According to most sources, Otis Hicks was born on a farm outside St. Louis, Missouri,[3] but the researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc stated, on the basis of his draft card, that he was born in Good Pine, Louisiana. Prison records from Louisiana State Penitentiary discovered by researcher Gene Tomko also corroborate his birthplace as Good Pine, Louisiana.[4] He moved to Baton Rouge at the age of 13. Taught the rudiments of guitar playing by his father and older brother Layfield, Slim was playing in bars in Baton Rouge by the late 1940s.[3][5] In the 1930s and early 1940s, Lightnin' Slim served time in Louisiana State Penitentiary (often known as 'Angola') for manslaughter.[4]
His first recording was "Bad Luck" ("If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all"), released by J. D. "Jay" Miller's Feature Records in 1954.[6] Miller gave him the stage name "Lightnin' Slim".[7] Slim then recorded for Excello Records for 12 years, starting in the mid-1950s, often collaborating with his brother-in-law Slim Harpo and with the harmonica player Lazy Lester.[6]
Slim stopped performing the blues for a time and eventually worked in a foundry in Pontiac, Michigan,[citation needed] as a result of which his hands were constantly exposed to high temperatures. He was rediscovered by Fred Reif in 1970, in Pontiac, where he was living in a rented room at Slim Harpo's sister's house. Reif soon got him back performing again and a new recording contract with Excello, this time through Bud Howell, then the president of the company. His first engagement was a reunion concert in 1971 at the University of Chicago Folk Festival with Lazy Lester, whom Reif had brought from Baton Rouge in January of that year.
In the 1970s, Slim performed on tours in Europe,[5] including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, for which he was often accompanied by Moses "Whispering" Smith on harmonica. He last toured the UK in 1973, with the American Blues Legends package organised by Big Bear Records.[8]
In July 1974, Slim died of stomach cancer in Detroit, Michigan, aged 61.[7] He was interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Pontiac, Michigan.[9]
