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MAGIC SLIM & THE TEARDROPS FEAT. BIG TIME SARAH (USA)
Friday, July 4th, 22.00

Magic Slim - guitar, vocals
John McDonald- rhythm guitar, vocals
Danny O'Conner - bass
Vernal Taylor - drums

Big Time Sarah - vocals

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Magic Slim & the Teardrops..

	W.C. HANDY AWARD!
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MAGIC SLIM
stands as the greatest living proponent of the intense, electrified, Mississippi-to-Chicago blues style that spawned so much of the music played by modern blues artists and rockers. The mostly original selections on "Snakebite," Slim's new release on Blind Pig Records, comprise some of the most exciting, hardest-driving music he and the Teardrops have ever recorded.
Magic Slim was born Morris Holt in Torrence, Mississippi, on August 7, 1937. He took an early interest in music, singing in the church choir and fashioning a guitar for himself with baling wire which he nailed to the wall. His first love was the piano, but having lost the little finger on his right hand in a cotton gin accident he found it difficult to play properly. Undaunted, he simply switched to guitar, working in the cotton fields during the week and playing the blues at house parties on weekends.

When he was 11, Holt moved to Grenada, Mississippi, where he met and became friends with Magic Sam, who gave him a few pointers on guitar. Slim recalls, "We used to sit up under the tree Sunday afternoons and play our little acoustic guitars. Magic Sam told me don't try to play like him, don't try to play like nobody. Get a sound of your own." And that he did-a trademark guitar tone, featuring the meanest vibrato in blues, coupled with the raw, earthy power in his vocals.

Years later the two would hook up again in Chicago, where Sam would have a major influence on Slim's career. When Slim made his first trip to Chicago in 1955, Sam offered his friend encouragement, letting Slim play bass in his band and even giving the then lanky Magic Slim his nickname. But Slim found it rough going on the highly competitive blues scene and returned, discouraged, to Mississippi to perfect his craft. Demonstrating his characteristic determination, Slim spent the next five years practicing guitar and teaching his younger brothers. Nick and Douglas (Lee Baby) to play bass and drums respectively.
Confident in his abilities, Slim returned to Chicago and established himself as a formidable player on the scene. In 1967 Slim put his own band together called the Teardrops, which included his younger brothers. In 1972 he began playing regularly at a tiny South Side club called Florence's, initially filling in for Hound Dog Taylor on occasion and eventually taking over the gig when Hound Dog left the club for a safer and more lucrative career on the road. Slim's aggressive, boisterous style was the perfect compliment to the often rowdy atmosphere at Florence's.

In the mid-70's Slim began to hit his stride as a guitarist, performer, bandleader, and recording artist, launching a career that has taken him across the country and overseas to national and international recognition. He began touring Europe, where his rough and tumble authenticity was well appreciated. By the late 80's he was also touring Japan and South America. On his first trip to Brazil in 1989, he became an instant hero, appearing on television, in a dozen magazine articles and every major newspaper in the country. The press said he stole the show from the likes of Buddy Guy, Etta James, and Albert Collins. Upon his return to Brazil in 1990, he toured four cities, selling out all shows.

Slim's recording career began with the 1966 recording of the song "Scufflin", followed by a number of singles in the mid-70's. He recorded his first album in 1977, "Born Under A Bad Sign," for the French MCM label and in 1978 "Highway Is My Home" for another French label, Black and Blue (since reissued by Evidence). Further releases appeared in the '80's on Alligator, Rooster Blues and Wolf Records.

Slim's first album on Blind Pig Records, "Gravel Road," was released in 1990. Its title track was one of the first tunes he learned to play on his baling wire guitar in Mississippi. The album was well received by the press, garnering a passel of glowing reviews and landing on several year-end Top 10 lists. Billboard Magazine said, "The well-traveled Chicago blues singer/guitarist is near the top of his form on this delightful album, which comes close to capturing the late-night ambience of Slim's live set." In 1996, Slim's career came full-circle with the Blind Pig release "Scufflin',"the title track being a remake of the song which began his recording career thirty years earlier. Living Blues called it "No frills houserockin' blues unadulterated by ego-tripping guest stars, leaden horn charts or limp studio bands... it should bring a smile to the face of even the most jaded listener." Option Magazine named it "One of 1996's best sets of gritty, down-home blues." 1998's "Black Tornado" was released to similar accolades in both the blues and mainstream press. An A.P. syndicated review noted that "Magic Slim has never been better than on "Black Tornado" and that is a lot to say." Downbeat Magazine's review called Slim "a true all star; a guitarist of considerable authority whose lines snap like a crocodile's mighty jaw and a singer with a persuasive capacity for wrenching everybit of emotion 'Hil out of his lyrics."

Slim's live performances have become legendary. Standing well over six feet, Slim cuts a commanding figure on stage, prowling the boards in his large cowboy hat, filling the room with his slash and burn guitar and booming vocals. Slim has an encyclopedic repertoire of hundreds of blues songs in his head, giving the live shows a charming impromptu quality. Although personnel in the band has changed over the years, Slim's brother Nick is still playing bass, laying down those pounding lines that are integral to the Teardrops sound.
"Snakebite," Slims fourth album for Blind Pig Records, is a studio effort that captures the fierceness and the fun of being there, live. The title track is a nod to one of Slims mentors, the late Hound Dog Taylor. "Shake It" is pure rock 'n roll, Chuck Berry style, while "Please Don't Dog Me," is a slow, sensuous blues, Magic Slim style. He motors on back to the Delta with Muddy Waters' "Country Boy" and up to Memphis for the Little Milton tune, "Lump on Your Stump".

Always generous in sharing the spotlight, Slim gives up the driver's seat to brother Nick, who wrote and sings along with him on the truly funky "Key to Your Door" and rhythm guitarist Michael Dotson who provides soulful, rock energy on his tune "Lonesome Trouble." Much like his live performances. Slim comments on the action throughout, slipping occasionally into a feral, Howlin' Wolf-like voice. In the midst of talking to his cheating woman on "Baby Please Don't Dog Me," Slim growls, "...and you know it makes me mad!" The Wolf would approve.
"Snakebite" packs a walloping punch of ferocious guitar work, sandpaper rough vocals, and enough blues power to burn a fire extin-guisherfactorytothe ground. It shows why many consider Magic Slim & the Teardrops to be "the last real Chicago blues band."

BIG TIME SARAH

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