Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Popular and prolific, Bumble Bee Slim parlayed a familiar but rudimentary style into one of the earliest flowerings of the Chicago style. Much of what he performed he adapted from the groundbreaking duo Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell – Slim built on Carr's laconic, relaxed vocal style and Blackwell's guitar technique. During the mid-'30s, Bumble Bee Slim recorded a number of sides for a variety of labels, including Bluebird, Vocalion, and Decca, becoming one of the most-recorded bluesmen of the decade.Born in Georgia, Bumble Bee Slim left his home when he was a teenager. He joined a circus and travelled thorughout the south and the Midwest for much of his adolescence and early adulthood. Eventually, he made a home in Indianapolis, where he played local parties and dance halls.Bumble Bee Slim moved to Chicago in the early '30s. After a few years in the city, he began a recording career; his first singles appeared on Bluebird. Slim wrote and recorded frequently during the mid-'30s, selling more records than most of his contemporaries. In addition to cutting his own sides, he played on records by Big Bill Broonzy and Cripple Clarence Lofton, among others.Bumble Bee Slim moved back to Georgia in the late '30s. After a few years, he left the state once again, relocating to Los Angeles in the early '40s. During the '50s, Slim cut some West Coast blues for Specialty and Pacific Jazz, which failed to gain much interest. For the rest of his career, he kept a low profile, playing various Californian clubs. Bumble Bee Slim died in 1968.–by Cub Koda

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Like many other Southern blues musicians looking for work during the Depression, Bumble Bee Slim (aka Amos Easton) made his way to the industrial cities of the northern Mississippi. From Chicago to Detroit, Slim and his contemporaries molded the easygoing sound of Southern, rural blues to the complex and sonorous backdrop of the metropolis, and, in the process, laid the groundwork for the electric blues revolution of the '40s and '50s. Wolf Records' compilation 1934-1937 includes many of the Georgia native's prime cuts from this time, and spotlights the blues luminaries who backed him up. Big Bill Broonzy, Tampa Red, Memphis Minnie, and Black Bob standout on fine tracks like "When Somebody Loses" and "New Orleans Stop Time," producing an ensemble sound that combines the rough feel of Delta blues with the tighter sound of the Chicago style. This sophisticated blend reaches an apex in the excellent work of boogie-woogie piano master Albert Ammons and guitarist Lonnie Johnson on "I'm Having So Much Trouble." With his Leroy Carr-inspired, easygoing voice, Slim expertly oversees the fine backing, infusing his many tales of a rough and rambling life with humor and even a sense of detachment ("When The Music Sounds Good" includes a parody of the kind of uptight, white producer Slim, no doubt, ran into). In addition to Document Records' 1931-1937, this Wolf title provides a nice introduction to the music of Bumble Bee Slim. For fans who want all of Slim's sides, there's Document's Complete Recorded Works series.–by Stephen Cook

1. Burned Down Mill 3:14
2. You Can't Take it, Baby 2:54
3. Bleeding Heart Blues 2:43
4. Policy Dream Blues 2:56
5. Right From Wrong 3:04
6. Hay Lawdy Mama 2:58
7. Steady Roll Mama Blues 3:34
8. When the Sun Goes Down 2:48
9. Cold Blooded Murder No 2 2:58
10. How Long How Long Blues 2:46
11. When Somebody Loses 2:59
12. Ramblin' with That Woman 3:01
13. New Orleans Stop Time 3:03
14. When the Music Sounds Good 2:58
15. New Bricks in My Pillow 2:46
16. Ant Time at Night 3:05
17. Slave Man Blues 2:59
18. Green Country Gal 2:57
19. My Big Moments 3:15
20. Big Six 2:59
21. Rough Treatment 2:44
22. I'm Having So Much Trouble 2:59
23. Going Back to Florida 3:00

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Released on CD as part of DA Music's Story of the Blues series, this CD features Bumble Bee Slim (aka Amos Easton), one of the more popular blues vocalists of the 1930s. This is an excellent overview of his early work. With the assistance of pianists Jimmy Gordon, Myrtle Jackson and Black Bob, guitarist Big Bill Broonzy and many unknown musicians, Slim (who also plays guitar on the solo "No Woman No Nickel") dispalys a likable delivery and an easy-to-understand enunciation on the set of vintage acoustic Chicago blues. A fine sampling.–by Scott Yanow

