One of the things I love about the blues is the tradition of the music. Some genres place a premium on innovation and progression and that's great, but one of the unintended consequences of that emphasis is that a lot of great, veteran artists get pushed out of the way. Pop music is probably more guilty of this than any other genre. There's such an intense drive on the part of the industry and listeners to find that next big thing that some great artists are discarded and forgotten about, often times long before they've run out of ideas or things to say. That doesn't happen with the blues. There is no mandatory retirement age.
This year we've already heard great releases from Buddy Guy and B.B. King — 72 and 83-years old, respectively. There aren't a lot of pop stations that would even consider playing a single from a 70-year-old artist, but the blues doesn't discriminate. It's something Keith Richards has pointed to when asked when The Rolling Stones are going to retire. Looking at it from that angle, the 60-something Stones are just getting warmed up.
The same is true of the great Magic Slim. At 71, Slim is still just a kid and it sounds like it on the Nick Moss-produced new album for Blind Pig Records, Midnight Blues. Where some producers obsess over science and sonic fidelity, Moss's producing style emphasizes live performance. His unobtrusive method allows him to capture the magic in the moment. He understands that a bluesman is a vessel, channeling the blues from a deep source because he is a great bluesman himself. Delivering the blues means putting the fewest possible obstacles between the artist and the listener as possible. Midnight Blues isn't much for fancy sounds or fussy knob twiddling. Thank God for that!
Relying mostly on shuffles and boogies, Slim and his Teardrops find their groove early and often on this set of 13 loose, rollicking covers and originals. It's easy to imagine the band opening one of their legendary live shows with the instrumental "Full Load Boogie." For that matter, album opener "Let Me Love You" would also set the tone for a great night if it were used to open a show. Maybe it's because he produced it, but Slim's opening lick sounds an awful lot like Moss on his Play It 'Til Tomorrow CD. I'm not suggesting Slim knicked Nick's lead or that he'd need to but there is something in the sound and style of the opening lead that reminds me of Moss, and that's not a bad thing!
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