Magic Slim & The Teardrops – Spider In My Stew – The Zoo Bar Collection – Vol. 4 – Wolf Records 120.304 CD 

The human jukebox of the blues, Magic Slim, is captured “live” here from downtown Lincoln, Nebraska’s home of the blues, The Zoo Bar, a long-time Midwest must-play venues for local, regional, and international touring bands including Albert Collins, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Luther Allison, Bo Diddley, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, Koko Taylor, Charlie Musselwhite, Son Seals, among so many other top-flight blues artists. 

Before getting into the nuts and bolts of this review, it is interesting to note that in 1975 The Zoo Bar was the first venue outside of the African-American neighborhood joints in Chicago that Slim and his group had ever played.

Magic Slim and the band became recurrent performers at The Zoo Bar over the years, generating a large fan base in the process, along with a reputation for a very good time whenever they were in town.  In fact, in 1994, Magic Slim moved his family to Lincoln to shield his offspring from the ever-present danger of Chicago’s neighborhood gang influence and violence.  

On this 1998 release, the 14 tracks presented find Magic Slim & The Teardrops before a very impassioned following, stretching-out on songs that highly benefit from Wolf Records’ sound engineering that dedicates itself to replicating the high-energy, emotion-laden atmosphere of Slim’s performance among his ardent fans.  This collection completely captures the excitement of the club’s environment, but more importantly, the chugging, lurching, powerful, and stinging qualities of Slim’s blues revelations.

This collection is not a sugary narrative of Slim’s blues; no, it is tough, intense, and insistent, with the listener ultimately believing, again due to Wolf’s sound production, that they are five feet from the stage, with their ears ringing from the forceful wall of blues resonance being discharged by Slim and his oh-so-solid crew.

This is blues that compels you to brace yourself, as it is akin to being as close to a “live”, high-spirited show as one can get from their stereo.  Slim was a tour-de-force; there was no middle ground with the man’s blues.  This stellar collection captures that energy, drive, determination, and musical joy perfectly.

Highly-recommended without qualification!