1. No Woman, No Nickel 3:27
2. Squalling Panther Blues 3:37
3. Bye Bye Baby Blues 3:10
4. Deep Bass Boogie 3:02
5. Climbing on Top of the Hill 2:59
6. Right from Wrong 3:07
7. Can't You Trust Me No More 3:22
8. I Done Lost My Baby 3:16
9. Steady Roll Mama Blues 3:37
10. How Long, How Long Blues 2:47
11. You Don't Mean Me No Good 2:39
12. Must I Keep on Crying 2:59
13. Letter Writing 3:10
14. Slave Man Blues 3:01
15. Rising River Blues 3:15
16. 12 O'Clock Midnight 2:58
17. You Brought Me Back 3:05
18. Going Back to Florida 3:08

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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The first of nine releases devoted to Slim's music. As with many Document releases, the sound is pretty uneven. But considering that "Rough Rugged Road Blues," and recorded in October of 1931, was one of the last sides ever issued by Paramount, and that no copies were known to exist until 1992, one has to live with the considerable surface noise on that number, and on "Honey Bee Blues," and the even worse sound on "Stumbling Block Blues" and "Yo Yo String Blues" (on which one can barely tell that a song is there beneath the scratchiness). "Chain Gang Bound," by comparison, sounds almost like a modern recording, despite dating from exactly the same era. The six Paramount sides here are the only recordings here on which Slim played his own guitar, and his style is clean and engaging, with some very deft slide playing in evidence. The other cuts, mostly for Vocalion, generally sound considerably better and were recorded with piano accompaniment, or a band with piano and guitars, and they have a more sophisticated urban sound, anticipating R&B more than they resemble Slim's earlier rural-style songs. His vocals are also considerably more expressive and show a far greater range. Slim's Vocalion debut, "Greasy Greens" and "I'm Waiting On You," cut in New York, are remarkable performances for 1932. His subsequent sides were all cut in Chicago, and are more readily identifiable with that city's then-burgeoning blues tradition – none of the Chicago sides are quite as unexpected as the four New York sides, but they're all eminently listenable. The eight sides cut by Bumble Bee Slim & His Three Sharks – a pretty fair band featuring piano, guitar, and mandolin – features "Someday Things Will Be Breaking My Way," a song more familiar to modern listeners as "Sitting On Top of the World" and immortalized by Albert King and Cream. "Runnin' Drunk Blues" is a delightful, sprightly rag; and on the latest songs on this volume, the guitar returns to the fore, most notably on "Dead and Gone Mother," which features three guitars.–by Bruce Eder

1. Rough Rugged Road Blues 3:14
2. No Woman No Nickel 3:31
3. Stumbling Block Blues 2:46
4. Chain Gang Bound 3:37
5. Yo Yo String Blues 3:28
6. Honey Bee Blues 3:22
7. Greasy Greens 2:57
8. I`m Waitin` On You 3:02
9. B And O Blues 3:04
10. Queen Bee Blues 3:19
11. M And O Blues - Part I 3:06
12. M And O Blues - Part II 2:35
13. Someday Things Will Be Breaking My Way 3:13
14. Baby So Long 2:58
15. Lost Confidence Blues 3:24
16. The New B And O Blues 3:21
17. Wrecked Life Blues 3:00
18. Runnin` Drunk Blues 3:14
19. East St. Louis Blues 3:13
20. Busy Devil 3:15
21. Squalling Panther Blues 3:25
22. Sail On, Little Girl, Sail On 3:21
23. Dead And Gone Mother 3:00

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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1. Step Child 3:13
2. Sad And Lonesome 3:22
3. Bye Bye Baby Blues 3:07
4. Cruel Hearted Woman Blues - Part 1 2:35
5. Cruel Hearted Woman Blues - Part 2 2:36
6. The Longest Day You Live - Part 1 3:02
7. Cruel Hearted Woman Blues - Part 2 2:47
8. Deep Bass Boogie 2:58
9. Blue Blues 3:19
10. Rough Road Blues 2:40
11. New Mean Mistreater Blues 3:27
12. Climbing On The Top Of The Hill 2:54
13. Ain't It A Crying Shame ? 3:03
14. Bad Gal (Take A) 2:53
15. Bad Gal (Take 2) 3:01
16. I Tried Everything I Could (Take A) 2:59
17. Sail On Little Girl No. 2 3:03
18. Aching Pain Blues 3:00
19. Cold-Blooded Murder 3:00
20. Burned Down Mill (Take A) 3:08
21. Burned Down Mill (Take B) 3:07
22. Mean Mistreatin' Woman 2:55
23. Worrisome Woman Blues 3:15
24. Mean Bad Man Blues 3:09
25. Muddy Water Blues 2:49

