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LP
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RUM 2011073LP
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Compiling superb early singles from Lightnin' Slim recorded for Excello, Bell Ringer is an essential collection of some of the Louisiana bluesman's finest material. Singing with a sort of pure clarity and conviction he never matched later in his career, and playing with an urgency and electrifying power on the guitar rarely heard from anybody, this title and Rooster Blues (also available from Rumble) may be the only Slim recordings anyone needs. He never matched the high of these classic '50s blues side and, quite honestly, neither did most of his blues contemporaries. Another absolute giant of American blues on Rumble!
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LP
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RUM 2011064LP
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Louisiana bluesman Lightnin' Slim (née Otis V. Hicks) began entertaining bar patrons in his native Baton Rouge in the 1940s. By the '50s he was releasing singles on the now-legendary Excello label (the blues division of Nashville-based Nashboro). This album, his first full-length, appeared in 1960 and compiles many of those classic '50s sides. Slim plays a searing electric here and is often accompanied by his brother-in-law, Slim Harpo, on the harmonica, along with a full, rollicking rhythm section heavily influenced by the R&B coming out of NOLA at the time. Lightnin' Slim deserves a place alongside the more often mentioned blues legends of the '50s, like Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Howlin' Wolf; for proof, one needs to look no further than this excellent debut album.
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