AMG Review of Sufferin' Mind

Bill Dahl
All Music Guide

His guitar fraught with manic high-end distortion and his vocals fried over church-fired intensity, Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones influenced a boatload of disciples while enjoying the rewards that came with his 1954 R&B chart-topper, "The Things That I Used to Do." This 26-song survey of Slim's seminal 1953-1955 Specialty catalog rates with the best New Orleans blues ever cut -- besides the often imitated but never duplicated smash, his "Story of My Life," "Sufferin' Mind," and "Something to Remember You By" are overwhelming in their ringing back-alley fury. Slim could rock, too: "Well, I Done Got Over It," "Quicksand," "Certainly All," and the raucous "Guitar Slim" drive with blistering power. Saxophonist Joe Tillman was a worthy foil for the flamboyant guitarist in the solo department.