Lightnin' Slim - The Complete Singles As & Bs 1954-62 (2020)

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Lightnin’ Slim (real name Otis Hicks) was born in Louisiana in 1913 and was a pioneer and first prominent exponent of the “Swamp Blues” style, coming relatively late in life to recording in his early 40s to record his best-known work during the late 1950s and early ‘60s, before retreating from the business until being re-discovered and brought back to performing in the early 1970s. His music became a significant influence on British artists during the ‘60s blues boom. Swamp blues, focused in the clubs of Baton Rouge, is a laid-back but highly rhythmic blues style, influenced by Cajun music, and which the book “Music USA: A Rough Guide” states is characterised by “eerie echo, shuffle beats, tremolo guitars, searing harmonica and sparse percussion”. This great-value 46-track 2-CD set comprises all the titles which Lightnin’ Slim recorded for the Feature, Ace and Excello labels during these years, including the only R&B chart hit of his career “Rooster Blues”. He is accompanied on these recordings by a variety of other Louisiana musicians, most notably the harmonica player Lazy Lester. This collection offers an entertaining insight into the music of a highly individual artist as well as a distinctive strand of regional blues.