King of Slide Guitar

Elmore James | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 26, 1994)
• Label: Capricorn / Umgd
• ASIN: B000003CKR
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,405 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. The Sky Is Crying

2. Baby Please Set A Date

3. Held My Baby Last Night

4. Dust My Broom

5. Bobby's Rock

6. Rollin' And Tumblin'

7. Done Somebody Wrong

8. Something Inside Of Me

9. I'm Worried

10. Fine Little Mama

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Got To Move

2. Shake Your Moneymaker

3. Look On Yonder Wall

4. Sunnyland Train

5. Mean Mistreatin' Mama

6. Go Back Home Again

7. You Know You're Wrong

8. You Know You Done Me Wrong

9. I've Got A Right To Love My Baby

10. Every Day I Have The Blues

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate collection of Elmore James' later recordings, March 9, 2003

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King of Slide Guitar (Audio CD)

Once you've scooped up James' earlier recordings (the '51-'56 singles on Meteor and Flair), this is where you go for the rest. These two CDs contain (almost) every song Elmore James recorded for Bobby Robinsons Fire, Fury and Enjoy labels down in Louisiana in the early 60s, and it is a veritable gold mine.

Among these fifty tracks are superb, powerful re-recordings of most of James' previous hits, as well as lots and lots of newer material. "Dust My Broom" rocks with unbelievable power, and James does a superb reading of Robert Nighthawk's "Anna Lee" and some fiery instrumentals, particularly "Bobby's Rock" and "Up Jumped Elmore".

Of all the blues box sets I have heard, the material on this album is of the most consistently high quality. There is nary a weak track among the fifty, and even the lesser known songs are great. Just listen to "She's Got To Go", "Talk To Me Baby" (originally recorded for Chess Records), "Early One Morning" and the powerful "Look On Yonder Wall".
If you like Elmore James and his fiery slide guitar attack, larger-than-life voice and rocking sax-and-piano arrangements, you can't go wrong with this incredible set of music. It's better than Muddy Waters' Chess box set, and at least as good as Howlin' Wolf's.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Voice That Won't Quit, September 19, 2001

By 

VPerry_co_dutchess - See all my reviews

This review is from: King of the Slide (Audio CD)

Am I crazy or is Elmore James one of the best blues vocalists? He's so powerful, I couldn't stand it at first. This CD has lots of Elmore's best cuts but no notes on recording dates or fellow musicians. There's some notes on his personal/recording history.

Leads off with "Dust My Broom", sounding great, "Done Somebody Wrong" - again great , then "Sky is Crying", beautiful. "Look on Yonder Wall" is fine,too. Then a very competitive "Standing at the Crossroads". My favorite cut on the CD is next, "Mean Mistreatin' Mama" which somehow makes it very real for me that Elmore was a radio repairman, reworking his own amps. Compare James' version of "It Hurts Me Too" to Clapton's version on "From th Cradle"; Elmore really has the voice of a century worth of living. The last three cuts have poor sound quality.

There may be better Elmore James compilations, this was my introduction. And for that, I'm grateful.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING BluesMan, November 19, 2002

By 

jbembe (Ann Arbor, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King of Slide Guitar (Audio CD)

Elmore James is a magician on the guitar and for expressing blues music. Eric Clapton happened to introduce me to the blues genre some ten years ago by his release of unplugged and subsequent From the Cradle. From that point I have wandered through the likes of BB, Albert, and Freddie King, TBONE, Cotton and others. On first listen to this album, James really took me. His playing and vocals simply jam the blues, this is really exciting music and it seems so fresh and new. James must have influenced everyone, because his guitar riffs and playing seem to be present in all the other blues I own. Simply a great set of music, Elmore is an artist that you should certaintly get.