Major Works
- The Rollin’ & Tumblin’
- “Rollin’ & Tumblin”
- “I Need You Baby”
- “Sky Is Crying”
- “My Bleeding Heart”
- “It Hurts Me Too”
- “Dust My Broom”
- “My Baby’s Gone”
- “Find My Kind of Woman”
- King of the Slide Guitar
- Lets Cut It: The Very Best of Elmore James
- Sky Is Crying
Elmore James: A Biography
by Shannon Love (SHS)
Elmore James was an inspiration in the development of Rock ‘n’ Roll. As a young but talented musician, he shaped the sound and style of music in Mississippi. Elmore’s urge to play a guitar aided in his goal of becoming a star.
Elmore was a Mississippi native who was born in Richland on January 27, 1918, to Leora Brooks. His mother is one reason for his success. She encouraged Elmore to do what he enjoyed and to succeed in his choice of a career. With this encouragement, Elmore began to play a self-made guitar. With some success and the opportunity to play in various juke joints, Elmore befriended Rice Miller, who then became one of Elmore’s friends and colleagues. The friendship assisted Elmore in getting a record deal with Trumpet Records. With one goal accomplished, he began to search for a new success. James moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he formed a new band called The Broomdusters, which featured the piano of Jonny Jones and saxophone player J.T. Brown. The Broomdusters are known for such hits as “Dust My Broom,” “It Hurts Me Too,” and “The Sky Is Crying.” Throughout the years Elmore recorded more than one hundred songs for various record companies, including Modern, Chess, Chief, Fire, Fury, and Enjoy Records. He is known as the King of the Slide, and he helped to shape the rural sounds of the Mississippi Delta Blues into what became Rock ‘n’ Roll.
On May 24, 1963, James suffered a heart attack, which took his life at the age of 45. James not only began his career at an early age but was sadly taken from it at an early age. During his incredible years of creating Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elmore encountered and appeared with many famous musicians, but he has also inspired many musicians. Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones are just a few of the many musicians that he influenced in the course of their careers. With their thanks and gratitude, they have shown their appreciation for James with musical tributes and their prayers. In 1980, long after Elmore’s death, he was elected into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, and he was later inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
Timeline
- 1918 On January 27, Elmore was born in Richland, Mississippi.
- 1951 “Dust My Blues” was released
- 1951 Elmore did a session with Sonny Boy. This session is known as “Eyesight to the Blind.”
- 1957 “It Hurts Me Too” was released
- 1960 The Sky Is Crying was released
- 1960 Blues After Blues was released
- 1961 Blues After Hours was released
- 1963 Elmore died from a heart attack in Chicago
- 1964 Original Folk Blues was released
- 1965 “I Need You” was released
- 1968 “Something Inside of Me” was released
- 1968 “Tough” was released
- 1968 “The Late Fantastically Great” was released
- 1969 “Blues in My Heart, Rhythm In My Soul” was released
- 1969 “To Know a Man” was released
- 1969 Whose Muddy Shoes was released
- 1970 Elmore James was released
- 1974 “Cotton Patch”[1 Side] was released
- 1975 Street Talking was released
- 1976 “All Them Blues” was released
- 197 “Screaming Blues” was released
- 197 The Great Elmore James was released
- 1980 “One Way Out” was released
- 1980 Elmore was inducted into the Blues Foundations’ Hall of Fame
- 1981 “Got to Move” was released
- 1983 “Red Hot Blues” was released
- 1986 King of the Bottleneck Blues was released
- 1986 Let’s Cut It was released
- 1986 “Pickin’ the Blues” was released
- 1986 “Shake Your Money Maker” was released
- 1989 “Come Go with Me” was released
- 1990 “Dust My Broom” was released
- 1990 The Last Session was released
- 1992 Rolling & Tumbling was released
- 1996 King of the Slide was released
- 1996 “Slidin” was released
Review of The Rollin’ and Tumblin’
by Shannon Love (SHS)
Elmore James is best known for songs on his album: The Rollin’ & Tumblin. Showing a magnificent talent by expressing the blues, Elmore speaks of his lost love, home, and staying strong through trying times.“ Sky is Crying” and “Dust My Broom” are two of Elmore’s greatest hits from this particular album, which are both high tempered with an under flowing calmness. I feel that he wonderfully expresses life, love, and the tribulations that they may bring.
Related Websites
Bibliography
- “Elmore James.” AllMusic: Elmore James. 15, May 2000.
<http://allmusic.com/cg/x.dll?p=amg&sql=A181126>. - “Elmore James.” Netscape: Blues. 18, April. 2000
<http://www.slidingdelta.com/bluesmen/elmorejames.html>. - “James, Elmore.” Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. . Colin Larkin. vol 3. 1995 Ed. 6 Vols.
- “James, Elmore.” Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 1989 Ed.
- “The Mudcat Cafe.” Netscape: The Mudcat’s Elmore James Room. 18, April 2000. <http://www.mudcat.org/elmo.cfm>.