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"…Dusted Off His Blues…"
When the vinyl album "The Best Of Elmore James" first appeared in February 1965 in the UK on Sue Records ILP 918 priced at 29/11d - certain white English boys (chaps from Cream, Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin) grabbed it, listened to the 'loud electric slide blues guitar' of this Delta son and quietly shat their Carnaby St. pants.
"Dust My Broom" is one of those tunes/riffs that has literally altered history - a game-changer that's been copied and modified to buggery ever since it's first appearance back in Mississippi in the 1930's. Lyrically the words "dust my broom" (which reputedly date back to the 17th Century and mean "leave home quickly") were first mentioned by Carl Rafferty in 1933 and Kokomo Arnold in 1934.
But it was the legendary slide player ROBERT JOHNSON who finally put the words into a song title when he cut "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" on Vocalion 03475 in 1937. Elmore James met the great man sometime in late 1937 (a year before Johnson died) and adapted the song to his own emerging style - electrified guitar slashed by a bottleneck slide. Elmore James' version (credited to Elmo James) first appeared as a 78" in late 1951 on Trumpet Records 146 with an uncredited Sonny Boy Williamson playing harmonica (it's pictured on Page 8 of the book) - and history was made.
But quite apart from 'that' famous riff - this 3CD (reissue) set makes a strong case for Elmore Leroy James as being way more than a one-song wonder. Here are the early-in-the-morning details...
"The Classic Early Recordings 1951-1956" by ELMORE JAMES & HIS BROOMDUSTERS originally appeared as an American 71-track 3CD set in long-box form in June 1994. This is the August 2007 Ace Records double jewel-case UK reissue (same tracks and annotated booklet) on Ace Records ABOXCD 4 (Barcode 029667000420) and breaks down as follows:
Disc 1 "Canton Crusade" - 62:28 minutes:
1. Dust My Broom (1951 USA 78" on Trumpet 146, A)
2. Please Find My Baby (Version 1) (1969 USA LP "Anthology Of A Blues Legend" on Kent LP 9001)
3. Hawaiian Boogie (Version 1) (1970 USA LP "The Resurrection Of Elmore James" on Kent LP 9010)
4. Please Find My Baby (Version 2) (1954 USA 7" single on Flair 1022, A)
5. Hand In Hand (1954 USA 7" single on Flair 1031, A)
6. Long Tall Woman (Previously Unreleased Until 1993 Box Set)
7. Rock My Baby Right (1954 USA 7" single on Flair 1048, B-side of "Dark And Dreary")
8. One More Drink (Take 1) (1970 USA LP "The Resurrection Of Elmore James" on Kent LP 9010)
9. My Baby's Gone (1983 UK LP "King Of The Slide Guitar" on Ace Records CH 68)
10. One More Drink (Take 2) (1983 UK LP "King Of The Slide Guitar" on Ace Records CH 68)
11. Lost Woman Blues (aka "Please Find My Baby (Version 3)") (Previously Unreleased Until 1993 Box Set)
12. I Believe (1953 USA 7" single on Meteor 5000, A)
13. I Held My Baby Last Night (1953 USA 7" single on Meteor 5000, B-side of "I Believe")
14. Baby What's Wrong (1953 USA 7" single on Meteor 5003, A)
15. Sinful Woman (1953 USA 7" single on Meteor 5003, B-side of "Baby What's Wrong")
16. Round House Boogie (1953 USA 7" single on Meteor 5001, A - reissued on Meteor 5024 in 1955 as "Sax Symphonic Boogie" with the B called "Flaming Blues" - see 19)
17. Dumb Woman Blues (1954 USA 7" single on Meteor 5016, B-side of "Sax-Ony Boogie")
18. Sax-Ony Boogie (1954 USA 7" single on Meteor 5016, A)
19. Kickin' The Blues Around (first issued as "Kickin' The Blues Around" in 1953 on the USA 7" single Meteor 5001 - reissued as "Flaming Blues" in 1955 on the USA 7" single Meteor 5024)
20. I May Be Wrong (1953 USA 7" single on Flair 1010, A)