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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The opening six songs on this volume, which covers the period from November 1934 until April 1935, are decidedly different in texture from much of the material that preceded them in Slim's output. With no more than a guitar or two and perhaps a mandolin backing him up, his music leans less toward the kind of urban R&B sound that his early Vocalion tracks did. The playing is superb, with Carl Martin and Ted Bogan showing off a special virtuosity, while Slim's vocals are brilliantly expressive. The sound is rather rough on some of the material here, leading one to believe that there aren't many copies around of several of these songs – "Way Down In Georgia" and "There You Stand" would not pass muster for release on most labels, being nearly inaudible amid their extreme surface noise. When Slim resumed his piano-based recording in early 1935, he took on a more sophisticated and less rural sound, and his voice became stronger in this mode, far more expressive and involved, alternately playful, sly, or mournful. The guitar accompaniment on some of the late February 1935 tracks, however, are notable as they include Big Bill Broonzy in the session – one of these, "Milk Cow Blues," will prove a major frustration, a magnificent, classic piece of Chicago blues with great playing all around, but almost unlistenable because of the surface noise on the master source, which, one assumes, was irreplaceable. But "Everybody's Fishin'," which follows, is so clean and delightful that it almost makes up for the sonic sins of the earlier song.–by Bruce Eder

1. I tried everything i could 2:59
2. My troubles 3:08
3. Blues before daylight
4. Running bad luck blues 2:58
5. You can`t take it baby 3:18
6. Way down in Georgia 2:57
7. My black gal blues no. 1 2:53
8. My black gal blues no. 2 2:58
9. Bleeding heart blues 2:46
10. Let`s pitch a boogie woogie 2:32
11. Tired of your low down nasty ways 2:52
12. Good evening blues 2:59
13. Farewell mistreater blues 3:12
14. B and O line blues 2:55
15. Good woman blues 2:30
16. Some old rainy day 3:10
17. There you stand 3:05
18. Tell me what it`s all about 3:07
19. You gotta change your way 3:13
20. Milk cow blues 3:06
21. Everybody`s fishing 3:07
22. Guilty woman blues 3:10
23. Big 80 blues 2:42
24. Bricks in my pillow 2:11

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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1. Policy dream blues 2:48
2. If the blues was whiskey 2:51
3. Right from wrong 3:00
4. Feather bed blues 2:59
5. What`s wrong? 3:10
6. Mean bloody murder blues 3:11
7. Walking and drifting blues 3:21
8. When the sun goes down 3:16
9. Can`t you trust me no more? 3:07
10. Where was you last night? 3:08
11. I done lost my baby 3:07
12. I`m needing someone 3:04
13. The death of Leroy Carr 3:12
14. Smoky Mountain blues 3:12
15. Sail on sail on blues 3:05
16. Hey lawdy mama 2:52
17. I keep on drinking - part 1 3:07
18. I keep on drinking - part 2 3:12
19. Sometimes blues 2:54
20. Steady roll mama blues 3:18
21. Fattenin` frogs for snakes 2:49
22. Lemon squeezing blues 2:57
23. When the sun goes down 2:49
24. Sail on little girl - no. 3 3:11
25. Cold blooded murder - no. 2 2:55

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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1. How Long How Long Blues 2:56
2. You Don't Mean Me No Good 2:47
3. New B & O Blues 2:52
4. Prison Bound Blues 3:16
5. My Old Pat Blues 3:10
6. Last Respects 3:09
7. Sloppy Drunk Blues 2:51
8. D.B.A. Blues 3:16
9. I'll Take You Back 3:03
10. Sick And Tired Of Singing The Blues 3:01
11. New When The Sun Goes Down 2:49
12. Happy Life Blues 3:04
13. When Somebody Loses 2:49
14. Ramblin' With That Woman 2:51
15. This Old Life I¨m Living 2:47
16. Dumb Trick Blues [take 1] 3:19
17. Dumb Trick Blues [take 2] 3:02
18. New Orleans Stop Time 2:52
19. You Got To Live And Let Live 2:45
20. Hard Rocks In My Heart 2:38
21. Who's Been Here Today? 3:24
22. I Done Caught My Death Of Cold 3:11
23. No More Bisquit Rolling Here [take 1] 3:01
24. No More Bisquit Rolling Here [take 2] 2:42

