Guitar Slim

Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones (December 10, 1926 – February 7, 1959) is a New Orleans blues guitar player from the 1940s and 1950s best known for the million-selling song "The Things That I Used to Do" (a song that "shaped rock and roll"), and his flamboyant stage presence.

Career

After returning from World War II military service, he started playing clubs around New Orleans, Louisiana. Bandleader Willie Warren had introduced him to the guitar, and he was particularly influenced by T-Bone Walker and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. About 1950 he adopted the stage name "Guitar Slim" and started becoming known for his wild stage act. He wore bright-colored suits and dyed his hair to match them, had an assistant follow him around the audience with up to 350 feet of cord between amplifier and guitar, and would occasionally get up on his assistant's shoulders, or even take his guitar outside the club and bring traffic to a stop. His sound was just as unusual — he was playing with distorted guitar more than a decade before rock guitarists did the same, and his gospel-influenced vocals were easily identifiable.

Related Topics:
World War II - New Orleans, Louisiana - Willie Warren - T-Bone Walker - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - 1950 - Distorted

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