Memphis Slim, blues singer, guitarist, and pianist

by Herb Boyd

Last week, our focus was on Memphis Tennessee Garrison, and now the male counterpart, Memphis Slim, the legendary blues vocalist and pianist, gets his moment in this column. It might be posited that Slim was to the blues and music what Garrison was to education and civil rights. Both gave the city of Memphis additional notice and acclaim. 
Unlike Garrison, John Len Chatman was born in Memphis—on September 3, 1915. Not much has been written about his youth, but by the time he was 25, his first recording was for Okeh Records. It was done using his father’s name, Peter Chatman, who sang and played piano and guitar. Soon he was performing under the moniker “Memphis Slim,” which would be popularized through some 500 recordings.
He was a teenager when he began performing in dance halls and juke gambling joints in Memphis, Arkansas, and southeast Missouri. As a member of the Great Migration, Slim settled in Chicago by 1930, where he often teamed with fellow bluesman Big Bill Broonzy. 
In the early 1940s, he recorded “Beer Drinking Woman” and “Grinder Man Blues” on the Bluebird label. Both were part of his repertoire, where his forte was the slow blues, according to Robert Palmer in his book “Deep Blues.”
At Bluebird, Slim was a regular session musician, and his phenomenal prowess on the piano can be heard backing performers such as Washboard Sam, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Jazz Gillum, but it was mainly his association with Broonzy that brought him wide popularity. After World War II, he assembled several leading “jump bands,” rivaling Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. In 1946, he signed with the Miracle label and was soon in collaboration with bassist Willie Dixon.
After the success of “Every Day I Have the Blues” (1947), which was originally titled “Nobody Loves Me” (and popularized by numerous singers, including Joe Williams), folklorist and producer Alan Lomax brought Slim to Decca Records, which showcased an expanded release of the blues. Two years later, he expanded his combo to a quintet by adding a drummer, and this led to more recordings at King and Peacock Records. 

Among his most popular songs of this period were “Messin’ Around,” which reached number one on the R&B charts in 1948, and “Harlem Bound,” often listed among the great songs about the historic community.
By 1951, Slim was recording with Premium Records, the successor to Miracle, where his tune “Mother Earth” gained considerable traction and sales. (The Premium recordings were later purchased by Leonard Chess, although Slim was never a Chess artist.) Three years later, he was on the United label, where he backed several performers. In 1959, his stint with Vee-Jay Records was an opportunity to feature a collection of his hit tunes, including “Rockin’ the Blues,” and “Slim’s Blues.” When Willie Dixon’s classic debut album was released in 1959, Slim received almost equal credit for his formidable accompaniment on piano.
In the 1960s, given his talent and exposure, Slim began appearing outside the U.S., mainly touring with Dixon. Additional engagements occurred after they recorded with a roster of other musicians. Together, they released several albums for Folkways Records, most notably one recorded at the Village Gate with Pete Seeger. 
Slim’s prominence as a complete entertainer attracted countless promoters and impresarios in Europe, and by 1962, he was living in Paris. His talent was requested by filmmakers and television hosts who expanded his name and reputation throughout Europe, with occasional visits to the U.S.
In 1986, Slim was named a Commander in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of France. 
Near the end of his life, Slim forged a friendship and musical partnership with drummer George Collier and they toured Europe, but after Collier died in 1987, Slim only rarely appeared in public. He died of renal failure on February 24, 1988, in Paris at the age of 72. He is buried at Galilee Memorial Gardens in Memphis.

Later, he would be honored by the U.S. Senate with the title of Ambassador-at-Large of Good Will. He was posthumously inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015.