''Alone with My Friends'' is an album by American blues pianist

Memphis Slim John Len Chatman (September 3, 1915 – February 24, 1988), known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxopho ...

which was recorded in 1961 and released on the

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

label. The album, recorded in London during a European tour, is an exploration of the blues repertoire in terms of songs associated with blues singers

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1893 or 1903August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African-American audiences. In the 19 ...

Tampa Red Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903March 19, 1981), known as Tampa Red, was an American Chicago blues musician. His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago ...

and Georgia Tom,

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

and

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

, Curtis Jones, St. Louis Jimmy, Sonny Boy Williamson and

Blind Lemon Jefferson Lemon Henry "Blind Lemon" Jefferson (September 24, 1893 – December 19, 1929) was an American blues and gospel singer-songwriter and musician. He was one of the most popular and successful blues singers of the 1920s and has been called the "Fat ...

.Original Liner Notes by Ed Michel

Reception

In his review for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Richie Unterberger says "Not the first or last place to check out Slim on record."

Track listing

# "Highway 51 Blues" ( Curtis Jones) – 4:15 # "I Feel So Good" (

) – 2:45 # "Rock Me, Momma" (Big Bill Broonzy) – 3:50 # "Goin' Down Slow" ( James B. Oden) – 3:40 # "Sittin' on Top of the World" (Carter-Jacobs) – 3:40 # "Sunnyland Train" (Memphis Slim) – 3:55 # "Goin' Down to the River" (

) – 3:00 # " I Just Want to Make Love to You" (

) – 3:55 # "I Can Hear My Name A-Ringin'" ( Sonny Boy Williamson) – 4:00 # "Going Back to My Plow" (Big Bill Broonzy) – 4:45

Personnel

– vocals, piano

References

{{Authority control 1963 albums Memphis Slim albums Battle Records (record label) albums