Andrew 'Big Voice' Odom - Feel So Good

 Andrew Odom - One Bad-Ass Singin' Dude!


Andrew Odom was a BAAAAD MAN!  I don't care if it is BB Odum, Voice Odom, Big Voice Odom....call the man what you will, he is a Baaad Man, ain't no lie! Here is a guy who could fake you out into thinking you were hearing a Bobby Bland cut you'd missed, and at other times you'd swear it was some obscure BB King track, or most of the time you'd just wonder how anyone can sound like both guys at the same time and still have a quality all his own.

Biographical information on this dude is remarkably scarce, he doesn't even have a rudimentary  Wikipedia page! Livin' Blues, however, came to my rescue with some info:
   "ANDREW 'B.B.' ODOM - Andrew 'BB' Odom was born in Denham Springs, Louisiana in 1936, he moved to St. Louis in the 50’s. While in St. Louis he toured with Albert King and others, finally moving to Chicago in the early 60’s. He spent the next ten years traveling and recording as the featured vocalist with the Earl Hooker Band, an auspicious beginning as Earl Hooker was considered to be one of the greatest guitar players of his generation. After Hooker’s untimely death in 1970, Jimmy Dawkins hired Odom to tour Europe. It was Dawkins who gave him the name 'Big Voice'. BB King, along with Bobby Bland, were an early influence on Odom.
  

He traveled and recorded with Dawkins throughout the seventies while continuing to build a local reputation in Chicago’s south and west side Blues clubs. The realities of the music business and the need to support a wife and seven children prevented him from hiring a band to pursue his career on a full-time basis. Things seemed to be changing for Odom in the 90’s. In early 90s Odom was approached by Canadians Steve and Doran Katz to front their band, The Gold Tops. BB Odom worked with the band on a few dates in Ontario, which went extremely well.  A year later they were headlining the Toronto Blues Festival, and playing other summer festivals throughout Ontario. Flying Fish signed the band in December of ‘91 on the strength of their demo tape. Sadly, Odom did not live to see the release of this recording. In the early morning, on December 23, he died of a heart attack the wheel of his car. He was on his way to the Checkerboard Lounge from Buddy Guy’s Legends, where he had sat in earlier that evening which he often did in Sunday evenings after church. BB Odom’s death is a tragic loss to the Blues community. Throughout his career he had been in demand as a featured vocalist by top bandleaders like Buddy Guy, Little Milton, Magic Slim, and Jimmy Dawkins, who themselves were singers. His resonant voice, replete with Gospel fervor, lent another dimension to his Blues. He gave his all during a performance, whether he was paid for it or not. B.B. brought the healing quality of Gospel music to the Blues. He reached deep down into your soul and made you feel." Amen!

Magic Slim & the Teardrops - Bad Boy

Ripped from my CD in FLAC with full scans... enjoy!!!

Magic Slim turned 75 in 2012, but his growling vocals have the fire and brimstone of a Young Lion and his guitar playing is still as razor-sharp as it was when he turned pro in the '50s. Slim doesn't bring many modern touches to his music; he plays in the classic Chicago style that laid the foundation for today's rock and blues and that's just fine. With his backing Teardrops -- Jon McDonald on guitar, Andre Howard on bass, and B.J. Jones on drums -- he continues making first-class albums that sound like they were cut in 1955 and that's a good thing. Denise LaSalle's "Someone Else Is Steppin' In" gets a humorous reading with Howard singing a high lead vocal to complement Slim's growl, which often slips into a Howlin' Wolf-like growl. "Champagne and Reefer," a Muddy Waters tune, is taken at a smoky laid-back pace, as befits the subject matter, with Slim's vocal inflections suggesting Muddy in his prime. "Older Woman," first cut by Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials, is taken at a leisurely pace that suggests the slow, smoldering tempo of mature love, although Slim sets off plenty of sizzling sparks with his bristling solos. Slim's originals are just as solid as the covers. "Sunrise Blues" is an old-fashioned slow shuffle with smooth Albert King-meets-Chuck Berry guitar work. "Gambling Blues" and the mostly instrumental "Country Joyride" give Slim a chance to show off his considerable chops, showcasing solos full of thick comped chords, distorted bass runs, and clear chiming lead lines. - J. Poet / AMG

Magic Slim & The Teardrops - Grand Slam

Morris Holt (August 7, 1937 - February 21, 2013) known as Magic Slim, was an American blues singer and guitarist. Born at Torrance, near Grenada, Mississippi, the son of sharecroppers, he followed blues greats such as Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf to Chicago, developing his own place in the Chicago blues scene.
Magic Slim was forced to give up playing the piano when he lost his little finger in a cotton gin mishap. He moved first to nearby Grenada. He first came to Chicago in 1955 with his friend and mentor Magic Sam. The elder Magic (Sam) let the younger Magic (Slim) play bass and gave him his nickname.
At first Slim was not rated very highly by his peers. He returned to Mississippi to work and got his younger brother Nick interested in playing bass. By 1965 he was back in Chicago and in 1970 Nick joined him in his group, the Teardrops. They played in the dim, smoke-filled juke joints popular in Chicago in the 1970s on bandstands barely large enough to hold the band.

Slim's recording career began in 1966 with the song 'Scufflin'', followed by a number of singles into the mid 1970s. He recorded his first album in 1977, Born Under A Bad Sign, for the French MCM label. During the 1980s, Slim released titles on Alligator, Rooster Blues and Wolf Records and won his first W.C.Handy Award. In 1980 he recorded his cover version of 'Mustang Sally'.
In 1982, the guitarist John Primer joined the Teardrops and stayed and played for him for 13 years. Releases include Spider In My Stew on Wolf Records, and a 1996 Blind Pig release called Scufflin', which presented the post-Primer line-up with the new addition of the guitarist and singer Jake Dawson.
In 1994, Slim moved to Lincoln, Nebraska where the Zoo Bar had been booking him for years. Slim was frequently accompanied by his son Shawn (Lil' Slim) Holt, an accomplished guitarist and singer.
In 2003, Magic Slim and the Teardrops won the W.C.Handy Award as 'Blues Band Of The Year' for the sixth time. They released a live performance on CD and DVD in August 2005 entitled Anything Can Happen.

Slim died at a hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 21, 2013 at age 75. He had health problems that had worsened while he was on tour several weeks earlier. His manager had stated bleeding ulcers had sent Slim to the hospital, but that he also suffered from heart, lung and kidney problems.
In May 2013, Magic Slim was posthumously awarded a Blues Music Award in the 'Traditional Blues Male Artist' category. (Wikipedia)

Well here is Magic Slim's 'Grand Slam' album, which many consider to be his finest and won a 1983 Handy Award.
It's a no-frills straight ahead live in the studio recording with no overdubs, in an attempt to replicate the Teardrops blues club sound.
Recorded  June 4, 1982 in Chicago ( tracks 1 to 11) and supplemented, on this 2000 Rooster Blues CD, by 3 extra tracks recorded in 1975 for the EP 'Mean Mistreater',  Full musician credits provided in the scans.
Enjoy The Blues y'all !