Lightnin' Slim

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Lightnin' Slim

| image = File:American_blues_guitarist_Lightnin'_Slim.png

| caption = Lightnin' Slim in 1972

| image_size =

| background = solo_singer

| birth_name = Otis Verries Hicks

| alias =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1913|3|13}}

| birth_place = Good Pine, Louisiana, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1974|7|27|1913|3|13}}

| death_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

| instrument = {{hlist|Guitar|vocals}}

| genre = {{hlist|Louisiana blues|swamp blues}}

| occupation = {{hlist|Musician|songwriter}}

| years_active = 1940s–1973

| label = {{hlist|Excello|Stateside|Flyright Ace}}

| associated_acts =

| website =

}}

Otis Verries Hicks (March 13, 1913 – July 27, 1974),{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues: A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger| location= Santa Barbara, California| pages=305| isbn= 978-0313344237}} known as Lightnin' Slim, was an American blues musician who played Louisiana blues and swamp blues for Excello Records.{{cite book |first= Paul |last= Du Noyer | year= 2003 | title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music | publisher= Flame Tree | location= London| isbn= 1-904041-96-5| page= 181}}

Biography

According to most sources, Otis Hicks was born on a farm outside St. Louis, Missouri,{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lightnin-slim-mn0000220710/biography | title=Lightnin' Slim – Biography | last=Koda | first=Cub | authorlink=Cub Koda | website=AllMusic | access-date=October 21, 2013}} but the researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc stated, on the basis of his draft card, that he was born in Good Pine, Louisiana. Prison records from Louisiana State Penitentiary discovered by researcher Gene Tomko also corroborate his birthplace as Good Pine, Louisiana.{{Cite book|last=Tomko|first=Gene|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZKzDwAAQBAJ|title=Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians: Jazz, Blues, Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, Swamp Pop, and Gospel|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-0807169322|location=Baton Rouge|pages=161–162}} He moved to Baton Rouge at the age of 13. Taught the rudiments of guitar playing by his father and older brother Layfield, Slim was playing in bars in Baton Rouge by the late 1940s.{{cite web |url=http://www.thebluestrail.com/artists/mus-lslim.htm |title=Lightnin' Slim / Otis Hicks |author= |date= |publisher=Thebluestrail.com |access-date=November 19, 2011}} In the 1930s and early 1940s, Lightnin' Slim served time in Louisiana State Penitentiary (often known as 'Angola') for manslaughter.

His first recording was "Bad Luck" ("If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all"), released by J. D. "Jay" Miller's Feature Records in 1954.{{cite book

| first= Tony

| last= Russell

| year= 1997

| title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray

| edition=

| publisher= Carlton Books

| location= Dubai

| pages= 135–6

| isbn= 1-85868-255-X}} Miller gave him the stage name "Lightnin' Slim".{{cite book

| first= John

| last= Broven

| year= 1992

| title= South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous

| edition= 1st

| publisher= Pelican Publishing

| location= Gretna

| page= 123

| isbn= 978-08828-96-083}} Slim then recorded for Excello Records for 12 years, starting in the mid-1950s, often collaborating with his brother-in-law Slim Harpo and with the harmonica player Lazy Lester.

Slim stopped performing the blues for a time and eventually worked in a foundry in Pontiac, Michigan,{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} as a result of which his hands were constantly exposed to high temperatures. He was rediscovered by Fred Reif in 1970, in Pontiac, where he was living in a rented room at Slim Harpo's sister's house. Reif soon got him back performing again and a new recording contract with Excello, this time through Bud Howell, then the president of the company. His first engagement was a reunion concert in 1971 at the University of Chicago Folk Festival with Lazy Lester, whom Reif had brought from Baton Rouge in January of that year.

In the 1970s, Slim performed on tours in Europe, including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, for which he was often accompanied by Moses "Whispering" Smith on harmonica. He last toured the UK in 1973, with the American Blues Legends package organised by Big Bear Records.{{cite book

| first= John

| last= Tobler

| year= 1992

| title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years

| edition=

| publisher= Reed International Books

| location= London

| page= 266

| id= CN 5585}}

In July 1974, Slim died of stomach cancer in Detroit, Michigan, aged 61. He was interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Pontiac, Michigan.

Discography

=Singles=

class="wikitable sortable"

Year of release

!A-side

!B-side

!Record label

1954

|"Bad Luck"

|"Rock Me Mama"

|Feature Records

1954

|"New Orleans Bound"

|"I Can't Live Happy"

|Feature Records

1954

|"Bugger Bugger Boy"

|"Ethel Mae"

|Feature Records

1955

|"Bad Feeling Blues"

|"Lightnin' Slim Boogie"

|Ace Records

1955

|"I Can't Be Successful"

|"Lightnin' Blues"

|Excello Records

1956

|"Sugar Plum"

|"Just Made Twenty-One"

|Excello Records

1956

|"Goin' Home"

|"Wonderin' and Goin'"

|Excello Records

1957

|"Bad Luck and Trouble"

|"Have Your Way"

|Excello Records

1957

|"Mean Ole Lonesome Train"

|"I'm Grown"

|Excello Records

1957

|"I'm a Rollin' Stone"

|"Love Me Mama"

|Excello Records

1957

|"Hoo-Doo Blues"

|"It's Mighty Crazy"

|Excello Records

1958

|"My Starter Won't Work"

|"Long Meanie Mama"

|Excello Records

1959

|"I'm Leavin' You Baby"

|"Feelin' Awful Blue"

