Not really OT as he is a favorite musician of Mick Taylor's or so I've read. Anyway, I just bought the cd, "The Sky is Crying" and it's brilliant. I love every track but my favorites are Dust My Broom, I'm Worried, and Shake Your Money Maker(just love that title)! He's got an okay voice, but what a guitarist...and his music has sort of a dirty, scuzzier (sp?) sound. Awesome! I'm anxious to listen to more of his material. Incidentally, Mick Taylor also said that B.B. King's "Live at the Regal" was another favorite of his. I have that, as well, and I'm not that impressed..at least on first listen. Have to give it another go.

Elmore James was not under-recorded and there's a wealth of material out there. If you get serious about it, I would suggest building your collection on CDs or downloads based on the original release label. That way you'll avoid a lot of duplication (including the tracks you mentioned).

Live at The Regal is often cited as one of the best blues albums ever released. The atmosphere BB creates with the audience is part of that and they spark off each other. I would definitely recommend further listenings.

I'll definitely take your advice on B.B. King..he's certainly not an artist I plan to readily dismiss..that would be insane, really. Excuse my ignorance, but what would be the original release labels of Elmore James to look out for? The cd I have is from Camden Blues Masters.

I love me some Elmore James. Hope you enjoy your new listening! Reading your post where you described Elmores musich having a "sort of a dirty, scuzzier (sp?) sound. Awesome!" - that's a really good description.

Part of your difficulty in getting into Live at the Regal, may be the fact that, BB's sound (and that of his band) would not be described using the words you used to describe Elmore's. I find BB's music to be far more smooth, clean and polished than people similar to Elmore. Really they're two different types of Blues and either can suffer in comparison to the other. For me, a lot of the time if I just want music in the background, I'd put on some BB King. If I want something to smack me upside the head and get me rocking, I'm gonna grab some Elmore.

It took me a while to get into BB King after first being into the likes of Muddy, Elmore & Freddie King. Like teleblaster, I recommend giving Live at the Regal a few more chances, just don't try to compare it to Elmore while you're doing so. They may both be blues, but they're not the same. Enjoy!

Peace,
Mr DJA

James' The Sky Is Crying is supreme. Great voice. Something Inside Of Me is excellent.

Baby Please Set A Date is even better than Dust My Broom.

Great advice...thanks!! B.B. King is definitely smooth...like a mellow Scotch..and I don't even drink whiskey! People just adore him. Gotta check out Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, as well. I'm never up-to-speed on this stuff, but I eventually catch up. There're also DVD's that are devoted to the history of the Blues. I think Keith Richards narrates one..can't remember the name of it offhand. And, I want to get John Mayall's (just love that guy) 1982 Concert dvd with Mick Taylor and Albert King (?). I have to say, after the horrible day on this board yesterday from which I'm still suffering PTSD (my fault for getting rankled..I know better), I'm just going to immerse myself into the music..the pure and sweet music which is so precious...and forget the ugly business and peronalities..side of it! That's my promise! The Blues is a good place to be at the moment.

I was there for MT and Albert and Mayall somewhere in Jersey. John McVee played bass in The Bluesbreakers portion. The British guys were all wasted and McVee threw his bass on the floor and staggered off early in the set. Albert's band had to fill in. Taylor acted very peculiar, he'd stand in front of his guitar stands with his hand on his chin trying to decide what instrument to play before each tune... He used a Firebird and a White Strat, not sure what he played for big humbuckers... Good jamming but the most stoned musicians I ever saw and that's counting The New Barbarians.. The video hardly reflects the night...

The blues is the best musical medicine I know of Bella! Hate to hear you had a rough day yesterday though I guess I should be glad I missed out on that thread. Re. DVD's, although I can't think of the one Keith narrates, Bill Wyman is part of one as well. Martin Scorsese's PBS series was well done as well... Introduced me to guys like Skip James & JB Lenoir who I hadn't discovered before then... Both went way up my list of favorites after hearing them.

