Lightnin' Slim: High and Low Down (CD on Alive Naturalsound)

Band: Lightnin' Slim
Label: Alive Naturalsound
Title: High and Low Down

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Band:Lightnin' Slim
Title:High and Low Down
Reviewed By:Malcolm Carter
Date Published:02/09/2013

Label:Alive Naturalsound
Format:CD
Release Year:2013
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The latest in Alive Naturalsound Records reissue program of the Jerry Williams Jr./Swamp Dogg sprawling back-catalogue is something of a departure from those albums that the label reissued earlier this year. Lightnin’ Slim’s ‘High and Low Down’ album was originally recorded and released in 1974, the same year that the Louisiana blues musician sadly passed away, and stands alone as a pure blues album unlike the previous albums that Alive Naturalsound has reissued which covered the soul and funk leanings that producer Swamp Dogg is most known for.

As with all the recent Swamp Dogg related reissues, this CD comes with fresh liner notes from Swamp Dogg himself. As usual they are fascinating reading and (maybe unintentionally?) hilarious. The short essay that Swamp delivers on the inside cover of ‘High and Low Down’ tracing his quest to track down B.B. King for the original liner notes to grace the album (which are also reprinted on this reissue) is worth the price of the album alone.

By the time this album was recorded many thought they’d heard the best of Lightnin’ Slim. Slim’s recording debut was way back in 1954 and he laid down songs for the Excello label for some twelve years before taking a job in a factory in Michigan where the work he carried out led Slim to damage his hands, one of the reasons why Jesse Carr takes lead guitar duties on this batch of songs. According to Swamp’s liner notes, Slim only allowed him three days to record the ten songs on ‘High and Low Down’ as he had to get back to his job at the factory.

Swamp Dogg has lent the album a polished production given that it’s a collection of blues songs. Lightnin’ Slim’s rhythm guitar is thankfully still a major part of these songs and the lead guitar from Jess Carr (including some stunning solos) lends authenticity to the songs. Along with Clayton Ivy’s expected, excellent performances on piano and organ, Swamp and Lightnin’ Slim inject new life into some really old songs. ‘Bad Luck Blues’, for example, which was originally recorded by Slim almost sixty years ago, still sounds fresh on this reissue.

While cuts such as ‘G.I. Blues’ display a more basic blues sound and are shorn of the horns and keyboards that embellish many of the songs here that give them that distinctive Swamp Dogg vibe, there is little to choose between such cuts and the more full-bodied sounds of say ‘Oh Baby’. Apart from the excellent production from Swamp Dogg every song here features, obviously, the gritty, gripping vocal talents of Lightnin’ Slim, surely one of the blues men who can’t fail to grab your attention no matter who he found himself in the studio or on a stage with.

Most surprising track has to be Swamp’s own ‘Good Morning Heartaches’, proof that the Dogg could step outside of his usual field and write (and produce) authentic blues that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a John Lee Hooker or Muddy Waters album.

While only four of the songs carry a writing credit for Lightnin’ Slim, his covers of Chuck Berry and Willie Dixon songs show just what an exceptional blues singer Slim was. If this reissue converts just a few new listeners to the blues through the Swamp Dogg connection then it’s a job well done and a brilliant place to start; for the rest of us it’s the perfect excuse to dig out Lightnin Slim’s other recordings and marvel once again at one of the best down-home blues singers we are ever likely to hear.

Not related to this release but connected to Swamp Dogg and Alive Naturalsound Records is the news that the label is planning to issue both Sandra Phillip’s ‘Too Many People in One Bed’ and ‘The Brand New Z Z Hill’ shortly. This label, apart from releasing some outstanding new sounds, just keeps right on reissuing one classic album after another; soul fans might just as well hand over their pay checks direct to Alive Natural Sounds right now!

Track Listing:

01) Rooster Blues
02) The Things I Used to Do
03) Bad Luck Blues
04) My Babe
05) G.I. Blues
06) Oh Baby
07) That's All Right
08) Crazy 'Bout You Baby
09) Good Morning Heartaches
10) Hoodoo Blues

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Related Links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightnin%27_Slim

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Gritty final album from Louisiana blues legend Lightnin’ Slim, which, recorded in 1974 and the year of his death, has just been re-released

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High and Low Down - CD
Gritty final album from Louisiana blues legend Lightnin’ Slim, which, recorded in 1974 and the year of his death, has just been re-released

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