|Excello Records

1959

|"Sweet Little Woman"

|"Lightnin's Troubles"

|Excello Records

1959

|"Rooster Blues"

|{{"'}}G.I.' Slim"

|Excello Records

1959

|"Tom Cat Blues"

|"Bed Bug Blues"

|Excello Records

1960

|"Too Close Blues"

|"My Little Angel Chile"

|Excello Records

1960

|"Cool Down Baby"

|"Nothin' but the Devil"

|Excello Records

1961

|"I Just Don't Know"

|"Somebody's Knocking"

|Excello Records

1961

|"I'm Tired Waitin' Baby"

|"Hello Mary Lee"

|Excello Records

1962

|"Mind Your Own Business"

|"You're Old Enough to Understand"

|Excello Records

1962

|"I'm Warning You Baby"

|"Winter Time Blues"

|Excello Records

1963

|"I'm Evil"

|"If You Ever Need Me"

|Excello Records

1963

|"Loving Around the Clock"

|"You Know You're So Fine"

|Excello Records

1963

|"Blues at Night"

|"Don't Mistreat Me Baby"

|Excello Records

1964

|"The Strangest Feeling"

|"You Give Me the Blues"

|Excello Records

1964

|"She's My Crazy Little Baby"

|"Greyhound Blues"

|Excello Records

1964

|"Baby Please Come Back"

|"You Move Me Baby"

|Excello Records

1964

|"Have Mercy on Me Baby"

|"I've Been a Fool for You Darlin'"

|Excello Records

1965

|"Can't Live This Life No More"

|"Bad Luck BLues"

|Excello Records

1965

|"Don't Start Me Talkin'"

|"Darling, You're the One"

|Excello Records

1965

|"Love is Just a Gamble"

|"I Hate to See You Leave"

|Excello Records

1965

|"Just a Lonely Stranger"

|"Goin' Away Blues"

|Excello Records

1972

|"My Babe"

|"Good Morning Heartaches"

|Excello Records

1972

|"Just a Little Bit"

|"You're Old Enough to Understand" /
"Mind Your Own Business"

|Blue Horizon Records

{{Cite web|url=https://www.wirz.de/music/lighslim.htm|title=Illustrated Lightnin' Slim discography|website=Wirz.de|access-date=May 29, 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/805080-Lightning-Slim|title=Lightning Slim Discography |website=Discogs.com|access-date=May 29, 2024}}

=Albums=

Rooster Blues, Excello LPS-8000 (1960); CD release: Hip-O/MCA 40134, with three bonus tracks (1998)
Authentic R & B, three tracks, with various artists, Stateside SL-10068 (1963)
The Real R & B, two tracks, with various artists, Stateside SL-10112 (1964)
A Long Drink of Blues, six tracks (all of side one), compilation album with Slim Harpo, Stateside SL-10135 (1964)
Lightnin' Slim's Bell Ringer, Excello LPS-8004 (1965); CD release: Ace Records #CDCHD-517 (1994)
The Real Blues, one track, with various artists, Excello LPS-8011 (1969)
High & Low Down, Excello LPS-8018 (1971) and Sonet SNTF-770 (1978); CD release: Ace Records #CDCHD-578 (1994)
That's All Right, Quicksilver QS-5062 (1983), reissue of Excello LPS-8018
London Gumbo, Excello LPS-8023 (1972) and Sonet SNTF-757 (1978)
The Excello Story, three tracks, with various artists, Excello LPS-8025 (1972), Two-LP set
Montreux Blues Festival, 10 tracks, with various artists, Excello LPS-8026 (1972), Two-LP set
American Blues Legends '73, two tracks, with various artists, Big Bear Records BEAR20; Polydor 2460 186 (1973)
The Early Years, Flyright FLYLP-524 (1976)
Trip to Chicago, Flyright FLYLP-533 (1978)
The Feature Sides 1954, Flyright FLYLP-583 (1981)
We Gotta Rock Tonight, Flyright FLYLP-612 (1986)

=CD compilations=

Rollin' Stone, Flyright FLYCD-08 (1989)
King of the Swamp Blues 1954–1961, Flyright FLYCD-47 (1992)
Blue Lightning, Indigo Records IGOCD-2002 (1992)
I'm Evil: Rare & Unissued Excello Masters, Volume One, Excello/AVI 3002 (1994)
It's Mighty Crazy!, Ace Records CDCHD-587 (1995)
Nothin' but the Devil, Ace Records CDCHD-616 (1996)
Winter Time Blues (The Later Excello Sessions 1962–1965), Ace Records CDCHD-674 (1998)
The Best of Lightnin' Slim, Hip-O/MCA 12010 (1999)
I'm a Rolling Stone: The Singles As & Bs 1954–1962 Centenary Edition, Jasmine JASMCD-3045 (2015), Two-CD set

References

External links

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T4XSCeek9w Alternate take on "Bad Luck" (1954)] at YouTube
[https://www.discogs.com/artist/805080-Lightning-Slim Lightnin' Slim] at Discogs.com
[https://mail.45worlds.com/78rpm/record/2096 Lightnin' Slim] at 45worlds.com

Category:1913 births

Category:1974 deaths

Category:20th-century African-American male singers

Category:20th-century American guitarists

Category:20th-century American male singers

Category:20th-century American singers

Category:Ace Records (United States) artists

Category:African-American guitarists

Category:Alive Naturalsound Records artists

Category:American blues guitarists

Category:American blues singers

Category:American male guitarists