Week 43
Elmore James, The Sky is Crying: The History of Elmore James
(Rhino 71190)

It has been said that, while Muddy Waters electrified and updated the delta blues for the city, Elmore James modernized it for all time. Although this assertion doesn't do justice to the interplay between the two contemporaries, nor to the frequent subtlety of James' music, it is nonetheless the near truth, for the musical and emotional intensity that Elmore James brought to the delta blues has rarely since been matched.

Although a professional traveling musician since his early teens, Elmore James was not actually recorded until he was in his early thirties. Even then, his debut was reportedly made without his knowledge, as the studio engineer assured the recording-shy James that he and the band were only rehearsing, and not actually being recorded, as they tore through the delta standard "Dust My Broom." Released in early 1952 with a different artist on the flip side (not knowing he was being recorded, James hadn't stuck around to record a second track), the song was a tremendous national hit on the R&B charts.

His overnight success as a recording artist quickly eliminated James' reluctance to step into a studio, and over the following decade he worked with a variety of labels, at times simultaneously. As a consequence of James and the labels' hopes to replicate the success of "Dust My Broom," that song's signature slide guitar riff appeared frequently in James' repertoire. Though a truly epic and memorable riff, however, its very prominence in James' recordings, particularly once they began to be compiled on albums, has frequently led to a retrospective underrating of his legacy.

This single disc collection decisively corrects that assessment. The only broadly available James compilation to draw from throughout his career, it features 21 tracks of varying style and approach, recorded everywhere from juke joints to posh contemporary studios. Throughout it all, James' definitively scorching guitar work and his emotional singing are the undeniable center. He leaves the listener no doubt of his mastery, and happy to have such a compulsively listenable collection.

Listen: Elmore James - "The Sun is Shining"
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