Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James

Chester Burnett was well known as the Howlin’ Wolf, and The Chess Box is an excellent three compact disc boxed set which is a fine survey of his compelling recordings starting with a healthy dose of his early Memphis recordings for Sam Phillips with the great Willie Johnson on guitar through his classic Chicago recordings with the likes of Otis Spann and Hubert Sumlin. While some of his later recordings perhaps showed the wear from his health, the music remains as gripping, whether on his reworking of Charlie Patton’s Saddle My Pony, Smoke Stack Lightning, How Many More Years, I Asked For Water, Rocking Daddy, Spoonful, Who’s Been Talking, Back Door Man, Killing Floor and others. There is one recording from his London session album with a variety of rock superstars, a couple of solo acoustic selections recorded at the otherwise best forgotten psychedelic album and some brief excerpts from an interview. The booklet contains biographical information and a review of his music. Another classic boxed set reissue.

One artist who diffused Robert Johnson’s music was Elmore James, whose most celebrated recording, Dust My Broom, married Johnson’s riff from Rambling on My Mind, with the lyrics for I’ll Believe

I’ll Dust My Broom. Elmore recycled this along with several other themes throughout his recordings career that spanned from 1951-1963. His last recordings (from 1959 to 1963 (with the exception of a 1960 Chess session) were made for Bobby Robinson’s Fire, Fury and Enjoy labels. Recently I noted a fine Relic collection Rollin’ and Tumblin’, that had most of his best recordings for Robinson. Poor Relic, insofar as Capricorn has just issued Elmore James, King of Slide Guitar, The Fire/Fury Recordings, that may represent all of the songs Elmore recorded for Bobby Robinson. There is a booklet that includes remembrances of Elmore by Sam Myers, Bobby Robinson and others, a biography, general appreciation and discographical information. Although I have heard this on a preview cassette, the sound (like the Relic) seemed particularly good. Unless you already have the Relic, this is a must buy, and it isn’t extravagantly priced.

This review originally appeared in the December 1992 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 177)  (along with reviews of Lightnin' Hopkins box sets that was posted yesterday). I likely received review copies from the record companies. Both sets are available as downloads and can be obtained as used (although Collectables has also has a box set of the Elmore). While not perfect, a recent public domain reissue of Elmore James, The Ultimate Collection (Not Now) is a handy compilation surveying his recordings from the entire span of his recording career although includes a few accompaniments to others as well as his featured recordings).

Elmore James Shook His Money Maker

One of the greatest bluesmen of all time, Elmore James is the subject of a new collection of his later recordings on the reactivated Buddah label, Shake Your Money Maker - The Best Of The Fire Recordings. The Mississippi blues legend of course is known for his electric juke joint recording of Robert Johnson’s Dust My Broom for Trumpet Records, but over the course of the next twelve years, his music developed into a somewhat more urbane style that also clearly showed a debt not simply to Johnson, but also to Robert Nighthawk. What is also lost is the fact he was a great blues singer who sang with great urgency and power. John Broven’s liner notes describe the background of James’ career, and based on his interview of legendary record producer Bobby Robinson, details how Robinson, in Chicago for business, came across James playing in a club, leading to James recording The Sky is Crying, which helped rejuvenate his career. This album contains many of the choicest selections of James’ recordings for Robinson with the possible exception of One Way Out. In addition to the title track there are such other gems as Look on Yonder’s Wall, Stranger’s Blues (set to the Rolling and Tumbling melody), Done Somebody Wrong, Nighthawk’s Anna Lee, Something Inside Me (perhaps his finest slow, brooding blues), and first rate reworkings of earlier recordings Dust My Broom, and Standing at the Crossroads. The package is wonderfully mastered and is a must for anyone who lacks prior releases of this material. The James is the first significant blues reissue on Buddah, which apparently is becoming the major reissue imprint for BMG. This review originally appeared in the July/August 2001 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 252) and the April 2001 DC Blues Calendar, then the DC Blues Society’s newsletter. This review was written before Steven Franz’s excellent biography of Elmore James The Amazing Secret History of Elmore James that states that Elmore deserves as much credit as Johnson for Dust My Broom, and that he did more than simply update Johnson’s recording.