Elmore James

Induction Year: 1992

Induction Category: Early Influence

Bluesman Elmore James was inspired by the local performances of to take up the guitar. It was, in fact, a number by Johnson ("Dust My Broom") that became James’ signature song and laid the foundation for his recording career. First cut by James in August 1951, “Dust My Broom” contains the strongest example of his stylistic signature: a swooping, full-octave opening figure on slide guitar. His influence went beyond that one riff, however, as he’s been virtually credited with inventing blues rock by virtue of energizing primal riffs with a raw, driving intensity.

Born on a farm in Richland, Mississippi, in 1918, James was a journeyman who traveled the South, often performing alongside Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) during the Thirties and Forties. One account has him playing with a band that included drums as early as 1939. If correct, it would place him several years ahead of in blending Delta Blues with electrical amplification and percussion. In any event, James moved to Chicago in 1953, where he was able to participate in the birth and flowering of electric blues. He spent the next decade bouncing back and forth between Chicago and Mississippi, making a detour to New York City in 1959 to record for the Fire label - sessions that yielded some of his finest recorded work.

Beset with heart problems exacerbated by heavy drinking and chronic asthma, James died of a heart attack in Chicago in 1963. He was 45 years old. He left behind a raft of classic blues songs that include “Shake Your Money Maker,” “Talk to Me Baby,” “It Hurts Me Too” and “The Sky Is Crying.” James’ distinctive style has influenced a legion of Chicago slide players, and his songs have been cut by the admiring likes of the , Canned Heat, and the Butterfield Blues Band. “You can hear his signature riff at least once a night from every slide guitarist working,” music historian Tony Glover has written, “but no one has ever quite matched that vocal intensity, which transformed the lonesome moan of the Delta into a Chicago scream.”

TIMELINE

January 27, 1918: Elmore James was born in Richland, MS.

1952: Elmore James releases ’s “Dust My Broom”.

May 24, 1963: Beset with heart problems exacerbated by heavy drinking and chronic asthma, James died of a heart attack in Chicago.

1992: Elmore James is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Essential Recordings

Dust My Broom
It Hurts Me Too
Shake Your Moneymaker
The Sky Is Crying
Done Somebody Wrong
Look On Yonder Wall
Madison Blues
The Sun Is Shining
I Believe
Hawaiian Boogie