Magic Slim & The Teardrops

Born Morris Holt on 7 August 1937 in Torrence, Grenada, Mississippi, USA, the blues guitarist and vocalist who performs as Magic Slim first developed an interest in music as a child. He relocated initially to nearby Grenada, Mississippi, before heading to Chicago in 1955, where he served as bass player for Magic Sam—the artist responsible for bestowing Holt’s stage name. To gain entry into the bars and clubs alongside Sam, he secured a false identity card. Once that period ended, he returned to guitar and joined the Chicago outfit Mr. Pitiful And The Teardrops. After the group disbanded, he moved back to Mississippi, only to resettle in Chicago in 1965, at which point he reassembled the Teardrops with his two brothers; bassist Nick became a lasting member. The band cut its debut single for the local Wes imprint in 1966 and followed with another release on the equally modest Mean Mistreater label in 1970. Serious recording did not commence until 1978, when Magic Slim And The Teardrops supplied four tracks to an Alligator Records anthology. A subsequent live set appeared on the small Candy Apple label, while sessions taped in France reached American listeners via Alligator under the title Raw Magic in 1982. That same year he completed the widely acclaimed Grand Slam for Rooster Blues Records. The Austria-recorded live album Chicago Blues Session arrived in 1987, and Gravel Road came out on the U.S. Blind Pig label in 1990. His ensemble currently delivers perhaps the tightest sound among active Chicago blues bands. This reliably rewarding performer has issued singles across many labels yet has concentrated recent work on Austria’s Wolf Records and San Francisco’s Blind Pig.