Customer Reviews

Sky Is Crying: The History of

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I can't think of anybody in the history of rock and roll or blues who has had their music covered more than Elmore James. For a man who died almost 40 years ago, his music has held up well with time. James has influenced generations of musicians. From the older blues acts like B.B.King and Jimmy Reed. To the old rock acts like the Rolling Stones, Jimmy Hendrix, and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. To the newer acts like Stevie Ray Vaughan and especially George Thorogood. And I still never get tired of hearing these great songs. All of the music on here was recorded between 1951-61. The first 6 songs here, including his most famous "Dust My Broom", were all done on prehistoric recording equipment, and the sound quality isn't always the absolute best, but they did an excellent job on here of restoring these early recordings, which were done many times in later years for many different record labels, but they were never as good as the older versions you find on this cd. The rest of these tracks were done after 1954 when recording techniques got much better. That's when his slide guitar prowess really began to shine through, on tracks such as "The Sky Is Crying", I Can't Hold Out", "Done Somebody Wrong", and "Shake Your Moneymaker". It didn't hurt that he had the Broomdusters, who were probably the smokingest band of backing musicians as there ever was. James had a pretty prolific catalog of music for somebody who died at the young age of 45 from heart disease. There's no telling what he could have done if he had lived longer. The fact that James was an electric slide guitar pioneer was probably as important as his music. Having influenced thousands of would be guitar players to pick up a bottleneck. As for this compilation, I think the older versions of these classic songs are every bit as entertaining and worthwhile as the newer souped up versions. This "History Of Elmore James", along with my Best Of from Little Walter's Chess recordings, are the two best blues compilations from the old guard that I've ever heard. It's all timeless music, and absolutely essential to any serious blues lovers collection.

If you're wondering which Elmore James-album to start with, look no further. This is the definitive single-disc collection.

Opening with James' first waxing, his magnificent 1951 single "Dust My Broom", "The Sky Is Crying" includes almost all of James' best and best-known songs. Elmore James rocked harder than most other bluesmen...his band, the Broomdusters, was one of the finest that Chicago had to offer, featuring pianist Little Johnny Jones and saxist J.T. Brown, and Elmore himself was an awesome performer with a huge, emotional voice. His fiery slide playing made him the most influential electric slide guitarist of the post-WWII era bar none.

There are two excellent boxs sets on the market which include almost everything Elmore recorded, "The Classic Early Recordings 1951-1956" and "King Of The Slide Guitar" which brings together his later recordings. But I can see why you would want to start somewhere else, and this disc is your best bet. These 21 songs aren't everything you need to know about Elmore James, of course, but it is expertly compiled, superbly annotated, and cross-licensed as well, meaning that it draws from all of the labels that James recorded for. A few of his best Chess sides are missing (the omission of "Whose Muddy Shoes" is the biggest loss), but with so many tremendous songs here you hardly notice.
And the 15-page booklet includes all available recording information, as well as several photos and a thoroughly researched essay on Elmore by Robert Palmer.

Tough blues n' boogie like "I Can't Hold Out" and "Shake Your Moneymaker", swaggering mid-tempo grinds like "Madison Blues", "Look On Yonder Wall", and "Done Somebody Wrong", and smouldering slow blues like "It Hurts Me Too" and the ever-present title track...it's all top-notch, even the lesser-known songs. As the editorial review so rightly states: anyone who wears a bottleneck today owes a debt to Elmore James.
He is here as a sideman as well, wielding the slide behind Big Joe Turner on Turner's lusty "T.V. Mama", and the compilers have included one of his finest instrumental numbers, the up-tempo "Hawaiian Boogie". And listen to the way he solos right through his own vocals in "Sho' 'Nuff I Do", and his interplay with harpist Sam Myers on the gritty "Look On Yonder Wall"...Elmore had it all, the style, the talent, and all the feeling, and even the sheer repetitiveness of the recording process couldn't dim the intensity of his performance. Elmore James gave it his all every time the red light went on.

