Here Alex "Guitar Slim" Steward and
Louis Hayes ("Fat Boy" or "Jelly Belly") are captured in New York City. This traveling pair also recorded as the Backporch Boys, Blues King, and the Bluesboys bringing rural, East Coast blues in the tradition of
Blind Boy Fuller,
Sonny Terry, and
Brownie McGhee to their nostalgic constituents who were displaced to the big Northern cities during and after World War II.
Hayes and Steward trade back and forth in conversational exchanges before a song that contains verse exchanges. Both play guitar, the only musical accompaniment here. The vocals are adequately summed up as "rough" for
Hayes, in the sense that they're more country-styled, and "smooth" for Steward, a protégé of
Lonnie Johnson and
Sonny Terry. The two play up their differences as the more sophisticated sounding Guitar Slim berates
Jelly Belly for his shiftless ways and fondness for "ten-cent wine." It appears the two had some wild adventures with disreputable woman in taking their music to the road. The interesting interplay of the basic acoustic guitar work and the comedic exchanges between the two men who scoff at their hardscrabble past makes for a singular record. Mr. Arhoolie himself,
Chris Strachwitz provides notes on the players' individual and combined careers. ~ Tom Schulte