Peace,
Mr DJA

Why did they have to get so wasted? Is life so horrible for them? Maybe I'm being too harsh, but I think they should feel blessed to have such marvelous talents or genius...like Taylor. Why do they waste their lives like that? I think I saw pictures from that concert and MT was wearing a white suitcoat and sitting down if I'm not mistaken? Myself..I hope in my next lifetime I'm a virtuoso violinist...now that's a most beautiful instrument in my opinion.

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mr_dja
The blues is the best musical medicine I know of Bella! Hate to hear you had a rough day yesterday though I guess I should be glad I missed out on that thread. Re. DVD's, although I can't think of the one Keith narrates, Bill Wyman is part of one as well. Martin Scorsese's PBS series was well done as well... Introduced me to guys like Skip James & JB Lenoir who I hadn't discovered before then... Both went way up my list of favorites after hearing them.

Peace,
Mr DJA

I wish I did as well! Never, ever again!!! JB Lenoir was a favorite of John Mayall..he wrote a song about him after he died...think it was a car accident. Yeah, the Blues is good medicine as I'm finding out!!!

You're correct, "The Death of JB Lenoir" was Mayall's "tribute" after JB had died. I don't know all the details but, from what I understand, Mayall was hit hard by JB's passing.

Peace,
Mr DJA

Just bought from Amazon....Definitive-Elmore James. I'm hooked!!

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Bellajane
Why did they have to get so wasted? Is life so horrible for them? Maybe I'm being too harsh, but I think they should feel blessed to have such marvelous talents or genius...like Taylor. Why do they waste their lives like that? I think I saw pictures from that concert and MT was wearing a white suitcoat and sitting down if I'm not mistaken? Myself..I hope in my next lifetime I'm a virtuoso violinist...now that's a most beautiful instrument in my opinion.

Maybe a new town and something they weren't used to but I suppose many of these guys always played like this but put outside their regular band and handlers, playing other material they lost it... Clapton was famously wasted in the 1970's... Saw him do a stadium show singing, Have You Ever Loved a Woman on his back laying on the stage. Never saw Elmore James but on his earliest recordings he's known as Elmo...

Clapton says he can't even remember the seventies. Stevie Nicks says she doesn't remember most of the time being onstage during that time, as well. Performing is definitely stressful. I couldn't do it. Well, I used to be a Scottish Highland Dancer..not quite the arena-rock environment!

Ah, Elmore James... It had to pop up some time after all these years. It was among the "accepted" names if you wanted to be cool around 1970...

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Bellajane
I'll definitely take your advice on B.B. King..he's certainly not an artist I plan to readily dismiss..that would be insane, really. Excuse my ignorance, but what would be the original release labels of Elmore James to look out for? The cd I have is from Camden Blues Masters.

I'll check when I get home and give you a reply tomorrow.

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DoomandGloom
I was there for MT and Albert and Mayall somewhere in Jersey. John McVee played bass in The Bluesbreakers portion. The British guys were all wasted and McVee threw his bass on the floor and staggered off early in the set.
...
Good jamming but the most stoned musicians I ever saw and that's counting The New Barbarians.. The video hardly reflects the night...

Another fellow who attended claimed that the Bluesbreakers took a smoke break while Taylor played a solo and that Taylor did not notice they had gone for a while. This isn't on the video. Do you recall anything like that (and which song)?

I've long enjoyed the video and don't "see" any impairment. (Or a Firebird.)

Unfortunately, a complete recording of the concert doesn't circulate.

Try some Freddie King

Elmore James is ace, also as BB, Freddie and Albert King. Two of my favourite BB King records are Live and Well and Indianola Mississippi Seeds.

There's so many of them, but that's a good thing!!! I love the Freddie King song, "Driving Sideways". It's on one of my Bluesbreakers cds, plus on YouTube there is a young Mick Taylor playing it and one video of Freddie King...I think where he was twirling his guitar like a windmill..definitely not a live video in this performance. Great song!!

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smokeydusky

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DoomandGloom
I was there for MT and Albert and Mayall somewhere in Jersey. John McVee played bass in The Bluesbreakers portion. The British guys were all wasted and McVee threw his bass on the floor and staggered off early in the set.
...
Good jamming but the most stoned musicians I ever saw and that's counting The New Barbarians.. The video hardly reflects the night...