If you only ever buy a handful of "classic" electric blues albums, make sure this is one of them. This is simply one of the two or three strongest-ever compilations of electric blues music.
Go buy it. Go, go!

this disc is a good example of why it is such a misconception that elmore james was a "one-riff boogie king." on this cd you get an example of that riff, of course (i.e., "dust my broom"); thankfully, you also get "rollin' & tumblin'" (a superior version), the great single-string work of "hawaiian boogie", fantastic ballad work like "it hurts me too" and "sho' nuff..." and more houserockin' boogie. this disc is in constant rotation on my radio show. a must for anyone who enjoys big city slide guitar, the blues, or anyone who wants to have great music at a laid-back house party.

This CD is great because it draws together the major works Elmore performed for the various labels he graced in the 50s and 60s -- The Bihari Brother's Modern/Flair; Phil & Leonard Chess's Chess Records, Bobby London's tiny Chief label, and Bobby Robinson's Fire/Fury/Enjoy unit. Also included is Elmore's very first, and in some ways most characteristic, recording of "Dust My Broom" for the Trumpet label in Jackson, MS. This set beautifully traces Elmore's evolution from a countrified blues shouter with a bottleneck style to a Chicago bluesman with a sophisticated band (which stuck with him without major changes from 1952 until the early 1960s). His screaming slide guitar is already evident in some of the early Flairs -- like Hawaiian Boogie and I Can't Hold Out. The raw intensity of his vocal work is no better highlighted than on Look On Yonder Wall and Something Inside Me. My only complaint is that no example of his Chicago/Jump blues style is present, something like "Make My Dreams Come True" (which B.B.King copied note for note to get a #1 R&B hit in 1953). But, c'est la vie. There is noone else in the blues fields who combined the searing intensity of virtuoso guitar work and the scathing vocal style fused into that intense package of sound made only by Elmore James. This sound cannot help but be recognized in seconds by anyone with a passing acquaintanceship with classic electric blues. This is the REAL stuff. For my money, Elmore beats Muddy, Wolf, Sonny Boy and the rest because, with Elmore, you get higher quality guitar, and the sound of the music is guttier and closer to the bone. And, it helps that Elmore's musicians are arguably the best that Chicago had to offer (the only other aggregation that compares is the Muddy Waters band of the mid-50s.)Don't miss this if you like Blues.

The incomparable Elmore James still reigns as the master of the slide guitar, influences scores of musicians from Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt to beyond.

This CD captures the reasons why James is so loved and has such a firm place in the blues pantheon. From the opening cut, "Dust My Broom," which was written and originally recorded by Robert Johnson, James not only makes the song his own, he makes into such an addictive blues shuffle that you can easily forget that the man credited with first popularizing the blues ever had anything to do with the song.

And even the fact that many of the songs sound similar won't dissuade the listener from falling in love with James, because there is more than enough originality to sustain, including some James rare regular lead guitar playing, especially on "Sho Nuff I Do," and the sheer fun of "Shake Your Moneymaker" and "Hawaiian Boogie."

Elmore James was a musician for the ages. This collection atests to the reasons for his hold and influence on the blues genre.

It's late. You're sitting alone in some small blues club, nursing your beer. You close your eyes. Someone hits G17 and the title track is playing, bleeding through the club. It washes over you with complete ownership of your soul.

Elmore James is the perfect guy to listen to in those late night moments. From "Dust My Broom" to "The Sun Is Shining", "My Best Friend" to the great song, "Sunny Land" - his slide guitar has that ability to take you away.

Play this and you'll agree..

