Slim Dortch

A Tennessee native who started playing guitar when he was twelve, Henry Pierce "Slim" Dortch (1921-2000) moved across the nation chasing various radio gigs, such as the "Breakfast Time Frolic," on WJJD, Chicago, or the "Saddle Mountain Roundup" in far-distant Dallas, where he played with musicians such as Fiddlin' Arthur Smith and singer Ray Whitley. He's best known among rockabilly enthusiasts for his 'Sixties sizzler, "Big Boy Rock," which has a driving hillbilly soul-beat sound, perhaps not surprising for an uber-indie Memphis single, back in 1964. Mr. Dortch eventually settled down in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where he passed away at age 78.