Elmore James ( Brooks; January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. Noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. His slide guitar technique earned him the nickname "King of the Slide Guitar".

Biography

Elmore James was born Elmore Brooks in Richland, Holmes County, Mississippi, the son of 15-year-old Leola Brooks, a field hand. He played lead guitar on Big Joe Turner's 1954 top 10 R&B hit "TV Mama".

In 1959, he began recording for Bobby Robinson's Fire Records, which released "The Sky Is Crying", "My Bleeding Heart", "Stranger Blues", "Look on Yonder Wall", "Done Somebody Wrong", and "Shake Your Moneymaker", among others. in Chicago in 1963, at the age of 45, Phil Walden of Capricorn Records raised funds for a granite headstone for James's grave. The headstone which reads "King of the Slide Guitar", features a bronze relief of James playing guitar. It was revealed at a dedication ceremony sponsored by the Mount Zion Memorial Fund in 1992.

James was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as an "Early Influence" inductee. In 2012, he was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Ebenezer. His single string playing also influenced B.B. King and Chuck Berry. In the Beatles' song "For You Blue", John Lennon plays a slide solo on a Höfner lap steel guitar; George Harrison encourages him with "Go, Johnny, go... Elmore James got nothin' on this, baby". Eric Burdon dedicated the song No More Elmore to him. It was featured on his album Comeback and was regularly played at his concerts in the 1980s und 1990s.

Discography

Selected singles

  • "Dust My Broom" (1951 and 1965)
  • "I Believe" (1953)
  • "Standing at the Crossroads" (1954 and 1965)
  • "Dust My Blues" (1955)
  • "It Hurts Me Too" (1957 and 1965)
  • "The Sky Is Crying" (1960)
  • "I Can't Hold Out" (1960)
  • "Rollin' and Tumblin'" (1960)
  • "Shake Your Moneymaker" (1961)
  • "Look on Yonder Wall" (1961)
  • "Bleeding Heart" (1965)
  • "One Way Out" (1965)
  • "Every Day I Have the Blues" (1965)
  • "Madison Blues" (1968)

Selected compilation albums

  • Blues After Hours (Crown, 1960)
  • The Sky Is Crying (Sphere Sound, 1965)
  • I Need You (Sphere Sound, 1966)
  • Whose Muddy Shoes (Chess, 1969) (split album with John Brim)
  • Street Talkin' (Muse, 1975) (split album with Eddie Taylor)
  • Shake Your Money Maker (Charly R&B, 1986)
  • Golden Classics (Collectables, 1988)
  • King of the Slide Guitar (Capricorn, 1992)
  • The Classic Early Recordings: 1951–1956 (Virgin/Flair, 1993)
  • The Sky Is Crying: The History of Elmore James (Rhino, 1993)
  • Rollin' and Tumblin' (Recall/Snapper, 1999)

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File:Elmore James Blues Trail Marker.jpg|Blues Trail Marker

File:Elmore James Headstone.jpg|Gravesite located at Newport Missionary Baptist Church

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References

  • Illustrated Elmore James discography
  • Elmore James | Mount Zion Memorial Fund
  • 1980 Blues Foundation Hall of Fame Inductee