LIGHTNIN' SLIM Rooster Blues EXCELLO LP8000 orig BEAUTY

$

534

ARTIST: LIGHTNIN' SLIM (1913 -1974)
TITLE: ROOSTER BLUES
RECORD LABEL: EXCELLO RECORDS L.P.8000. Made in USA by NASHBORO RECORD CO., INC, Nashville, Tenn. Original orange label; "Sheldon" inscribed in dead wax on both sides. MONO Vinyl.

DESCRIPTION: Electric Swamp Blues
  

From various Web sources:
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The acknowledged kingpin of the Louisiana school of blues, Lightnin' Slim's style was built 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 Lightnin's electric guitar, and secondly by the sound of the local Crowley 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, the formula was a successful one, scoring him regional hits that were issued on the Nashville-based Excello label for over a decade, with one of them, "Rooster Blues," making the national RB charts in 1959. Combining the country ambience of a Lightnin' Hopkins with the plodding insistence of a Muddy Waters, Slim's music remained uniquely his own, the perfect blues raconteur, even when reshaping other's material to his dark, somber style. He also possessed one of the truly great voices of the blues; 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 catchphrases 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, Missouri 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 de-tuned 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, working club dates and broadcasting over the radio together. It was local disc jockey Ray "Diggy Do" Meaders who then persuaded Miller to record him. He recorded for 12 years as an Excello artist, starting out originally on Miller's Feature label. As the late '60s found Lightnin' Slim 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.

- Cub Koda, All Music Guide
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An excellent example of what a Blues album should be, Rooster Blues showcases the fine vocals and amazing guitar playing of Lightnin' Slim. An upbeat array of songs that will have you tapping your feet and singing along. This is a great album to listen to right after waking up, and is an outstanding representative as to how life-affirming the Blues can be. I can't recommend this enough.
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I grew up out in the edge of the bottomland country up from Memphis and hit puberty on Slim, Reed, Hooker, Hopkins, Waters,and Williamson. Slim even made the white juke box in town with "GI Slim". I remember being in a farm house at a party drinking my first bootleg bourbon, and dancing to "Mighty Crazy", fingers hooked through my belt loops - I must have been 13. I hadn't heard the Wolf yet so Slim was it and that raw upbeat blues with the harp (Lazy Lester) and some sour mash and a female with a cigarette dangling, thrusting her pelvis at me..me!!..heaven could wait! And it's still there just as raw and powerful. Slim is an overlooked gem if you're into the genre and there's nothing quite like the La. Swamp blues - country electrified, rough edged. If you are a blues fan,its required listening...and evil,mean and funny!!! As Slim would say, Blow your harmonica, Son!!"

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CONDITION:
VINYL (play- & visually graded): VG+, lots of glossy vinyl, very slight surface noise, soft tick on SWEET LITTLE WOMAN, other light scuffs and inaudible marks.     Label in excellent condition, spindle hole undamaged.
COVER: VG(+), light rw, some cw, bottom right corner split 1/4", couple of minor creases evident.
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