It started out innocently. My friend and I watched Dr. Strangelove one night. We have watched it many times together.
Of all the fine performances in the movie, the performance of Slim Pickens was my friend’s favorite. He happened to mention this to Gabby. A week later a carton arrived, full of record albums. Gabby is that way. You just mention something and you never know what he might have.
On the top of stack was a Slim Pickins album.
The careful reader will see that this is Pickins not Pickens, so not our Slim. But in the carton were many other Slims. They were:
Georgia Slim Rutland:
Guitar Slim (Eddie Jones, 1926-1959, New Orleans):
Harmonica Slim (Travis L. Blaylock, Texarkana):
Langhorne Slim (Sean Scolnik):
Lightnin’ Slim (Otis Hicks, 1913-1974 Baton Rouge):
Magic Slim (1937-2013, Grenada, Mississippi)
Memphis Slim (John Chatman, 1915-1988, Memphis):
Montana Slim (Wilf Carter, 1904-1996, Nova Scotia):
Sarasota Slim:
Slim Dusty (David Gordon Kirpatrick, 1927-2003, Australia)
Slim Harpo (James Issac Moore, 1924-1970, Baton Rouge)
Slim Sandy:
Slim Whitman (Otis Dewey Whitman, 1923-2013, Tampa):
Slim Willet (Winston Lee Moore, 1919-1966, Abilene):
Sunnyland Slim (Albert Luandrow, 1906-1995, Mississippi and Chicago):
Watermelon Slim (Bill Homans):
Yodeling Slim Clark (Raymond LeRoy Clark, 1917-2000, Massachusetts and Maine):
I went through the entire carton with my friend. He was bound to listen to many of these albums, but I doubt that even he could make it through all the Slim Whitman albums.
“One thing about Gabby that you gotta respect,” said my friend. “He didn’t include any M and M and his Slim Shady nonsense.”
“I told think that it is M and M but I know what you mean. I agree.”
What about all these singers named Slim?