Magic Slim and the Teardrops - Highway Is My Home (Reissue) (1978/1992)

Magic Slim's style is a full-speed-ahead, hard-edged, ragged one, with a deep, sometimes sloppy vocal approach and an equally cutting guitar approach. It is not pretty, flashy, pop-oriented, or even particularly appealing, but it is genuine. The stripped-down Slim sound was mostly on target throughout the 10 tracks (one bonus cut) on this late '70s date originally recorded for Black and Blue. This Evidence CD features Slim being assertive, as close to romantic as he can get, and otherwise powering straight ahead. Only on Elmore James' "The Sky Is Crying" does he sound overwhelmed, more by the song's litany (Albert King's equally transcendent version also looms in the background). Otherwise, blues for the non-crossover set.