Jazz Journal - Memphis Slim, March 1961

I was thrilled last weekend when I stumbled across a pile of vintage Jazz Journal magazines from the early 1960's whilst ferreting around an antique market. I picked up 10 in all and over the next few days and weeks (hopefully not months) I plan to blog about each one. I'm going to take them in ascending chronological order, feature the front and back cover of each, and possibly one or more of the inside pages. And, assuming I can find some, I'll post links to books, records and CD's by the magazine cover star and MP3 clips. So without further ado, let's get this (jazz) party started ... and as luck would have it, the theme of music fits nicely with this week's Sepia Saturday. Watch out for the 2nd installment of my Jazz Journals, which hopefully I'll get round to posting over the bank holiday weekend as the weather forecast here looks awful.

*** UPDATE *** Second installment of my Jazz Journals has now been posted, featuring Dave Brubeck.

Jazz Journal, March 1961, front cover

Jazz Journal, March 1961, back cover

This first magazine is from March 1961 and features Memphis Slim as the cover star. Born in 1915 as John Len Chatman, in Memphis, Tennessee (where else). In the early 1940's he recorded for Bluebird records, and towards the late 1940's moved towards more of a jump blues sound, recording mainly for independent labels like Hy-Tone and Miracle. Classic Memphis Slim songs include Every Day I Have the Blues and Nobody Loves Me, the latter being covered by a wealth of artists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Ella Fitzgerald. Check out the MP3 selections below to hear some of his songs.

Vintage EMI advertisement from Jazz Journal, March 1961

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

Memphis Slim on amazon.co.uk ...

    



Memphis Slim on amazon.com ...

    

*** UPDATE *** Second installment of my Jazz Journals has now been posted, featuring Dave Brubeck.