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http://journalstar.com/entertainment/music/morris-magic-slim-holt-lincoln-s-chicago-bluesman-dies-at/article_22ee1a0f-69a4-558c-9b7c-48048cfce142.html?cid=print

Morris "Magic Slim" Holt, Lincoln bluesman, dies at 75


By L. KENT WOLGAMOTT / Lincoln Journal
Morris “Magic Slim” Holt, the Chicago bluesman who called Lincoln home for two decades, died Wednesday at a Philadelphia hospital. He was 75.

Holt was on tour with his band the Teardrops in late January when he became ill with breathing problems and was hospitalized in Phoenixville, Pa. He was transferred later to Philadelphia.

By far Lincoln’s best-known and most-hailed musician, Magic Slim and the Teardrops was considered the last of the Mississippi-to-Chicago electric blues bands that took root in the 1950s.

In 2003, Magic Slim and the Teardrops received the Blues Music Award as "Blues Band Of The Year,” the sixth time he won a Blues Music Award, considered the highest honor in the blues.

Slim’s passing was mourned immediately by Lincoln’s music community, which poured out remembrances and condolences on social media, like this Facebook post from Shaun Sparks of the band Large Mouth: “Rest in Peace Magic Slim. What an amazing musician and a sweet, funny man. He'll be missed the world over.”

Others talked about the connection between Slim and Lincoln.

“That’s a big hit in the gut for Lincoln,” said Gerardo Meza of The Mezcal Brothers. “That’s another legend gone. Six months after Larry (Boehmer, former Zoo Bar owner). That’s sad. My kids got to know him, they knew who he was and they respected him. That’s what he deserves, respect. He put Lincoln on the map, he and Larry, for blues and he was a true musician. It is what he did all his life.”

Boehmer, whom of Slim said last year “he feels just like my brother,” began booking live acts at Zoo in 1974. Among the first he brought in was Magic Slim and The Teardrops, who in the preceding four years had become a force on the Chicago blues scene, but rarely played outside the city.

“The Zoo Bar was the first white club Slim ever played,” said Zoo owner Pete Watters. “It had to have been '74-'75. Long before he moved to Lincoln, he’d play a whole week at the Zoo Bar. Monday through Saturday, he’d pack the bar, six nights in a row. And he’d do it three or four times a year. Long before he moved here, there was a love affair between Magic Slim and Lincoln.”

Slim and his, wife, Ann moved to Lincoln in the early '90s, in part to get their teenaged son Shawn away from the gangs that were ravaging their Chicago neighborhood. Shawn, known as “Lil’ Slim” now leads his own band and was guitarist in the Teardrops, accompanying his father on his final tour.

Born in Torrence, Miss., Holt took an early interest in music. A cotton gin accident that took the little finger on his right hand caused the young Holt to switch from piano, his first love, to guitar

At 11, Holt moved to nearby Grenada, Miss., where he met and became friends with guitarist Samuel “Magic Sam” Maghett, who supplied him with guitar advice early and the name “Magic Slim” later.

In 1955, Holt made his first trip to Chicago, where he played bass in Magic Sam’s band and picked up his new name. But he returned to Mississippi, discouraged, and educated himself in the blues.

A few years later, he returned to Chicago, became a staple on the blues scene and began his recording career with the single “Scufflin’” in 1966. He formed the Teardrops with brothers Nick and Douglas the next year.

He recorded his first album “Born Under a Bad Sign” in 1967 and released dozens more. His most recent record, “Bad Boy” came out last year on Blind Pig Records.

“His music is really getting to the end of an era,” Watters said. “Of his generation of guys, Buddy Guy and Eddy Clearwater are two of the last guys left. What he did was so earthy. Musically, he was one of a kind. The music will be preserved. He will never be forgotten. I’m so sad I’ll never see my friend Morris Holt ever again.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/feb/20/kevin-ayers-dies-aged-68


Writer Christopher Robbins dies at 66
Author penned non-fiction works such as 'Air America' and 'The Empress of Ireland'
By Variety Staff

Christopher Robbins, the Blighty scribe and journo who penned "Air America" and other pieces of non-fiction, died of pancreatic cancer on Dec. 24. He was 66.
A native of Bristol, Robbins honed his craft as a student writing jazz criticism for the Telegraph. More formal training came on The Stroud News and Journal, after which he freelanced for various papers and magazines Stateside and in Europe.

Investigative articles for the Observer magazine on CIA assassination plots gave way to his first opus, "Assassin," after which he wrote two books about Vietnam, "Air America" and "The Ravens." Former turned into a Mel Gibson-starrer, with Robbins penning the script.

Other tomes include "A Test of Courage," a bio on WWII survivor and language teacher Michel Thomas, and "The Empress of Ireland: A Chronicle of an Unusual Friendship," a memoir that won the Saga Prize for wit.

Robbins also wrote about former Soviet satellites such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan and Azerbaijan, publishing "In Search of Kazakhstan: The Land That Disappeared" in 2007.

He is survived by his wife, scribe-helmer, Mary Agnes Donoghue.