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Albert Luandrew, better known as Sunnyland Slim, who was born in Vance (c. 1906), was a central figure on the Chicago blues scene from the 1940s until his death in 1995. Other noted Chicago bluesmen with Quitman County roots included Snooky Pryor, Jimmy Rogers, and Earl Hooker, while county natives Big Jack Johnson, James "Super Chikan" Johnson, and Johnnie Billington achieved renown while living in Mississippi. Lambert's strip of juke joints on 8th Street was once a hub of blues activity. Sunnyland Slim was regarded as a patriarch of the Chicago blues scene for decades, a position that stemmed from his various roles as a bandleader, label owner, gambling house operator, and active mentor to many younger artists. Sunnyland usually cited September 5, 1906 as his birth date, but when he registered for Social Security in Memphis in 1939 he claimed 1903. As a boy Sunnyland served as the organist at local churches, and in his mid-teens found work playing the organ behind silent films at a movie theater in nearby Lambert, a job that required knowledge of a wide range of music and improvisational ability. Around 1925 he moved to Memphis, where he played actively on Beale Street’s bustling club and theatre scene, and accompanied blues stars including Ma Rainey and Blind Blake. Sunnyland arrived in Chicago in the early ‘40s, and early gigs included work at parties with harmonica great John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson. He made his first solo recordings in 1947 for the Aristocrat label, using Muddy Waters as his guitarist; the same year he recorded as “Doctor Clayton’s Buddy,” paying tribute to a newly deceased mentor from whom Sunnyland borrowed his distinctive falsetto vocal technique. Sunnyland, who died in Chicago on March 17, 1995, didn’t have many big hits, but he recorded prolifically for multiple labels including his own Airway Records. content © Mississippi Blues Commission
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