Album Notes

CRITIC'S CHOICE
Chicago Reader


BOBBY "SLIM" JAMES

Soul and blues fans know Bobby "Slim" James best for "I Really Love You," recorded for the Karol label in 1968 and then covered by Jimmy Burns—both versions are collector's items. Since then James has worked steadily, mostly on the south and west sides of Chicago, but he didn't record again until 2000's Beyond the Blues (Annie G) and hasn't record since. On that record James sings like a true house-wrecker, especially on ballads like "Keeper of My Flame" and "Low Down," where his breathy vibrato, constricted gargles, and falsetto moans suggest both vulnerability and desire.

On the juke joint anthem "Chicago Blues" he sounds determined to rock the house, come what may; he applies a similar resolve to the tasks of keeping his wayward girlfriend enthrall on the R & B dance-floor workout "If I Can't Stop You." Though James' guitar work takes a backseat to his vocals on most of the disc, live he stretches out, combining fat soul chording with nimble string bends, tonal manipulations, and quick-fingered flurries.

He's most entertaining, though, when he puts down his guitar and strolls into the audience: He croons to the women, signifies playfully to the men, and punctuates his singing with ribald spoken asides.

It's a kind of showmanship that's too rare these days.

DAVID WHITEIS