Amoeba Music

Though his recorded output was relatively small and he placed just four hit singles on the R&B charts in the ‘50s and ‘60s, Elmore James was among the most influential guitarists on the postwar blues scene. An insistent slide triplet he unveiled on his debut single, his 1952 cover of Robert Johnson’s “Dust My Broom” for Trumpet Records, was a figure that was copied endlessly by James’ acolytes, both black and white, and it remains part of the bedrock of the genre; though he was by no means a one-trick pony, James himself made a cottage industry out of the lick, replicating it time and again on record during his brief 12-year studio career.

City Of Origin:

Richland, Holmes County, Mississippi, United States

Genre:

Blues, Delta Blues

Birthdate:

01/27/1918

Death date:

05/24/1963