Tarheel Slim

Tarheel Slim was one of a handful of blues artists signed to Bobby Robinson's Fire Records and its predecessor, Red Robin. Although he's mostly known on Fire for his R&B work with his wife "Little Ann," a surprising amount of the material on this 15-song collection is straight blues, including "Wildcat Tamer" and "Number 9 Train," stuff that he could have cut on acoustic guitar without a whole lot of difference around 1951. It was excellent commercial electric blues, with hard, crunchy electric guitar and a brisk beat. The two "Allen Bunn" tracks here, "My Kinda Woman" and "Too Much Competition," ashow a more sophisticated band sound, although they could also be remnants of Slim's early-'50s rural roots. It turned out, however, that Slim was as engaging an R&B singer as he was a guitarist and blues singer, so "Can't Stay Away" and the other duets here are a pretty compelling case for the switch that he made at the end of the 1950s. Neither one was as compelling vocally as their duets were, although Ann starts to hit her stride solo on "You're Gonna Reap," awhere she starts moving into Arlene Smith territory. "It's a Sin" is also pleasing, reminiscent in its way of Buddy Holly's "True Love Ways." Some of the duets, such as "Much Too Late," are a little too bluesy, in retrospect, to have caught on with a wide audience, although it is a strong performance. Robinson was obviously ready to try anything, because it's followed by a straight near-pop ballad, "Anything for You." The collection ends with "Can't Stay Away from You," one of the more interesting and intense Bo Diddley-inspired songs of the period. There are no notes, and the sound quality fluctuates, although it is of a fairly high standard for its period. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide