Sunnyland Slim
| Sunnyland Slim | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Albert Luandrew |
| Born | September 5, 1906 Quitman County, near Vance, Mississippi |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Blues |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1920s–1990s |
| Labels | Hy-Tone, Aristocrat, RCA Victor, Opera, Mercury Tempo-Tone, Apollo, JOB, Sunny, Regal, Blue Lake, Club 51, Cobra, LaSalle, Miss, Prestige, Earwig Music |
| Associated acts | Muddy Waters |
Albert "Sunnyland Slim" Luandrew (September 5, 1906 – March 17, 1995)[1] was an American blues pianist, who was born in the Mississippi Delta, and later moved to Chicago, Illinois, to contribute to that city's post-war scene as a center for blues music.[2] Chicago broadcaster and writer Studs Terkel said Sunnyland Slim was "a living piece of our folk history, gallantly and eloquently carrying on in the old tradition."[3]
Biography
Sunnyland Slim was born on a farm in Quitman County, near Vance, Mississippi.[1][3] He moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1925, where he performed with many of the popular blues musicians of the day. His stage name came from a song he composed about the Sunnyland train that ran between Memphis and St. Louis, Missouri.[3] In 1942 he followed the great migration of southern workers to the industrial north in Chicago.
At that time the electric blues was taking shape there, and through the years Sunnyland Slim played with such musicians as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf,[4] Robert Lockwood, Jr., and Little Walter.[3] His piano style is characterised by heavy basses or vamping chords in the left hand and tremolos with his right. His voice was loud and he sang in a declamatory style.[5]
Sunnyland Slim's first recording was as a singer with Jump Jackson's band on the Specialty label in September 1946. His first recordings as a leader were on the Hy-Tone and Aristocrat labels in late 1947.[6] Slim continued performing until his death in 1995.
He released one record on RCA Victor using the moniker "Dr. Clayton's Buddy": "Illinois Central" b/w "Sweet Lucy Blues" (Victor 20-2733).
In the late 1960s, Slim became friends with Canned Heat and played piano on the track "Turpentine Moan" on the album Boogie with Canned Heat. In turn, members of Canned Heat - lead guitarist Henry Vestine, slide guitarist Alan Wilson and bassist Larry Taylor - guested on Sunnyland Slim's Liberty Records album Slim's Got His Thing Goin' On (1968), which also featured Mick Taylor.
In 1988 Sunnyland Slim was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship.[3]
He died in March 1995 in Chicago, after complications from renal failure, at the age of 88.[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. "Blues pianist and singer Sunnyland Slim was born Albert Luandrew in Vance, Mississippi, September 5, 1906 (most sources say 1907, but the Social Security Death Index and 1920 census data give the date as 1906)."
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
- Articles with hCards
- 1906 births
- 1995 deaths
- People from Quitman County, Mississippi
- American blues pianists
- Blues Hall of Fame inductees
- Blues musicians from Mississippi
- African-American musicians
- Chicago blues musicians
- Delta blues musicians
- National Heritage Fellowship winners
- Deaths from renal failure
- 20th-century pianists
- 20th-century American musicians
