When you hear an electric Blues band with a slide guitar player, you will hear Elmore James. His signature lick is repeated thousands of times a night by guitar players around the world. He wasn't the first to take a glass bottle or metal pipe to a guitar string, but he was one of the first to discover the new sounds a slide could achieve on an electric guitar. And man, he found some good ones!
January 27, 1918
May 24, 1963
Richland, Mississippi
Elmore James became part of the great migration from the Delta to northern urban areas. He took his Mississippi juke joint musical experience of playing with Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson and took it north, via Memphis, ending up in the clubs of Chicago. His band, the Broombusters, could hang with the best on any stage in town.
Elmore served in the Navy during WWII.
His hits include: Rollin' and Tumblin', Done Somebody Wrong, Sky Is Crying, Shake Your Moneymaker, and It Hurts Me Too.
Elmore had a colorful recording career. His first studio success was without his knowledge. He was recorded playing his own stuff surreptitiously after he had finished a session for another artist. The producer added another vocalist later and the song became a hit. James recorded with many labels and was in a constant battle over contracts and recording rights. For a time, these disputes ran him out of Chicago.
"Dust My Broom" reached number nine on the national R&B charts!Elmore repaired radios and understood electronics. He would experiment with different components and configurations to create distortion. This would fatten up the sound of the guitar and increase the time a note could be sustained. These modifications are standard to any guitar amplifier today.
James vocal abilities made him quite the double threat. Though he did not survive to see the revival of Blues in the 1960's, his approach to performing and recording, like Muddy Waters', became the standard. B.B. King's playing reflects James' one-string style of lead guitar. He was truly a Blues musician's Blues musician.
Elmore James suffered from chronic heart problems and died from a heart attack in 1963.