21. Sweet Little Woman (1953 USA 7" single on Flair 1010, B
Disc 2 - "Broomdusting In Chicago" - 70:35 minutes:
1. Early In The Morning (1953 USA 7" single on Flair 1011, A)
2. Can't Stop Lovin' (1953 USA 7" single on Flair 1014, A)
3. Hawaiian Boogie (Version 2) (1953 recording on the 1970 USA LP "The Resurrection Of Elmore James" on Kent LP 9010)
4. Make A Little Love (1953 USA 7" single on Flair 1014, B-side of "Can't Stop Lovin'")
5. My Best Friend (Take 1) (1983 UK LP "King Of The Slide Guitar" on Ace Records CH 68)
6. Make My Dreams Come True (Take 2) (1970 USA LP "The Resurrection Of Elmore James" on Kent LP 9010)
7. Make My Dreams Come True (Take 3)
8. Make My Dreams Come True (Take 4) - 3 and 4 Previously Unreleased until 1993
9. Make My Dreams Come True (Take 7) (1954 USA 7" single on Flair 1031, B-side of "Hand In Hand")
10. Strange Kinda Feeling (Take 1) - previously unreleased until 1993
11. Strange Kinda Feeling (Take 2) (1983 UK LP "King Of The Slide Guitar" on Ace Records CH 68)
12. Strange Kinda Feeling (Take 3) - previously unreleased until 1993
13. Strange Kinda Feeling (Take 4) - previously unreleased until 1993
14. Strange Kinda Feeling (Take 5) (1970 USA LP "The Resurrection Of Elmore James" on Kent LP 9010)
15. Strange Kinda Feeling (Take 6) (1953 USA 7" single on Flair 1022, B-side of "Please Find My Baby")
16. Dark And Dreary (Take 1) - previously unreleased until 1993
17. Dark And Dreary (Take 2) (1983 UK LP "King Of The Slide Guitar" on Ace Records CH 68)
18. Dark And Dreary (Take 4) (1954 USA 7" single on Flair 1048, A)
19. Quarter Past Nine (1970 USA LP "The Resurrection Of Elmore James" on Kent LP 9010)
20. Where Can My Baby Be (Take 1) - previously unreleased until 1993
21. Where Can My Baby Be (Take 8) (1983 UK LP "King Of The Slide Guitar" on Ace Records CH 68)
22. Where Can My Baby Be (Take 9) (1969 USA LP "Anthology Of A Blues Legend" on Kent LP 9001)
23. Please Come Back To Me (Sho' Nuff I Do) (1983 UK LP "King Of The Slide Guitar" on Ace Records CH 68)
24. Session Talk & False Start/Sho' Nuff I Do - previously unreleased until 1993
25. Sho' Nuff I Do (Alternate Take) (1970 USA LP "The Resurrection Of Elmore James" on Kent LP 9010)
26. Sho' Nuff I Do (1954 USA 7" single on Flair 1039, A)
27. 1839 Blues (1954 USA 7" single on Flair 1039, B-side of "Sho' Nuff I Do")
28. I Got A Strange Baby (1969 USA LP "Anthology Of A Blues Legend" on Kent LP 9001)
29. Canton, Mississippi Breakdown (1969 USA LP "Anthology Of A Blues Legend" on Kent LP 9001)
Disc 3 - "Culver City To The Crescent City" - 58:22 minutes:
1. Standing At The Crossroads (1954 USA 7" single on Flair 1057, B-side of "Sunny Land")
2. Late Hours At Midnight (1955 USA 7" single on Flair 1062, A)
3. Happy Home (1955 USA 7" single on Flair 1069, A)
4. Sunny Land (1954 USA 7" single on Flair 1057, A)
5. The Way You Treat Me (1955 USA 7" single on Flair 1062, B-side of "Late Hours At Midnight")
6. No Love In My Heart (1955 USA 7" single on Flair 1069, B-side of "Happy Home")
7. Dust My Blues (Take 3) (1955 USA 7" single on Flair 1074, A)
8. I Was A Fool (1955 USA 7" single on Flair 1074, B-side of "Dust My Blues")
9. Blues Before Sunrise (1955 USA 7" single on Flair 1079, A)
10. Good Bye (Baby) (Take 1) (1955 USA 7" single on Flair 1079, B-side of "Blues Before Sunrise")
11. So Mean To Me (1983 UK LP "King Of The Slide Guitar" on Ace Records CH 68)
12. So Mean To Me (Take 3) (1969 USA LP "Anthology Of A Blues Legend" on Kent LP 9001)
13. So Mean To Me (Take 4) (1987 UK LP "Let's Cut It: The Very Best Of Elmore James" on Ace Records CH 192)
14. Chat & False Start To "Wild About You Baby" - Previously unreleased until 1993
