^^ «gg:«ra*sir.y;. I iSMUM
By Robert Richardson
Senior Reporter
Magic Slim sat at the bar, cowboy
hat and wingtips intact, while his band,
the Teardrops, began to play.
He was busy watching the Chicago
Cubs play the Atlanta Braves as he
sipped and sometimes shot his Wild
Turkey. Suddenly, a wild guitar riff
jumped Slim’s attention to the stage.
He smiled and gave an approving nod,
then went back to the baseball game.
Slim may be a Zoo Bar regular, but
not on a bar stool. When Slim comes to
town, he usually stands in the bar and
on the stage, guitar in hand. He is the
mentor of the blues band Magic Slim
and the Teardrops. /
“I’ve been involved with the blues
practically all my life, ever since I been
old enough to know what the blues was
all about,” he said. “I been trying to
play the blues and I’m still trying to
play it.”
Slim and his band have been playing
Magic Slim and the Teardrops play the blues
at the Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St., since
Monday and will continue their gig
tonight through Saturday.
By himself, Magic Slim is a tower
ing 6 foot 7 inches. His belly has be
come an armrest; his manner, simply
fun. But when the man — originally
from the South Side of Chicago —
takes the stage guitar in hand, he is as
intimidating as a tornado in a trailer
park.
Slim’s soft touch and fast fingers
coax the music out of the guitar. He is a
snake charmer — smooth and accurate
— and he knows his music.
Larry Boehmcr, owner of the Zoo
Bar, first brought Magic Slim to Ne
braska in January 1975. Bochmer said
it was Slim’s first trip to Nebraska and
probably his first out of the ghetto.
Boehmer said Slim’s personality helps
draw people to see him in Lincoln, but
maintained that there was something
more important in Slim’s possession.
“He’s got a real strong sense of rhythm
that’s really a down gut-bucket nitty
gritty kind of blues,” Boehmer said.
“Everything’s pretty drivin’ with Slim.
I think people like that, especially people
that haven’t listened to a lot of blues.
They’re more familiar with rock ‘n’
roll. This is a little more like it.”
“Let Me Love You, Baby” was a
intense illustration of Bochmcr’s
thoughts. A hard-hitting drum, heavy
bass, and two dueling guilars that chased
each other all around the stage made
most of Slim’s songs a pleasure to listen
to. The fierce, concentrated music made
the audience sweat as they listened.
Boehmer said that in the more than
16 years Slim has been coming to Lin
coln, he never has had an off night.
“Sixteen and a half years he’s play
ing here and still packs the joint,”
Boehmer said. “And he did pretty much
from the ghet; he really did.’’
Slim didn’t have to think twice about
why people like to come sec him play.
“Because they likes the way I play
the blues because I get up there and do
my job,” Slim said. “And when I do my
job I play what people like. And what I
play — it touches them in the heart and
they love it. Thai’s why the bars be full
whenever I play.”
And the bar was full, both Monday
and rTuesday evening. Full of people
screaming for Magic Slim and his band.
The three musicians who back up
Slint: Michael Scott, drums; Nick Holt,
bass; and John Primer, guitar, put on
quite a show without the master.
Performing a hilarious rendition of a
Glen Campbell hit, “Rhinestone Cow
boy,” the Teardrops took the audience
on a joyride of good times and good
music.
But all Slim had to do was leave his
bar stool and walk to the stage and the
Zoo Bar roof was raised.
Why did Slim choose the blues over
some other profession?
He said it was natural to play the
blues since he has lived them all his life.
“My life has been hard ever since I
was a kid, sharecropping and all that,1
see,” Slim said. “All we know to do is
go the the field, chop cotton, or pick
cotton, sing the blues and go back home.
We don’t know nothing else to do. It’s
a fcclin’, you know. You have to feel
what you’re doing.”
Bochmcr said that Slim is getting
more popular all the time — but Lin
colnitcs still will be seeing him in these
parts.
“As long as Slim is playing — he’ll
be playing the Zoo Bar,” Bochmcr said.
It’s no secret that Slim loves what he
docs, but how long is he willing to do it?
“I love it because this is me. This is
where 1 rcallv come from.” Slim said.
“I come from the blues and I’m going to
play the blues until the day I die.”
•
Clockwise from top left:
Magic Slim rips some chords during a gig Tuesday night at
the?oo Bar.
Magic Slim takes time out during the show to have a drink
with a patron. * ,
The teardrops continue to play as Magic Slim prepares to
head for the bar.
John Primer of the Teardrops swings his guitar to the beat of
the blues Monday night.
-- f
Photos by Shaun Sartin