Sunday, 20 May 2018

Elmore James - 1951-1953


Rating: 5/5

Review:
Classic Elmore James


This collection of early Elmore James is an absolute delight.  I'm no James expert, so I can't make in-depth comparisons with other collections, but for me, this is the great man at his best.  Urgent, driving and often quite raw, it's slide guitar and singing of real skill and brilliance.  The sound quality reflects the era, so it's a bit iffy and distorted at times, but it's not enough to be a real problem and for me it just adds to the thrill of the music.

There's a good variety of stuff here and it's an album I can listen to from start to finish without ever feeling that it's getting samey; on the contrary, I often find that I'm smiling and even unconsciously dancing a little.

Real blues buffs will have more to say about this; I'm just an enthusiast, but speaking as an enthusiast, I can recommend this very warmly indeed.  I love it.

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