Slim & Slam

Slim & Slam was an American music duo formed in 1936 by Bulee "Slim" Gaillard (vocals, guitar and piano) and Leroy "Slam" Stewart (double bass). The duo existed until 1945.

Career

It first appeared on Martin Block's WNEW radio program The Make Believe Ballroom , which was broadcast nationwide. Until Slim Gaillard was drafted in 1942, it was active as a band that mainly had novelty songs in its repertoire. The duo also performed their own pieces very successfully, which are characterized by Slim's comical vocal interludes with his scat passages with slang and placeholder words as well as the idiosyncratic hum of Slam to his bowed bass. The duo also appeared in the film Hellzapoppin ' (1941). After Gaillard's military service, further photographs were taken in 1944; the duo separated in 1945.

The biggest hits were "Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)" (1938), which reached number 2 on the Billboard charts, "Tutti Frutti" (# 3, 1938), "Jump Session" (# 7, 1938), "Laughin 'in Rhythm" (# 15, 1938), "Buck Dance Rhythm" (# 12, 1939) "Cement Mixer (Puti Puti)" and "The Groove Juice Special (Opera in Vout)".

Discographic notes

• Slim & Slam - Complete Recordings 1938 - 1942 (Affinity 1992) - 3 CDs a. a. with Kenny Clarke , Chico Hamilton , Ben Webster and Kenneth Hollon , Al Killian

Web links

• Slim & Slam at Allmusic (English)
• Slim Gaillard / Slim & Slam | UbuWeb Ethnopoetics - On Afro-American sound poetry by Slim & Slam