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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1. Meet Me In The Bottom 2:53
2. No Good Woman 2:52
3. When The Music Sounds Good 2:52
4. When I Get My Money 3:11
5. New Bricks In My Pillow 2:35
6. New Big 80 Blues 2:33
7. New Policy Dream Blues 3:00
8. Back In Jail Again 2:39
9. Wet Clothes Blues 2:53
10. Any Time A Night 2:58
11. Fast Life Blues 2:52
12. Rock Hearted Woman 3:08
13. Cry On! Cry On! 3:08
14. East Me Down 2:57
15. Hard Driving Man 2:57
16. Must I Keep On Crying 3:02
17. Funning Feelin' 3:12
18. Lady Friend 3:07
19. Letter Writing 3:13
20. Upside Down 2:20
21. New How Long How Long 2:53
22. Honest Confession 3:13
23. Christmas And No Santa Clause 3:08
24. Buggie Bed 3:00

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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1. I'm Gonna Break 'Em Down 3:21
2. Blue Expression Blues 3:12
3. Head Whippin' Party 3:06
4. Santa Claus Bring Me a New Woman 2:41
5. I'm Gonna Tear Your Kingdom Down 2:50
6. Every Goodbye Ain't Gone 3:20
7. True Blue 3:09
8. Please Baby 2:57
9. Green Country Gal 2:56
10. If I Could Speak My Mind 2:49
11. The Jive of Mine 32:41
12. Past and Gone 3:11
13. Hobo Jungles Blues 3:01
14. Slave Man Blues 3:17
15. My Big Moments 3:17
16. I'll Meet You in the Bottom 2:57
17. Meet Me at the Landing 2:51
18. Big Six 3:00
19. Just Yesterday 2:58
20. Rough Treatment 2:43
21. Pains in My Body 3:22
22. I'm Having So Much Trouble 3:01
23. Rising River Blues 3:06

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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1. Rising River Blues 3:10
2. If I Make It Over 2:54
3. She Never 2:54
4. She Never 2:56
5. 12 O'Clock Southern Train 2:54
6. 12 O'Clock Midnight 2:56
7. You Sure Look Good to Me 2:48
8. Woman for Every Man 3:17
9. Woman for Every Man 3:17
10. Bumble Bee's New Muddy Water 3:01
11. When Your Deal Goes Down 2:59
12. Goodbye (I'll Try to Forget) 3:03
13. Goodbye (I'll Try to Forget) 3:07
14. Uncertain Blues 3:03
15. You've Got to Do as I Bid You 2:56
16. You Brought Me Back 3.11
17. Going Back to Florida 3:13
18. Good Old Easy Streets 3:06
19. Lonesome Trail Blues 3:02
20. Strange Angel 2:42
21. Lonesome Old Feeling 3:04
22. Ida Red 2:13

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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1. Good Morning (Take A) 3:04
2. Good Morning (Take B) 3:09
3. Muddy Water (Take A) 2:48
4. Muddy Water (Take B) 2:32
5. Baby Fare You Well (Take A) 2:58
6. Baby Fare You Well (Take B) 3:01
7. Happy Life Blues (Take B) 3:00
8. Who's Been Here Today (Take 2) 2:58
9. When The Music Sounds Good (Take 1) 2:54
10. I'm Going To Live My Life Alone (Take 1) 3:17
11. I'm Going To Live My Life Alone (Take 2) 3:23
12. One Lonesome Day (Take 1) 2:55
13. One Lonesome Day (Take 2) 2:52
14. Pains In My Body (Take 1) 3:10
15. I Ain't In No Trouble (Take 1) 2:58
16. I Ain't In No Trouble (Take 2) 3:10
17. 12 O'Clock Midnight (Take 2) 3:02
18. Uncertain Blues (Take 2) 3:08
19. Cross The Country (Take 1) 3:11
20. Cross The Country (Take 2) 3:05
21. You Brought Me Here (Take 2) 3:09
22. Going Back To Florida (Take 2) 3:09
23. Sometimes 2:35
24. Tiny's Boogie 2:29

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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Bumble Bee Slim - 11 Albums (1994-2000)

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