Since the advent of the compact disc two decades ago, there have been a number of worthy compilations by the great Elmore James (1918 - 1963), and yet James' reputation and popularity still falls far short of many of his contemporaries, post-War giants like Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, who came out of the Mississippi Delta and migrated North to cities like Chicago or Detroit. James, perhaps even more than Wolf or Waters, embraced amplification - not just because you had to be loud to be heard in a crowded bar, but for the creative possibilities offered by plugging in. Only Bo Diddley, perhaps, found electricity to be as essential to his creative evolution as Elmore did, as one can't help but be blown away by the way Elmore deployed distortion, volume, sustain, and other effects that allow for the myriad of textures and colors heard on these vintage masterpieces. And playing the music on this superb set LOUD goes a long way towards demonstrating just how vital James' intense, piercing, and hugely influential slide guitar playing remains on rock and blues players (from Duane Allman and Ron Wood to Hound Dog Taylor and Jack White), how cohesive and sympathetic his bands (especially the Broomdusters) were, and how emotionally raw and deep his greatest work sounds some 45 years after his death.
"The Sky Is Crying", issued by Rhino in 1993, remains the single best collection of Elmore's work, essential to any serious blues collection as well as the perfect introduction for newcomers. The 21 track set (recorded between 1951 and 1961) is unique in that it represents James' recordings for a variety of labels, including Trumpet (where he recorded his debut, 'Dust My Broom'), Flair, Chess, Atlantic, Chief, Flashback, and finally Bobby Robinson's Fire, where James settled during his final, fruitful four years. The fact that this CD's producer, the late Robert Palmer (who also contributes a typically insightful essay that allowed me to really HEAR this music 14 years ago) brings together so many of James' recordings from different periods and labels allows us to hear the evolution, abd especially the range and scope of Elmore's body of work, from his almost tentative (in light of what follows) debut hit to fully realized masterpieces with the Broomdusters, as well as blistering workouts with Ike Turner (whose own go-for-the-throat guitar is a perfect foil for Elmore's slide), a collaboration with Big Joe Turner, plus performances by Willie Johnson (guitarist on Wolf's immortal early Memphis sides), Willie Dixon, and more. By the time we get to hear "Hawaiian Boogie" and "Madison Blues", "I Can't Hold Out" (covered by Clapton), "Done Somebody Wrong" (ditto the Allman Brothers Band), the amazing "12 Year Old Boy" (track down Lydia Lunch's version!), and the primal funk of "Rollin and Tumblin" the power of Elmore James is undeniable, as is the intellegent sequencing of this lovingly compiled collection. For those who want more, I'd recommend two inexpensive boxed sets that are still in circulation if not in print: "The Classic Early Recordings 1951 - 56" (Flair/Virgin, 1993) has some amazing workouts by the Broomdusters and a booklet full of rare photos and the compilers' tale of visiting Canton Mississippi in 1993, where we meet folks who knew Elmore. "King Of The Slide Guitar" (Capricorn, 1993) takes us to the last years of James' career, which found him at his peak: 50 wonderful tracks recorded for Bobby Robinson (James' best producer) and originally issued on Fire.

Elmore James is underrated--period. He was as much of a pioneer and original artist of electric blues as Muddy Waters, yet timing, connections, and probably his health problems seemed to diminish his stature in the blues world in the 1950's and early '60's somewhat, at least compared to Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf. Over time, we have seen his work to be just as influential as Muddy's, and probably more than Wolf's. I admire Muddy Waters and the Wolf and respect their supreme positions as kings of Chicago blues, but I actually enjoy listening to Elmore James more. His singing is second only to Son House in sheer terms of emotional intensity. I love his quivering vocal vibrato that so perfectly fits the beat to "Dust My Broom." And his slide playing is without question some of the most influential music ever. The legendary Duane Allman studied him--need I say more?

This is a perfect CD for those interested in sampling Elmore's music for the first time. Every song is a winner. You won't be disappointed!!

Elmore James, in my humble opinion, is the most underrated blues guitarist of all time. He took what he learned from listening to Robert Johnson, plugged it into an electric guitar, and blew the roof off the blues world! The opening to Johnson's "Dust my Broom" is probably the coolest blues guitar riff known to man. In short, Elmore rules!

If you are a fan of the famous Elmore James hit, "Dust My Broom", you may be mildly disappointed by the version included on the CD, as it is a very early recording. But don't be shaken by this minor observation! The song is - after all - still the great "Dust My Broom"! See the CD titled "Blues Masters - Slide Guitar Classics" for an outstanding version of that same song.

That is NOT to say that this CD is disappionting, by any means! You will be introduced to many of his less-known songs, and you will hear his guitar style, as well as his voice, mature with his later recordings.

One thing that you will walk away with is a stronger sense of the early roots of electric blues, which did not always keep proper time, and was often plagued with poor recording techniques. Nonetheless, Elmore's guitar gets meaner, and his voice gets sweeter over time.

If you're a fan of early blues, if you need to understand Elmore's music from your PERSONAL perspective (rather than reading some music critic's opinion), if you love the eerie, yet powerful, electric slide than this CD is certainly for you.

Slide it into the CD player, dim the lights, and feel the blues!

Why did I give it get 5 stars? For delivering just what it promised; the history of Elmore James.