22 Facts About Memphis Slim

John Len Chatman, known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer.

Memphis Slim led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxophones, bass, drums, and piano.

Memphis Slim was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1989.

Memphis Slim was born John Len Chatman, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Memphis Slim started performing under the name "Memphis Slim" later that year but continued to publish songs under the name Peter Chatman.

Memphis Slim spent most of the 1930s performing in honky-tonks, dance halls, and gambling joints in West Memphis, Arkansas, and southeast Missouri.

Memphis Slim settled in Chicago in 1939 and began teaming with the guitarist and singer Big Bill Broonzy in clubs soon afterwards.

In 1949, Memphis Slim expanded his combo to a quintet by adding a drummer; the group was now spending most of its time on tour, leading to off-contract recording sessions for King Records in Cincinnati and Peacock Records in Houston.

Early in 1950, Miracle succumbed to financial troubles, but its owners regrouped to form the Premium label, and Memphis Slim remained on board until the successor company faltered in the summer of 1951.

Memphis Slim made just one session for King, but the company bought his Hy-Tone sides in 1948 and acquired his Miracle masters after that company failed in 1950.

Memphis Slim was never a Chess artist, but Leonard Chess bought most of the Premium masters after the demise of Premium.

Memphis Slim remained with United through the end of 1954, when the company began to cut back on blues recording.

Memphis Slim was given almost equal credit on the album as Dixon's piano accompanist.

Memphis Slim played on all of the tracks, and wrote the two numbers that were not penned by Dixon.

Memphis Slim first appeared outside the United States in 1960, touring with Willie Dixon, with whom he returned to Europe in 1962 as a featured artist in the first of the series of American Folk Festival concerts organized by Dixon, which brought many notable blues artists to Europe in the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1962, Memphis Slim moved permanently to Paris, and his engaging personality and well-honed presentation of playing, singing, and storytelling about the blues secured his position as one of the most prominent blues artists for nearly three decades.

Memphis Slim appeared on television in numerous European countries, acted in several French films and wrote the score for A nous deux France, and performed regularly in Paris, throughout Europe, and on return visits to the United States.

Two years before his death, Memphis Slim was named a Commander in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of France.

Memphis Slim died of renal failure on February 24,1988, in Paris, at the age of 72.

Memphis Slim is buried at Galilee Memorial Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee.

Memphis Slim was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1989.

Memphis Slim was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015.