Real name: James Stephens

Effective period / Period of releases: 1981 - 1991

US guitarist, pianist, vocalist from South Carolina.
b. March 10th, 1915 in Spartanburg (South Carolina) - d. February 10th, 1991 in Greensboro (North Carolina)
He started playing organ at the age of 5, then started playing piano two years later. He grew up in Spartanburg and quickly became a traveling musician in medicine shows like Pink Anderson. Guitar Slim is notably part of the John Henry Davis Medicine Show with which he toured tirelessly for 4 years. At the end of the 1940's, he moved to Greensboro where he worked as a landscaper or jack of all trades. But he never gave up music playing guitar and piano at local parties. This first album was captured by Kip Lornell largely at Slim's home during several sessions. He plays guitar in a style that mixes Piedmont and Delta Blues and piano on two tracks. There are several intense moments such as the superb "War service blues" which he plays on piano, "The blood has made me whole" with a beautiful bottleneck technique, "Lonesome blues", "Penitentiary moan blues", "Trouble blues".