Memphis Slim – Memphis Slim At The Gate Of Horn (Remastered)

A club name, a studio session

At the Gate of Horn sounds like the title of a concert recording. In fact, the album was made during a Chicago studio session on 18 August 1959. Memphis Slim brought his House Rockers: piano, voice, guitar, saxophones, bass and drums. The title invokes the celebrated folk club and its audience rather than the location of the recording.

Slim was reaching new listeners through folk events in 1959. Here, Vee-Jay captured him with a full band, revisiting several pieces already established in his repertoire. The album brings an experienced musician’s history into a fresh set of performances.

Twelve tracks with a shared history

“The Come Back” begins the sequence and “Mother Earth” closes it. “Blue and Lonesome”, “Messin’ Around” and “Slim’s Blues” are among the pieces between them. These titles connect to earlier chapters in Slim’s career, but the performances belong to this particular session.

Listen to the exchanges between piano and horns. A brief figure can prepare an entrance or redirect the movement. There are several lines to follow in the full ensemble, with Slim’s voice and piano providing useful points of orientation.

Two minutes with Matt Murphy

“Steppin’ Out” is a rewarding place to pause. The compact instrumental makes room for piano, saxophone and Matt “Guitar” Murphy. Later interpretations by Eric Clapton and others would expand its dimensions considerably. This version shows how much material is contained in the original concise shape.

Murphy would become familiar to another audience through the Blues Brothers films. Here he is working within Slim’s House Rockers. Follow the guitar through the performance, then return to the way the other instruments connect around it. The ensemble gives the solo its setting.

This Bluesville reissue

ACONC 841 is a single 180-gram LP in the Bluesville series. Craft credits Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab with remastering from the original tapes. Quality Record Pressings manufactures the record. A replica tip-on jacket is accompanied by an obi with notes by Scott Billington, while the original liner notes were written by Studs Terkel. The programme contains twelve tracks. Despite its title, this is a studio album.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and dispatch from Hilden.

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.