Major Works
Big Hit Songs
- The Story Of My Life
- Sufferin Mind
- The Things That I Used to Do*
- Something To Remember You By
- Well I Done Got Over It
- Letter To My Girlfriend
- Quicksand
Songs Appear On
- Soul Fixin Man
- For Real
- Chess Box
- Sweet Home Chicago
- Bluesman
- Love Can Be Found Anywhere
- On the Road Again
- My Time After Awhile
- My Feeling for the Blues
- If Walls Could Talk
- Live at Monterey
- Louisiana Music
- Don’t Stand in my Way
Eddie Lee “Guitar Slim” Jones: A Biography
by Darwin Coleman (SHS)
Darwin Coleman (SHS Researcher)
Guitar Slim was born on December 10, 1926 in Greenwood, Mississippi. Little is know about Guitar Slim’s early life. When he was five, his mother passed away,and he never had a father to guide him. Also when he was five he was sent to Hollandale, a plantation where his grandmother, L.C. Haves, lived. He started working in a cotton field and plowing behind a mule (Johnson). Later on in life, he started working at a local juke joint in the Delta (Santelli). At the age of 18, he began singing and dancing with a local band. With such major skills, Slim got his first nickname, the Limber Leg (Johnson).
About 1944, he went into the army for a couple of years. He moved to New Orleans when he got out and started doing his thing (Santelli). During Guitar Slim’s life, he was influenced by Gatemouth Brown. (Yanow). Guitar Slim started his career with Huey “Piano” Smith. (Santelli). When Guitar Slim performed, his favorite suit was cherry with white shoes and a loud color hair style. The instrument that Slim played was the vocal in the guitar with 350 feet of cord between his axe and his amp. His style was New Orleans Blues and Electric Blue. (Yanow) He traveled with Cloyd Cambert’s Band mainlyin the South and Southwest for about six years. (Snow).
One of his biggest hits of the 1950’s was The Thing I Used to Do where Ray Charles played on the piano. (Santelli). Guitar Slim Jones died of pneumonia after heavy drinking at the age of thirty-two, and he was buried in Thibodeaux, Louisiana. (Snow).
A blues trail marker for Guitar Slim is located in Greenwood, Mississippi. Guitar Slim was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2007.
Timeline
- 1926- Born December 10, 1929, in Greenwood, Mississippi
- 1931- Mother died
- 1921- He moved in with his grandmother on a plantation
- 1942- He started working at a local juke joint
- 1944- He went to the army
- 1946- Left the delta
- 1950 Teamed up with Huey “Piano” Smith in blues trio
- 1951- Contract with Imperial Records
- 1953- Contract with Specialty
- 1956 Came out with that big hit “The Thing I Used to Do”
- 1958- Contract with Ateo
- 1959- Guitar Slim died from pneumonia
Related Websites
- Mississippi Blues Trail: Guitar Slim
- NPR interview with Paul Trynka who wrote about Guitar Slim in Mojo, a London-based magazine.