Born in Brunswick, Georgia, in 1905, Bumble Bee Slim
was a very competent country blues guitarist and vocalist who enjoyed
significant recording success during the 1930’s. Bumble Bee Slim left his
Georgia home when he was 14 years old to join a circus that was playing in
Brunswick. He stayed with the circus for several years touring southern and
mid west US States until he eventually settled down in Indianapolis,
Indiana. He made a good living there, becoming something of a star on the
local party, bar and dance hall scene.
Slim’s style was heavily influenced by Leroy
Carr and Scrapper Blackwell, who had teamed up
in Indianapolis in the mid 1920’s. In the early 1930’s Slim moved to Chicago
and by 1934 he had established a successful recording career, initially with
Lestor Melrose’sBluebird
label. His record sales were very good for the next three years but
eventually they began to decline and Slim moved back to his home state of
Georgia, spending time in Atlanta and Columbus. He was unable to resurrect
his career significantly and he moved on to California in the 1940’s. There
he made further abortive attempts to revive his recording career before
settling for a quiet life playing the California clubs. Based in Los
Angeles, he died there in 1968 aged 62.
