Tuesday Is Blues Day!

Slim Harpo - The Music's Hot

From the end of the '50s through the late '60s Slim Harpo was one of Excello Records' top hitmakers, with straight blues like "I'm a King Bee" and "Raining in My Heart" and dancefloor-oriented stuff like "Baby Scratch My Back" (featured in a December post). Most of these classics were recorded at Jay Miller's Crowley, Louisiana studio, but by the late '60s Harpo started recording in Nashville with Music City R&B guru producer Robert Holmes at the helm. Harpo's latter dance records, like "Tip On In" and "Te Ni Ne Ni Nu," came from these sessions, as did a lot of interesting country and country-flavored recordings, including great covers of country tunes like "Mohair Sam" and "Folsom Prison Blues," as well as today's selection. "The Music's Hot," a humorous tale about Harpo trying to evade death in order to keep playing the blues ("St. Peter, I can't go tonight - I got a brand-new, rock-em-sock-em record out"), features a hot-foot rhythm and some nice guitar and harmonica solos. Unfortunately, St. Peter caught up with Harpo in 1970, but fortunately for us blues and soul fans, Harpo's impressive Excello recordings remain. The music's hot, indeed!