Word: boye
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Sonny Boy's sidemen and perhaps the most underrated Bluesman of the post war era was singer-guitarist Elmore Jones. Indicative of his anonymity is the fact that it is virtually impossible to get his albums in the United States (though some are now being imported from England). Elmore Jones played slide guitar. This means that he used a special open string tuning in D or G, with a metal ring of some kind on his little finger. Recently an English group led by Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac, have recorded albums in which they do exact copies of some...
...lyrics are complemented by an insistently rhythmic organ and Sonny Boy's incredible crying harmonica. The combination of the lyrics and the music creates sadness, loneliness, and despair--the Blues--and yet the sound of his slashing harp and insistent flowing rhythm section indicate that despite his blues Sonny boy can still swing and by singing and playing the Blues he is able to transcend his blues...
James's most famous song has become a Blues classic like Sonny Boy's "Help Me." This song is "Dust My Blues" (written by Robert Johnson) and it opens with an explosive burst from James's slide guitar and it rocks like only the greatest rock songs. The rhythm section pounds through the basic 12 bar chord changes and James shouts out his lyric about his "no good" woman...
...Sonny Boy Williamson, Otis Spann, and Elmore James knew these ideas instinctively. When Elmore James shouts the lyrics about his no good woman over the driving beat created by his rhythm section and then cuts loose with a barrage of savage notes he renders literary descriptions meaningless. Every man regardless of taste in music must be moved by the emotion and power of Elmore James' performance...
...also the time when everyone was just beginning to forget about Elvis Presley, and "Soldier Boy" was the record they played when you danced with the girl you loved...