Clarence Sims best known by his stage name

Stage name

A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...

, Fillmore Slim, is a blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 vocalist and guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

ist with five albums to his credit. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was also a highly renowned pimp

Pimp

A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...

 in San Francisco, often referred to as "The West Coast Godfather of the Game" and "The Pope of Pimping".

Early life

Born and raised in New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, Fillmore began learning about the blues at an early age. "I done lived the blues," he once said in an interview. "The blues is about picking cotton, working in the fields, living in the streets, and you know I did all these things."

In 1955, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career, playing by himself in the street and later starting a band called Eddy N & the Blues Slayers. During this time he had a relationship with Etta James

Etta James

Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...

 before she achieved her fame as a blues singer and recorded a few 45 rpm records himself. His most successful record from this time was titled "You Got the Nerve of a Brass Monkey".

Pimping

Fillmore's life took a dramatic turn when one night, while playing a blues bar in Midland, Texas

Midland, Texas

Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the state's western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2010, the population of Midland was 111,147. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...

, he noticed a young woman who kept coming in and out of the bar. As he tells it, "Finally, she came up to me and said, "I like you. I want you to have this money." I asked her how she got all that money. She finally told me she was a hooker. I asked her what a hooker did, and she broke it on down for me."
Upon returning to California, he relocated to San Francisco, bringing the girl along with him for extra income. He continued working as a musician, playing in Fillmore District clubs like the Trees Pool Hall and the old Fillmore Theater

The Fillmore

The Fillmore Auditorium is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California, made famous by Bill Graham. Named for its original location at the intersection of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard, it lies on the boundary of the Western Addition and the Pacific Heights neighborhoods.In 1968,...

. He even scored gigs opening for B.B. King and Dinah Washington

Dinah Washington

Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...

.

Eventually, however, Fillmore found the lure of pimp

Pimp

A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...

ing too strong and effectively left music behind. He built up a stable of prostitutes and had anywhere from ten to fifteen women working Fillmore Street everyday. His wardrobe consisted of sharkskin suits, alligator shoes and diamond watches, and he could often be seen cruising up and down Fillmore Street in a new Cadillac. In the documentary American Pimp, Fillmore estimates that, in his entire career as a pimp, he had about 8,000 to 9,000 prostitutes.

Return To Music

In 1980, while still working as a pimp, Fillmore received an offer to perform his music in France, but couldn't legally leave the country because he was on probation for a previous crime. While attempting to buy a forged

Forgery

Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...

 passport, he was caught by authorities and was sentenced to five years in a federal penitentiary

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

.

He used the time in prison to polish his musical skills and was released a year early for good behavior. Upon re-entering society, he lived in a halfway house

Halfway house

The purpose of a halfway house, also called a recovery house or sober house, is generally to allow people to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support; this is generally believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or relapse when compared to a...

in Oakland that was nearby to Eli's Mile Hi Club, one of Oakland's last authentic blues joints. He became friends with Eli's owner Troyce Key, who admired Fillmore's musical stylings and eventually recorded his first album called "Born to Sing the Blues" (as Clarence "Guitar" Sims), released in 1987. It was then that, in order to support the album, Fillmore put together a touring band and retired from pimping completely.

In 1996 Mountain Top Records and Fillmore Slim rereleased,Born to Sing the Blues,on the Mountain Top label. Several years of touring and playing gigs followed, which led to a record deal in 1999 with Fedora Records and an album called "Other Side of the Road", released in 2000. Fillmore has released more CDs in the years since with a trilogy of CD's on Mountain Top Records;The Game, The Legend of Fillmore Slim,, and, The Blue's Playa's Ball that tell his story in his own words and music. Fillmore Slim's song writing talents, and musicianship have garnered several awards including being inducted into the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame in 2008, and the Lowell Fulson "Jus' Blues" Award in Memphis in 2011. Since his musical resurgence, Fillmore has found his largest fanbase to be in Europe, where he's played the Zurich Blues Festival and the Blues Estafette in Utrecht, Holland, and France, among others.

Fillmore Slim's life and times are currently in production for a film, The Legend of Fillmore Slim.

"The Blues Playa's Ball" (2010)

Disk 1

1. Funky Wino
2. San Francisco Down On Sixth Street
3. Hooker's Game
4. The Last Stage Of The Blues
5. She's Nasty
6. Rebecca
7. I'd Rather Go Blind
8. Bring Back The Funk
9. Playing The Blues Around The World
10. Thunder and Lightning

Disk 2

1. Strip Joint
2. The Ghetto
3. Fannie Mae
4. Go Ahead Woman
5. Fine French Woman
6. Fillmore's Hood
7. Ain't That A Shame
8. Joe Louis Fan
9. Playa's Ball
10. I'd Rather Go Blind - Extended Cut

"The Legend Of Fillmore Slim: Blues Man / King Of The Game" (2006)

Tracklist:

1. The Legend Of Fillmore Slim
2. Trapped By The Devil
3. Nosey Woman
4. Love For The Third Time
5. Hey Little Brother
6. Watch Yo' Self
7. Jack You Up
8. My Friend Blue
9. Vegetable Man Intro
10. Vegetable Man
11. She Don't Love Me
12. Blues From The Heart
13. Tired Of My Old Lady
14. Legend Of Filmore Slim Intro

"The Game *" (Oct., 2004)

Tracklist:

1. The Game (Rap Version)
2. Faster Than Time
3. Jody
4. Down For My Crown
5. My First Girlfriend
6. Big Brass Monkey
7. Can't Get Enough
8. Playboy
9. Mackin
10. Downtown Fresno
11. Texas Woman
12. The Game (Blues Version)

"Born to Sing the Blues" (1996)

CD Re-release with additional tracks and omissions from original recording. Released as Clarence "Guitar" Sims.

Tracklist:

1. Minding My Own Business
2. King Boy
3. Better Man
4. When I Come Home
5. Watchdog
6. 3rd Rate Love Affair
7. Send Her Home
8. Broke Baby
9. Lonely Heart and Broken Mind
10. So Much Trouble
11. Body Language
12. Things That I Used to Do
13. Sims Boogie
14. Better Man [Alternate Take]
15. Interview: Clarence "Guitar" Sims

"Funky Mama's House" (Feb., 2004)

Tracklist:

1. Funky Mama's House
2. Brown Sugar Eyes
3. Street Walker
4. Tabby Thomas' Place
5. Those Lonely, Lonely Nights
6. Ya - Ya
7. Down At Eli's
8. Stagger Lee
9. Earl King
10. Saturday Night
11. I Cross My Heart

"Other Side of the Road" (2000)

Tracklist:

1. Let's Talk About Love
2. Dial 911
3. Kicked Out
4. The Girl Can't Cook
5. Down On The Farm
6. Annabelle
7. Pretty Baby
8. Other Side Of The Road
9. Louisiana Scat
10. Blue Monday

"It's Going To Be My Time After A While" (1996)

Tracklist:

1. I'm Broke Baby
2. Slippin Out
3. Slow Blues
4. All the People I Could Have Been
5. I Hear You Cryin'
6. Cutin-N-Loosen
7. It's Going to Be My Time After While
8. Instrumental

"Born to Sing the Blues" (1987)

Original vinyl release. Released as Clarence "Guitar" Sims

Tracklist:

1. She's Gone
2. Reap What You Sow
3. 3rd Rate Love Affair
4. Watchdog
5. Don't Treat Me Right Blues
6. Things I Used To Do
7. I'll Be A Better Man
8. Hard Luck Blues
9. Body Language
10. Lonely Heart & Broken Mind