Fillmore Slim, Other Side Of The Road

Thanks to the portrait of him as The Grand Old Man of the Life in the Hughes Brothers '1999 documentary American Pimp, followed by shout-outs from Snoop Dogg and Master P, Clarence Sims is actually most widely recognized for his, how you say, non-musical pursuits. But the New Orleans native, based in California since the mid '50s, has been in and out of the West Coast blues scene most of his life, and you know what? Original songs like "Annabelle" and "Dial 911," though borderline generic, aren't bad at all. He's also a credible, if hardly original, guitarist — crossing classic B.B. King and Robert Lockwood Jr. with funk-era Johnny "Guitar" Watson. As for his raw, countrified voice, well, that you're gonna either love or hate. And the music does sometimes meander aimlessly. But he can be entertaining.