JSP, one of the U.K.'s most active historical reissue labels, presents
an outstanding postwar Chicago blues anthology packed with essential
recordings made between 1947 and 1955 by
Sunnyland Slim & His Pals.
Out of the 104 tracks (not 97 as stated on the front of the packaging),
60 are "by" Sunnyland Slim; the other 44 were released under the names
of Johnny Shines, Robert Lockwood, Floyd Jones, Leroy Foster, J.B.
Lenoir, Jimmy Rogers, and St. Louis Jimmy. Sunnyland sat in on each of
these dates; the enclosed discography denies his presence on the Johnny
Shines date, although his piano is clearly audible. Born Albert Luandrew
(or Loeandrew) in Vance, MS, on September 5, 1906, he sang with Little
Brother Montgomery in 1923 and accompanied Ma Rainey on the piano in
Portageville, MO, at a time when he only knew how to play in three keys.
Luandrew's stage name was derived from a blues he wrote about the
Sunnyland, an express locomotive that ran between St. Louis and Memphis.
Sunnyland Slim first played Chicago in 1939 and settled there in 1942,
making his initial appearance on records with Jump Jackson in September
1946; JSP did not include material from that session and has provided
only three of the seven titles cut by Sunnyland Slim and Muddy Waters
between 1947 and 1949. What you do get is a core sample of classic sides
that Sunnyland cut for 15 different record labels during the Truman and
Eisenhower eras. (Note that Johnny Shines actually references both
presidents in the words to "Living in the White House.") These pungent
performances involved some of Chicago's toughest bluesmen; the roster
includes, in addition to the names already mentioned: guitarists Big
Bill Broonzy and Lefty Bates; pianist Blind John Davis; legendary Windy
City bassists Ransom Knowling and Big Crawford; harmonica ace Snooky
Pryor; trumpeter Billy Howell; and saxophonists Alex Atkins, J.T. Brown,
Oliver Alcorn, Ernest Cotton, and Red Holloway. Sunnyland Slim outlived
almost every single one of his contemporaries. He was well loved and
widely respected throughout the Great Lakes Afro-American community as a
generous individual who helped others to survive during his long and
productive career as one of Chicago's fundamental bluesmen.