viernes, 6 de junio de 2014

Elmore James

ELMORE JAMES

Elmore James (27 de enero, 1918 – 24 de mayo de 1963) fue un guitarrista de blues estadounidense, considerado el padre de la bottleneck guitar o slide guitar.

Comenzó su carrera musical en Mississippi junto al armonicista Rice Miller (más conocido como Sonny Boy Williamson), con el que permaneció varios años hasta que consiguió su primer contrato de grabación en 1951. Fue entonces cuando se trasladó a Chicago, donde inició su andadura en solitario acompañado del grupo "The Broomdusters". Falleció el 24 de mayo de 1963 de un ataque al corazón.

Su estilo sin trabas y apasionado se distinguía por el sonido característico del slide blues, que puede apreciarse en canciones como "Dust my broom", "I Believe" o "It hurts me too". El sonido de James ha influenciado a músicos de blues y rock como Jeremy Spencer de Fleetwood Mac, Brian Jones de The Rolling Stones, Alan Wilson de Canned Heat, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Michael Bloomfield, Duane Allman o John Mayall. Es nombrado por los Beatles en la canción For You Blue del disco Let It Be.

Autor de una considerable cantidad de clásicos del blues, muchas de esa piezas fueron posteriormente versionadas por grandes del rock y del blues. “Dust my broom” fue grabado por Fleetwood Mac, “Bleeding Heart” por Jimi Hendrix, “Rollin´n´tumblin” por Canned Heat y Eric Clapton entre otros.





James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in Holmes County, Mississippi (not to be confused with two other locations of the same name in Mississippi). He was the illegitimate son of 15-year-old Leola Brooks, a field hand. His father was probably Joe Willie "Frost" James, who moved in with Leola, and so Elmore took this as his name. His parents adopted an orphaned boy at some point named Robert Holston.

Elmore began making music at the age of 12 using a simple one-string instrument ("diddley bow" or "jitterbug") strung up on a shack wall. As a teen he was playing at local dances under the names Cleanhead and Joe Willie James. His first marriage, circa 1942, was to Minnie Mae (maiden name unknown? and whom he apparently never divorced). He subsequently married twice more, to Georgianna Crump in 1947 and to a woman called Janice circa 1954. (Another reported marriage of Elmore to a Josephine Harris has been found to be a mistaken record of a different Elmore James.).

James (like many other musicians) was strongly influenced by Robert Johnson, as well as by Kokomo Arnold and Tampa Red. James recorded several of Tampa's songs, and even inherited from his band two of his famous "Broomdusters", "Little" Johnny Jones (piano) and Odie Payne (drums). There is a dispute as to whether Robert Johnson or Elmore wrote James' trademark song, "Dust My Broom". Read more........

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