Biography of Guitar Slim

Guitar Slim (Eddie Jones) was a tough single-string guitar slinger in a city (New Orleans) where pianos and horns dominated. He was raised in the nearby Mississippi town of Hollandale, where he made a name as a dancer and occassional vocalist. He made the move to New Orleans in 1950, after learning the rudiments of guitar from local bluesman Willie Jones. Slim eventually hooked up with Huey "Piano" Smith and played in the house band at the Dew Drop and the Tijuana clubs.Imperial released the first Guitar Slim single in 1951, but it sunk without a trace. By 1953, after a moderately successful stint with Bullet, he hooked up with Art Rupe's Specialty lable and, with a band featuring Ray Charles on piano, recorded "The Things That I Used to Do." It sat on the top of the R&B charts for six weeks, and has become a blues standard. Despite his continued success on tours, Slim never surpassed or equalled his first hit. Unable to fit into Specialty's rock and roll schematic, Slim jumped over to Atlantic in 1956. His work there was great, but there were no hits. In 1959, guitar Slim died of bronchial pneumonia. ~ John Floyd