15. Wild About You (1956 USA 7" single on Modern 983, A)
16. Wild About You Baby (1965 USA LP "Original Folk Blues" on Kent KLP-5022)
17. Elmo's Shuffle (Instrumental) (Take 3) (1970 USA LP "The Resurrection Of Elmore James" on Kent LP 9010)
18. Elmo's Shuffle (Take 4) (1983 UK LP "King Of The Slide Guitar" on Ace Records CH 68)
19. Elmo's Shuffle (Take 5) - Previously Unreleased Until 1993
20. Long Tall Woman (1970 USA LP "The Resurrection Of Elmore James" on Kent LP 9010)
21. Long Tall Woman (1956 USA 7" single on Modern 983, B-side of "Wild About You")
The 40-page CD-sized booklet opens with pages of track credits but the superbly detailed RAY TOPPING liner notes begin properly on Page 6 and finish on Page 31 with a Discography that follows. Inbetween the text are black and white and colour photos of EJ and various support bands, reproductions of those rare Meteor, Modern, Trumpet and Flair American labels, trade adverts, label calling cards, photos of Joe Bihari (Modern Records) and even a copy of his birth certificate from 27 January 1918.
Topping disentangles the messy mastertapes situation surrounding so much of EJ's recorded legacy - admitting that a few titles are dubbed from clean 78"s because masters are either lost or destroyed (Modern cannibalised their tapes in the 60's). Given all that - the BOB JONES remasters are a revelation for what is notoriously badly recorded material. I've heard CDs of EJ's material that a few shades short of unlistenable - not the case here. It's rough for sure in places - but it is at least real.
After the crackly start of "Dust My Broom" - you get to track 2 "Please Find My Baby" - and suddenly there it is - 'that' electric sound. It's an immediate gritty ballsy and visceral kick in the teeth and you can hear 'everybody' who was influenced by his style - from Fleetwood Mac right on through to Johnny Winter and George Thorogood. His great raspy vocal comes shining through on the lonesome "Long Tall Woman" while Ike Turner's piano so compliments "Rock My Baby First". The production values improve on "Baby What's Wrong" (recorded Nov 1952 in Chicago) with J T Brown on Saxophone and Johnny Jones on Piano. James is just about audible on the fabulous R'n'B boogies of "Sweet Little Woman" and "I May Be Wrong" by Little Johnny Jones & The Chicago Hound Dogs - sounding not unlike some long lost rocking masterpiece. Elmore's rocking rearrangement of Robert Johnson's "I Believe" (also known as I Believe (My Time Ain't Long)") was Fleetwood's Mac's UK debut single on Blue Horizon in November 1967 (miscredited to Jeremy Spencer) - and practically defined their first album sound.
Johnny Jones once again provides tasty piano fills for "Can't Stop Lovin'" while the whole band whips up a storm for the instrumental "Hawaiian Boogie" which features those trademark licks on his as JT Brown blasts away on a Sax. The growth of "Make My Dreams Come True" (Take 7 is the master) and "Strange Kinda Feeling" (Take 6 is the master) are documented through several aborted/truncated takes - the band finding their groove. And the properly Bluesy "Please Come Back To Me" features Ike Turner on Guitar with Raymond Hill on Tenor Sax. And we return to Robert Johnson for "Standing At The Crossroads" where James puts in a hugely confident vocal against a brassy backdrop. Back to that slasher style for "Dust My Blues" which is one my faves on here.
Given what's gone before - the audio on here is years ahead of what we've had to put up with before - even if it is a bit rough around the gills. But in some respects isn't that what made Elmore James so electrifying in the first place...
Artwork for the original Long Box
