Sharp Stylings #47: Slim Harpo

We can learn so much from yesterday’s fashion icons.  And living in a post-Mad Men world means we can even enjoy aspects of current male fashions! Every Friday, I’d like to start your weekend off right with a little style inspiration from either then or now. Hopefully, my fellow Mod enthusiasts will find the whole or some detail of the whole to appreciate and maybe even adopt.

Lookin' for the king bee? You found him. Slim Harpo, the man who helped fuel hits for The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and many more. Not only was he a master of the harmonica (and guitar), but he was also as swank as they get:

Photo source: The World of Harmonica blog.

The photo above is filled with nice, detailed touches, from the thin, harlequin-patterned tie (with tight, perfect knot) to the hard-edged fold of the pocket square. In addition, you have the sharp, striped suit with thin lapels, and the broad (wedding?) ring and wrist-watch. Slim Harpo's just looking at you and daring you to match his suave self!

Slim Harpo is, hands-down, one of my favorite blues musicians. When I first moved to the Bay Area, one of the first LPs I purchased was 'The Best of Slim Harpo'.

What caught my eye immediately was just how slick he looked with that gal totally entralled with him. But when I played the LP for the first time, it was like all these Mod musical questions being answered at once for me. I was getting the roots of all these covers I had been listening to up until this point: The Rolling Stones' cover of 'I'm A King Bee', The Crawdaddys' cover of 'Rainin' in My Heart', The Yardbirds' cover of 'Got Love If You Want It' (which wasn't on this album, but a song I heard around the same time), The High Number's re-dux of that song as 'I'm The Face' , etc. Slim Harpo's originals were just so much more haunting than their covers. Then, when I heard 'Mohair Sam' for the first time, that funky groove just hit me right!

Slim Harpo... one of the most suave blues men that ever was. Now get to groovin'!