After Memphis Slim and his colleagues had finished their first Candid album (a tribute to blues singing friends, living and dead), Memphis wanted to keep on recording. The session had turned out to be more stimulating than he had anticipated, and while there was still tape left, he didn"t want to lose the groove. Rather than restrict Memphis, Jazz Gillum and Arbee Stidham to a pre-arranged program with each number being repeated until all errors (and much warmth) had been removed, it was suggested that Memphis free-associate. After a few numbers, it was clear that a definite pattern was developing - the odyssey of an American Negro blues singer. At the suggestion of Memphis, this 1961 album was titled Memphis Slim U.S.A..