Biography
Biographies of both Magic Slim & Nick Holt are separately written below. First starting with Magic Slim and directly followed with Nick Holt.
Magic Slim was forced to give up playing the piano when he lost his little finger in a cotton gin mishap. He moved first to nearby Grenada. He first came to Chicago in 1955 with his friend and mentor Magic Sam. The elder Magic (Sam) let the younger Magic (Slim) play bass with his band and gave him his nickname.
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At first Slim was not rated very highly by his peers. He returned to Mississippi to work and got his younger brother Nick interested in playing bass. By 1965 he was back in Chicago and in 1970 Nick joined him in his group, the Teardrops. They played in the dim, smoke-filled juke joints popular in Chicago in the 1970s on bandstands barely large enough to hold the band.
Slim's recording career began in 1966 with the song "Scufflin'", followed by a number of singles into the mid 1970s. He recorded his first album in 1977, Born Under A Bad Sign, for the French MCM label. During the 1980s, Slim released titles on Alligator, Rooster Blues and Wolf Records and won his first W.C. Handy Award. In 1980 he recorded his cover version of "Mustang Sally".
In 1982, the guitarist John Primer joined the Teardrops and stayed and played for him for 13 years. Releases include Spider in My Stew on Wolf Records, and a 1996 Blind Pig release called Scufflin', which presented the post-Primer line-up with the new addition of the guitarist and singer Jake Dawson.
In 1994, Slim moved to Lincoln, Nebraska where the Zoo Bar had been booking him for years.[6] Slim was frequently accompanied by his son Shawn (Lil' Slim) Holt, an accomplished guitarist and singer.
In 2003, Magic Slim and the Teardrops won the W.C. Handy Award as 'Blues Band Of The Year' for the sixth time. They released a live performance on CD and DVD in August 2005 entitled Anything Can Happen.
Slim died at a hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 21, 2013 at age 75. He had health problems that had worsened while he was on tour several weeks earlier. His manager had stated bleeding ulcers had sent Slim to the hospital, but that he also suffered from heart, lung and kidney problems.
In May 2013, Magic Slim was posthumously awarded a Blues Music Award in the 'Traditional Blues Male Artist' category.
Nick Holt, founding member of Magic Slim and The Teardrops--and brother of Morris "Magic Slim" Holt--died of brain cancer on Monday June 22nd, in Lincoln, Nebraska at age 69. Holt was known world-wide for his solid bass playing and played the blues for forty years with his brother and The Teardrops.
Nick Holt was born in Grenada, Mississippi on January 15, 1940 and moved to Chicago at age 16. Four years later, he and his brother Morris would form the band Magic Slim and The Teardrops.
After many years, and a number of record companies later, Nick, Slim and the band moved to Lincoln, Nebraska where a huge following and a long stint at the Zoo Bar kept them busy when they were not on the road. The past number of years, Nick was absent from the band probably due to his battles with cancer. He reportedly beat throat cancer in 1987.
Nick leaves us with some video (I have added one below, featuring him playing and singing with The Teardrops) and a wealth of recording. He played with quite a variety of musicians, including such names as Little Milton, Sunnyland Slim, Vance Kelly, and former Teardrops' guitarist John Primer.
There are three albums that feature the name of Nick Holt; one of which is his only self titled release: Magic Slim And Nick Holt/You Can't Lose What You've Never Had (Wolf Records), Little Boogie Boy Blues Band featuring Nick Holt/We Do It For The Blues and Nick Holt/You Better Watch Yourself (Wolf Records).
Nick will be sorely missed by the world blues community; our thoughts are with his brother and family.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.