Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Artists - A to K»Artists - E
    Artists - E Music - 1950s 3 Mins Read

    Elmore James

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Despite his brief career – spanning little more than a decade before his early death in 1963 – bluesman Elmore James affected rock and roll in a way that few of his contemporaries could claim.

    Profoundly influenced by blues guitarists such as Kokomo Arnold and the legendary Robert Johnson, who taught him to play bottleneck, Elmore James began playing on an instrument he made from a lard can.

    He spent his apprenticeship in the company of the harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson II who had changed his name from Rice Miller to capitalise on the success of a namesake bluesman. Together, the pair did the rounds of the Mississippi juke joints in time-honoured blues fashion, working at sawmills by day and playing by night.

    After a spell in the US Navy between 1943 and 1945, James’s break came in 1947 when he played the prestigious King Biscuit Time radio show.

    With the help of Williamson, he secured his first recording contract and relocated to Chicago.

    Fixing his steel guitar with an electronic pickup, James and his backing group The Broomdusters stormed the R&B charts throughout the 1950s.

    His remake of Robert Johnson’s Dust My Broom (1952) set the style for which he is most remembered – passionate, amplified bottleneck guitar and intense, powerful vocals.

    Initially, James was reluctant to grab the limelight, preferring instead the quieter life of a session musician, but his attitude soon changed when the royalties started flowing.

    Tasting success, James exploited his Dust My Broom formula to songs such as Dust My Blues and I Believe (basically Dust My Broom with the first verse removed), but he was also responsible for more original gems which were to have a strong effect on the next generation of blues musicians.

    Songs such as Shake Your Moneymaker and Bleeding Heart were later to be adopted by Jeremy Spencer from Fleetwood Mac and Jimi Hendrix respectively, while Done Somebody Wrong proved to be a natural vehicle for the slide guitar of Duane Allman in The Allman Brothers Band.

    The Rolling Stones‘ Brian Jones was so taken with James’ guitar style that for a while he adopted the pseudonym of Elmo Lewis in tribute to his hero. But perhaps the greatest acknowledgement came from blues giant BB King who readily admitted to adopting elements of James’s style in his own playing.

    James’s dominance of the Chicago blues scene was, unfortunately, to be short-lived. Dropped by his record company when his popularity began to wane and blacklisted by the American Federation of Musicians for using non-union players, James became ill and turned to the bottle for solace.

    In May 1963, on the verge of a comeback, he died of a heart attack at the home of his cousin, Homesick James. He was just 45.

    Related Posts

    • Hank Ballard
      Hank Ballard
      Hank Ballard (real name John Henry Kendricks) was born in Detroit on 18 November 1927. When he was seven he…
    • Shirley Goodman
      Shirley Goodman
      Born in New Orleans on 19 June 1936, Shirley Goodman was 16 years old when she signed to Aladdin, the jazz…
    • Big Mama Thornton
      Big Mama Thornton
      Born in Montgomery, Alabama, on 11 December 1926, Willie Mae Thornton's father was a minister, and as a young girl,…
    • John Lee Hooker
      John Lee Hooker
      John Lee Hooker was born on a sharecropper farm in Clarkesdale, Mississippi in 1917 and became - with his distinctive…
    • Shep & the Limelites
      Shep & the Limelites
      James 'Shep' Sheppard's career began in St. Alban's Park, New York, in 1954 when, in the fashion of the day,…
    • Tommy Sands
      Tommy Sands
      Tommy Adrian Sands was born in Chicago in 1937. Growing up he enjoyed music, particularly country music. In 1944 his…
    • Garry Mills
      Garry Mills
      Garry Mills was born on 13 October 1941 in West Wickham, Kent, and - encouraged by his father who was…
    • Dale Hawkins
      Dale Hawkins
      As the most prolific white rocker on Checker Records, Dale Hawkins (born Delmar A Hawkins Jr on 22 August 1936)…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleShock Treatment (1981)
    Next Article dB’s, The

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Werewolf
      1 9 8 7 – 1 9 8 8 (USA) Eric Cord (John J. York) was a […]
    • Transvision Vamp
      Fronted by the small, pouting, usually scantily-clad screamer […]
    • Stoney Burke
      1 9 6 2 – 1 9 6 3 (USA) 32 x 60 minute episodes Stoney […]
    • Healing Force
      Australian band Healing Force formed in October 1970. Comprising […]
    • Band of Joy
      Band of Joy formed in 1966 in West Bromwich with Chris Brown […]
    • Demons of the Mind (1972)
      A small village full of pitchfork-wielding yokels and busty […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.