Sound
James played a wide variety of "blues" (which often crossed over into other styles of music) similar to that of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and some of B. B. King's work, but distinguished by his guitar's unique tone coming from a modified, hollow body traditional acoustic guitar, which sounded like an amped up version of the "more modern" solid body guitars. He most often played using a slide, but on several recordings he plays without. His voice and style were as instantly recognisable as King's, Muddy's and Wolf's and until he fell afoul of the Chicago union, he and his 'Broomdusters' were as popular in the Chicago clubs as any of these musicians' bands. James could be reportedly 'difficult' (drinking on the job, not paying out cash, abandoning musicians, double booking etc.) There are few photos of James performing, those taken (some at the following occasion, and some at a packed club with stylishly dressed couples dancing closely) by George Adins, and no other detailed descriptions or any live recordings.
Muddy Waters took the Belgian blues fan George Adins to see James play in Chicago in 1959, Adins recalled,
Elmore will always remain the most exciting, dramatic blues singer and guitarist that I've ever had a chance to see perform in the flesh. On our way we listened to him on the radio as Big Bill Hill ... was broadcasting direct from that place. I was burning to see Elmore James and before we even pushed open the door of the club, we could hear Elmore's violent guitar sound. Although the place was overcrowded, we managed to find a seat close to the bandstand and the blues came falling down on me as it had never done before. Watching Elmore sing and play, backed by a solid blues band (Homesick James, J.T. Brown, Boyd Atkins and Sam Cassell) made me feel real fine. Wearing thick glasses, Elmore's face always had an expressive and dramatic look, especially when he was real gone on the slow blues. Singing with a strong and rough voice, he really didn't need a mike. On such slow blues as "I'm Worried - "Make My Dreams Come True" - "It Hurts Me", his voice reached a climax and created a tension that was unmistakably the down and out blues. Notwithstanding that raw voice, Elmore sang his blues with a particular feeling, an emotion and depth that showed his country background. His singing was... fed, reinforced by his own guitar accompaniment which was as rough, violent and expressive as was his voice. Using the bottleneck technique most of the time, Elmore really let his guitar sound as I had never heard a guitar sound before. You just couldn't sit still! You had to move...
Adins also witnessed James at 'Alex Club' in West Side Chicago where...
...he always played for a dance audience and he made the people jump. "Bobby's Rock" was at that time one of the favourite numbers with the crowd and Elmore used to play for fifteen minutes and more. You just couldn't stand that hysteric sound coming down on you. The place was rocking, swinging!
The nearest we have to a recording of a 'live' set by James is his last recorded session by Bobby Robinson, in New York City in 1963 shortly before James death. This session features several takes of "Hand In Hand" which was abandoned and James then played a 'live' set.
His best known song is the blues standard "Dust My Broom" (also known as "Dust My Blues"). The song gave its name to James's band, The Broomdusters. The song's opening slide guitar riff is one of the best-known sounds in all of blues. It is essentially the same riff that appeared in the recording of the same song by Robert Johnson, but James played the riff with electric slide guitar. It was even transformed into a doo-wop chorus on Jesse Stone's "Down in the Alley", recorded by The Clovers and Elvis Presley. Stone transcribed the riff as: "Changety changety changety changety chang chang!"
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)