz drummer George Collier. The two toured Europe together and became friends. After Collier died in August 1987, Slim appeared in public very little.

George's Son Matt Slepyan has carried on the tradition of his father and has become a widely respected singer. He has lead several well known bands covering tracks written and recorded by Memphis Slim. His most recent band is respected Soul/Funk band, The Interseptors. The Interseptors are popular all over the UK but particularly in the East of Kent, UK.

Two years before his death, Slim was named a Commander in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of France. In addition, the U.S. Senate honored Slim with the title of Ambassador-at-Large of Good Will.

Memphis Slim died on February 24, 1988, of renal failure in Paris, France, at the age of 72. He is buried at Galilee Memorial Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee.

In 1989, he was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.

Discography

Year	Title	Label
1959	Memphis Slim and the Real Boogie-Woogie	Folkways Records
1960	Memphis Slim and the Honky-Tonk Sound	Folkways Records
1960	Travelling with the Blues	Storyville
1960	Blue This Evening	Black Lion
1960	Pete Seeger at the Village Gate with Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon - Vol 1	Folkways Records
1960	Songs of Memphis Slim and "Wee Willie" Dixon	Folkways Records
1961	Tribute To Big Bill Broonzy	Candid
1961	Steady Rollin' Blues: The Blues Of Memphis Slim	OBC
1961	Memphis Slim U.S.A.	Candid
1961	Broken Soul Blues	Beat Goes On
1961	Alone With My Friends	Battle
1961	Chicago Blues: Boogie Woogie and Blues Played and Sung By Memphis Slim	Folkways Records
1961	Blues by Jazz Gillum Singing and Playing His Harmonica: With Arbee Stidham and Memphis Slim	Folkways Records
1961	No Strain	Bluesville
1962	Sonny Boy Williamson & Memphis Slim: In Paris	GNP Crescendo
1962	Pete Seeger at the Village Gate with Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon - Vol 2	Folkways Records
1962	Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon at the Village Gate with Pete Seeger	Folkways Records
1963	All Kinds of Blues	Bluesville
1963	Jazz In Paris: Aux Trois Mailletz	Polygram
1964	Clap Your Hands	Maison De Blues
1967	Bluesingly Yours	Maison De Blues
1968	Lord Have Mercy On Me	Maison De Blues
1969	The Bluesman	Maison De Blues
1969	Mother Earth	One Way Records
1970	The Blue Memphis Slim	Maison De Blues
1970	Messin' Around with the Blues: The Very Best Of	King
1971	Boogie Woogie	Maison De Blues
1971	Born With The Blues	Fuel 2000
1971	Blue Memphis	Wounded Bird
1972	South Side Reunion: Memphis Slim & Buddy Guy	Sunny Side
1973	Legacy of the Blues, Vol 7: Memphis Slim	Gnp Crescendo
1973	Memphis Slim	Storyville
1973	Soul Blues	Acrobat Records
1973	Raining the Blues	Fantasy
1973	Memphis Slim - Favorite Blues Singers	Folkways Records
1973	Very Much Alive and in Montreux	Universal International
1975	Going Back To Tennessee	Maison De Blues
1981	Rockin' the Blues	Charly
1981	Memphis Heat: Canned Heat & Memphis Slim	Sunny Side
1981	I'll Just Keep On Singin' the Blues	SLG, LLC
1990	Steppin' Out: Live at Ronnie Scotts	Castle Music UK
1990	Together Again One More Time/Still Not Ready For Eddie	Texas Music Group
1990	Parisian Blues	Polygram
1992	Blues Masters Vol 9: Memphis Slim
1994	The Blues Collection Vol 13: Beer Drinkin' Woman	ADD
1994	Lonesome	Legacy International
1994	Live at the Hot Club	BMG International
1995	Boogie After Midnight	Chicago Music Co.
1996	The Complete Recordings, Vol. 1: 1940-1941 (Peter Chatman As Memphis Slim)	EPM Musique
1996	Come Back & Other Classics	Masters Intercontinental
1996	The Bluebird Recordings, 1940-1941	RCA
1998	Lonely Nights	Catfish
1998	Very Best of Memphis Slim: The Blues Is Everywhere	Collectables
1999	Life Is Like That	Charly UK
2000	The Folkways Years, 1959-1973	Smithsonian Folkways
2000	Blues At Midnight	Catfish
2000	Memphis Slim at the Gate of the Horn	Vee-Jay
2001	The Complete Recordings, Vol. 2: 1946-1948	EPM Musique
2001	Essential Masters	Cleopatra
2001	Blue and Lonesome	Arpeggio Blues
2002	The Complete Recordings, Vol. 3: 1948-1950	EPM Musique
2002	I Am The Blues	Prestige Elite
2002	Kansas City	Classic World
2002	Boogie For My Friends	Black & Blue France
2002	The Come Back	Delmark
2003	Three Women Blues
2003	The Complete Recordings, Vol 4: 1951-1952	EPM Musique
2004	Worried Life Blues
2004	Grinder Man Blues	Snapper UK
2004	The Best of Memphis Slim	Liquid 8
2005	Boogie For 2 Pianos Vol 1: Memphis Slim & Jean-Paul Amouroux
2005	Paris Mississippi Blues	Sunny Side
2005	Double-Barreled Boogie: Memphis Slim & Roosvelt Sykes	Sunny Side
2006	Forty Years of More	Passport Audio
2006	Memphis Suite	Sunny Side
2006	Rockin' This House: Chicago Blues Piano 1946-1953 (CDs A&B)	JSP Records
2006	The Sonet Blues Story	Verve Records
2007	The Ultimate Jazz Archive 14 1940-41 (1 Of 4)	Carinco AG
2007	Sings the Blues	Wnts
2008	Greatest Moments	Stardust
2008	Four Walls	Jukebox Entertainment
2008	Born To Boogie	Unlimited Media

See also

• Chicago Blues Festival
• List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart
• List of number-one rhythm and blues hits (United States)
• R&B number-one hits of 1948 (USA)
• Blues Hall of Fame
• List of Storyville Records artists
• List of people from Memphis
• Piano blues
• List of blues musicians

External links

• Music Match Memphis Slim
• Memphis Slim biography and discography at Allmusic website
• Memphis Slim discography on Folkways Records
• Memphis Slim obituary from the New York Times