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Morris Holt, a/k/a Magic Slim was born in Torrence, Mississippi on August 7, 1937. He took an early interest in music, singing in the church choir. His first love was piano but, having lost a finger on his right hand in an accident, he found it difficult to play properly and switched to guitar. He worked in the fields during the week and played the blues at house parties on the weekends.
At age 11 Slim moved to Grenada, Mississippi where he later met and became friends with Magic Sam (who, years later in Chicago, gave him the name Magic Slim). Sam gave Slim some pointers on guitar when they were still youngsters. When Slim made his first trip to Chicago in 1955, Sam hired him to play bass in his band. Slim returned to Mississippi for 5 more years, perfecting his craft before he again returned to Chicago.
Slim gained national and international attention when he began playing regularly at Florence's on Chicago's south side in 1972, filling in occasionally for Hound Dog Taylor, and taking over the gig when Hound Dog moved on to a more lucrative career on the road. He formed his own band called the Teardrops, consisting of his younger brothers, Nick(whom Slim had taught to play bass) and Douglas, the drummer along with Junior Pettis on rhythm guitar. Slim's raw, rough-edged slide guitar playing, with a pounding bass line overlaid with his fiery guitar riffs and gruff, good natured vocals, was the perfect complement to the often rowdy and sometimes violent atmosphere at Florence's.
Eventually Slim left Florence's to launch a career that has taken him across the country and overseas where he is even better known then in the U.S. In 1989, he toured Europe, Japan and Brazil, becoming an instant hero in Brazil. He opened up for Buddy Guy, Etta James and Albert Collins on the first blues festival staged in Brazil and the media said he stole the show from all the illustrious competition. He then appeared on television there and dozens of magazine articles as well as every newspaper in the country. In 1990 he returned there selling out venues in 4 cities, three of which had never seen a blues show before. In 1994 Eddie Vedder personally selected the band to open a show for Pearl Jam at the New Regal Theater in Chicago.
Slim recorded a record for Wolf Records in Germany while touring in 1990 and again in 1991. Both were awarded the W.C. Handy award for the best foreign traditional blues record for the years 1990 and 1991.
At the 24th Annual W.C. Handy Blues Awards, Magic Slim and the Teardrops were voted the Blues Band of the Year and Magic was the only performer to be nominated in the top five categories:
Blues Entertainer of the YearBlues Band of the Year Blues Instrumentalist-GuitarTraditional Blues Album of the Year Traditional Blues-Male Artist of the Year….
Again in 2006 Magic Slim & the Teardrops were the only artist/band to be nominated in the top 5 categories.
Slim’s and the band’s Nominations for the past nine years are:
Blues Entertainer of the Year 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010
Blues Instrumentalist-Guitar2003
Traditional Blues Album of the Year2003, 2006
Traditional Blues-Male Artist of the Year2003, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2011
Blues Band of the Year 2003 through 2009 and 2011
Magic Slim & the Teardrops have been nominated for “Blues Band of the Year” for 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011, making it an almost annual event.
Blues Blast Magazine’s 2010 Music Awards named Magic Slim the Best Male Blues Artist.
His latest release on Blind Pig Records, the recently recorded CD, Raising the Bar, 2010, is another highly acclaimed release.
The Teardrops feature Andre Howard playing the bass lines that are integral to the Teardrops sound and John McDonald in the 2nd guitar position. His guitar work and vocals are at the level of a second leader, not a sideman, in the tradition of all Magic Slim second guitars. The drummer, Brian Jones (B.J.), fills out the roster and perfectly complements the others with his incredible timing and pounding energy. Together, they are perhaps the best blues band on the planet and their talent frees Slim to soar to flights of blues genius.
Magic Slim and the Teardrops are a no frills, in your face Chicago blues band playing blues with a high energy delivery that will leave you breathless and begging for more.
"This is not news for the blues community who are well aware of how great Magic Slim & the Teardrops have always been, but in light of them just getting better and better, someone in Chicago should build a monument to this group for their determination, and the ability to do the city proud worldwide." -AllMusic
"Veteran blues man extraordinaire Magic Slim has not missed a beat, skipped a bar, omitted a lick, nor released a bad record in...ever!" -No Depression
“Magic Slim is pure 100% blues. When audiences have the opportunity to see/hear a band like this in action then there is little chance of them being conned by the many pseudo-blues acts out there. Magic Slim & the Teardrops should be the standard by which we compare all others.” -Andy Grigg, Real Blues Canada
“Magic Slim consistently offers no-frills houserockin’ blues. He and his band are a national treasure.” -Living Blues Magazine
"In a world where blues bands are becoming increasingly slick and polished, Magic Slim and the Teardrops are proof the real deal still exists. The legendary performance captured the man and his band in their element -- on stage, drawing sweat for a room full of fans. It was Chicago barroom blues at its best!" -The Waterfront Bistro, Pickering Ontario Canada
"Midnight Blues is another round of what Slim does best: some of the toughest straight-ahead blues you can find that are still delivered by the guy who created them."
-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Slim isn't one of those guys who's trying to take the blues somewhere it's never been. He takes you where it was when it was the best there was. Still is.
….He takes the essence of this classic music and smacks you upside the head with it. And the only possible answer is "thank you, sir, please do that again."
-Jim White, The Blue Notes Blog, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
“In a genre often cluttered with has-been rockers, young heavy metal merchants, and other blues-deficient players looking for a niche and an easy buck, it’s refreshing to hear a powerful album by a vibrant blues artist who knows the idiom inside and out. No doubt about it, Magic Slim is the genuine article.” -Illinois Entertainer
“Chicago’s Last “Real”Blues Band” -Brian Owens, Boston Blues Society
“Make no mistake, big guy Magic Slim (Morris Holt) and his gang of three are the premier Chicago blues band on the road and in the recording studio today.” -Frank-John Hadley, Downbeat
“Slim has earned a reputation as one of the most consistently entertaining live acts on the blues circuit today” -Dave Ruthenberg, Living Blues Magazine
“These guys are simply the best at what they do—playing unrefined and unadulterated electric Chicago bar room blues” -Twin Cities Blues News
“Magic Slim stands as the greatest living proponent of the intense, electrified, Mississippi-to-Chicago blues style that spawned so much of the music played by modern blues artists and rockers.” -Blues, Jazz and Folk Music Society, Marietta, Ohio
"Easily one of the finest displays of Chicago blues I have ever heard" -John Paul Brophy, Producer Blues &Brews Festival 2005, Salt Lake City
“If there is a more consistant bluesman in the field today for big-shoutin’, whoop-ass blues, I have yet to hear him.” -Michael Kuelker
“Magic Slim purveys high voltage Chicago blues with a jolt of Delta juice” - College Media Journal, Reno, NV