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Elmore James (1918-1963)

"The sun is shining, although it's raining in my heart."

Elmore James was born on January 27, 1918 in Richland, Mississippi, to Leola Brooks. He was given the surname of his stepfather, Joe Willie James. Encouraged by his mother, Elmore James adapted to music at an early age, learning to play bottleneck on a homemade instrument fashioned out of a broom handle and a lard can, until he purchased his first guitar as a teenager. By the age of 14, Elmore James was already a weekend musician, appearing at house parties and juke joints under the names "Cleanhead" or "Joe Willie James". In the mid and late 1930s, young Elmore James met other blues artists like his cousin Homesick James Williamson (who taught him to play slide guitar), Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Johnny Temple, Luther Huff, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Lockwood Jr., Eddie Taylor, and Sonny Boy Williamson and worked with them. Elmore James learned many songs from these friends and formed in the late 1930s his first own band. World War II interrupted his career for a while. Elmore James served in the Army between 1943 and 1945. After his service, Elmore James worked with Sonny Boy Williamson and Homesick James, who both had radio shows on KFFA in Helena, Mississippi. Elmore James performed Dust My Broom on the shows. In 1951, already in his thirties, Elmore James made his debut recording Dust My Broom for Trumpet Records which became a tremendous hit. The harmonica on Dust My Broom was played by his old friend Sonny Boy Williamson. In 1952, Elmore James moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he became a local hero in the clubs with his band, The Broomdusters. During the years Elmore James recorded for many labels including Modern, Chess, Chief, Fire, Fury, and Enjoy Records until 1963. Since the late 1950s, Elmore James suffered with increasing health problems. On May 24, 1963, he died of his third heart attack in Chicago at age 45. In 1980, Elmore James was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, and in 1992 into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame also lists two of his songs on their list of 500 songs which shaped rock'n'roll: Dust My Broom and Shake Your Moneymaker. Elmore James is regarded as one of the most imporant blues artists, considered by many to be the King of the Slide Guitar. The slide guitar riff from Dust My Broom is one of the best known openings in all of blues and often used by other blues artists, and even by rock artists. Elmore James' typical slide guitar sound ranks as a standard in blues until today. Beginners on slide guitar mostly use Elmore James tunes when they practice playing. Although Elmore James only recorded for a short period of thirteen years and many of his recordings had no commercial success, some of his releases became real blues classics.

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