The Complete Releases 1951-58

Guitar Slim, who originally recorded under his given name of Eddie Jones, was born in 1926 and raised in the heartland of the blues in the Mississippi Delta, where he was a singer and dancer in his teens. He started playing in New Orleans after war service, becoming known for his wild stage act, and using distorted guitar sounds a decade before rock guitarists like Jimi Hendrix. This 30-track CD comprises all his A & B sides during the 1950s, recording for the Imperial, J-B, Specialty and Atco labels until his premature death in 1959. It includes his landmark million-selling R&B No. 1 hit from 1954 “The Things That I Used to Do”, which was subsequently listed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll”. It’s a comprehensive overview of his career, and showcases his distinctive and innovative style, which influenced the likes of Buddy Guy, Albert Collins and Frank Zappa, as well as Hendrix himself, who recorded a version of “The Things That I Used to Do” – it was also later covered by Stevie Ray Vaughan.