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Harlem Slim
To say that Harlem Slim is an enigma is to slightly understate the case. Little is known about the Houston resident’s background, other than that he was born in the New York area in the 1950s, and got into Delta blues and ragtime at a very early age. But as anyone who’s heard him play will tell you, Harlem Slim’s background doesn’t really matter; what matters is the glorious music that he coaxes out of his National Reso-Phonic guitars.
Profoundly influenced by the likes of Robert Johnson, Johnny Shines, Blind Willie McTell, Blind Boy Fuller and Blind Blake, Harlem Slim is deeply dedicated to the preservation of 1920s and ‘30s-style acoustic blues. His debut CD, Delta Blues & Piedmont Ragtime, features note-perfect renditions of classics by Johnson, Shines, McTell, Bukka White and W.C. Handy, as well as some impressive compositions of his own.
"Delta Thug Shakedown," the opening track from Delta Blues & Piedmont Ragtime, is a Harlem Slim original. A thumping boogie that showcases Slim’s bottleneck skills, the instrumental ably delivers all the attitude implicit in its title. Like the rest of the record, it’s completely unaccompanied and unfettered by any other instruments; the focus is squarely placed on Slim’s nimble fingers, which say more in three minutes than some folks say in a month of Sundays.
-- Dan Epstein
Dan Epstein is a Los Angeles-based journalist and pop-culture historian whose work has appeared in L.A. Weekly, BAM, Raygun, Guitar World and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. His first book, Twentieth Century Pop Culture, was published in 1999 by Carlton Books.
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