Tarheel Slim

Alden Bunn, better known as Tarheel Slim, cut tracks across nearly every style that emerged after World War II, moving without hesitation between raw blues, gospel numbers, harmony-driven R&B, sugary duets, and rockabilly. Gospel remained his deepest passion. While still based in North Carolina in the early 1940s, he performed with the Gospel Four and later the Selah Jubilee Singers, whose sides appeared on Continental and Decca. In 1949 he and Thurman Ruth left to establish the Jubilators, a unit that on a single day in New York during 1950 committed material to four separate labels under four distinct names.

Apollo persuaded the group to pursue secular material, a decision that led directly to the formation of the Larks, whose polished early-1950s Apollo recordings stand among the finest harmony-group releases of the period. Bunn handled lead on several of the group’s more blues-inflected selections, including “Eyesight to the Blind,” and he also completed two Apollo sessions in 1952 under the name Allen Bunn. The following year he appeared on Bobby Robinson’s Red Robin label as Alden Bunn. He further lent his voice to another vocal ensemble, the Wheels.

Pairing with his future wife Anna Sanford under the name the Lovers, he scored a notable pop success in 1957 with “Darling It’s Wonderful” on Aladdin’s Lamp subsidiary; Ray Ellis supplied the arrangements. Tarheel Slim resurfaced officially in 1958, again teaming with his wife—now billed as Little Ann—for the Fire label sides “It’s Too Late” and “Much Too Late.” He quickly followed with two fiery rockabilly outings of his own, “Wildcat Tamer” and “No. 9 Train,” featuring Jimmy Spruill’s searing lead guitar. After several years away from recording, he returned in the early 1970s with an album for Pete Lowry’s Trix imprint that revisited the Carolina blues roots of his youth; it would be his final release.