Another fellow who attended claimed that the Bluesbreakers took a smoke break while Taylor played a solo and that Taylor did not notice they had gone for a while. This isn't on the video. Do you recall anything like that (and which song)?

I've long enjoyed the video and don't "see" any impairment. (Or a Firebird.)

Unfortunately, a complete recording of the concert doesn't circulate.

No I don't recall Taylor being left alone, I could be mistaken about the Firebird and confused with the Taylor solo album cover but like I wrote it was a very peculiar night, I'm not sure if the video is just from one show, I've never actually watched it. I used to follow Albert King's concerts in those days and he still had some chops at this time but started slipping soon after that. In those days you could see people like Buddy Guy, Son Seals, Roy Buchannon or Albert King often if you were in the metropolitan New York area and ready to drive. Roy was the best I ever saw, hands down, unpredictable, modest and explosive. I saw him turn his back into a stage curtain and literally make the the guitar sound like it was being murdered. He used that Tele but sometimes showed up with a black Les Paul or a Keith style Tele Custom..."Elmore James has got nothing on this baby"

I am a huge Elmore James fan...he was Brian's fav not so much MT's at least not that I read but the whole band loves him. I have all the fire and enjoy sides and much more.

BB King at the Regal is a classic. as is Live at cook county jail. I learned em both back the Lps days..madness.

Sunnyland by Elmore James is among the best records ever...as great as Little by Little by Junior wells.

Elmore played in open "E" I believe..

Now Roy Buchanan is very interesting. Very sad end to his life. I absolutely never heard of him before, but I'm keen to check him out. Very influential and brilliant player. Just not sure where to start.

This is just an ordinary gig at a legendary club on Long Island called My Fathers Place. To get a picture Andy Kaufman was the bartender before and after he was known as a comedian...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-11-21 21:55 by DoomandGloom.

Thanks for the video. Definitely something to watch over the weekend. So much music...so little time! Too bad I have to work.

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Bellajane
Thanks for the video. Definitely something to watch over the weekend. So much music...so little time! Too bad I have to work.

If my office didn't let me pick the playlist at my desk I think I'd have quit years ago. Funny thing is, I manage the FRONT office where I work so all of our customers have first contact with me and my playlist. Although I do censor out the NSFW stuff, I can't tell you how many people over the years have asked me for information about the blues/r&b/old rock & roll that regularly plays in our lobby! I must say it's nice to be in a position where I can say "I like my job"! I may have to bring in some Roy Buchanon & Elmore James tomorrow to play in bellajane's honor!

Peace,
Mr DJA

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Bellajane
...my favorites are Dust My Broom, I'm Worried, and Shake Your Money Maker..B.B. King's "Live at the Regal"

BBK-EJ Connection 1: Bellajane's collection
BBK-EJ Connection 2: For Can't Stop Lovin', Elmore used the melody of BB King's Woke Up This Morning (it's on Live at the Regal)

Elmore James recordings in the 50s may have his best band, but I like the Fire and Joy recordings from the 60s, where his tone is amazing and singing is clearer. He often used an amplified acoustic guitar.

Taylor used to play You Got To Move a lot like Elmore James' It Hurts Me Too. In his solo career he's played Shake Your Moneymaker at least twice (per Nico's website). It's been reported that Elmore used to play that song for 20 minutes live. Unfortunately no live recording of Elmore seems to exist.

I can recommend one Live Blues album and it is 'Beware of The Dog' with Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers.../5

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+1 for Hound Dog Taylor. He played slide in the style of Elmore James in a trio (no bass guitar) and they rocked! Bruce Iglauer started a record label - Alligator - specifically to record Hound Dog (and that first album is majestic). Unfortunately, Hound Dog died before the release of the live "Beware of the Dog". I try to pick up any Hound Dog stuff that I can get my hands on. "Release the Hound" is also live and it's pretty good too.

Considering the sheer amount of gigs he played, I've found remarkably few bootlegs. If anyone knows different, please let me know!