Bumble Bee Slim - Best of Blues 1934 - 1937

Although not well known today, Bumble Bee Slim was one of the more popular and prolific blues artists of the 1930's with over 160 titles release during that time! He worked with Memphis Minnie (possibly getting his name from her "Bumble Bee Blues", as they were rumored to be a couple), Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, Leroy Carr, Scrapper Blackwell and more and this collection gathers up 23 tracks chronicling these partnerships.

These early blues are predominately piano based, usually with some guitar accompaniment and are all pretty simple and stripped down. Slim's vocals are solid, if a little high-pitched and nasally, but it all works well within the confines of the songs.

Maybe not as distinctive as some of the other early blues masters, but this is a good collection of 1930's blues'n'boogie numbers. I wouldn't say this was essential, but still good fun.