Week 49
Slim Harpo, The Best of Slim Harpo
(Hip-O 40072)

I mean, what's the point in listening to us doing "I'm a King Bee" when you can listen to Slim Harpo doing it?
— Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones

Born James Moore in Lobdell, Louisiana, Slim Harpo was one of the most successful bluesmen of the late 1950s and early ‘60s. Created far from Chicago, the acknowledged epicenter of the post-war blues scene, his music was archetypical "swamp blues" — laid back, drenched in echo and reverb, and with a thick back beat that was irresistible on the dance floor.

Like Jimmy Reed, Slim Harpo’s music features a relaxed approach, economical harmonica playing, and catchy structure, and it has proved eminently adaptable by musicians in a variety of genres. From early rockabilly pioneer Warren Smith to Hank Williams, Jr., from Muddy Waters to Alex Chilton, his catalog—much of it original numbers written by Harpo and his wife Lovelle Casey—has been frequently mined. Among the young British blues bands of the early 1960s, he was particularly popular, with The Kinks, The Yardbirds, and The Rolling Stones, among many others, recording covers of his material.

Gathering 16 tracks from 1957 to 1965, The Best of Slim Harpo strikes an admirable balance between Harpo's well-known hits and obscure yet memorable sides. Combined with excellent sound quality, the end result is a catchy and danceable single disc collection, hip (shakin') deep in the rhythms and feel of the swamp blues.

Listen: Slim Harpo - "I'm a King Bee"
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