Elmo James - The Sky Is Crying (2025) [Hi-Res]

The great bluesman ELMORE (Elmo) JAMES was born in Mississippi in 1918. He crossed paths with the legendary Robert Johnson and learned the now legendary songs such as ‘Dust My Broom’ and ‘Standing At The Crossroads’, both of which are featured here. He became known as the “King Of the Slide Guitar” playing his modified – electrified – acoustic which he fashioned in his brothers workshop. He began recording soon after, scoring a top-ten R&B hit with ‘Dust My Broom’ on Trumpet. His final recordings were cut for Bobby Robinson’s Fire and Enjoy labels in the late ’50s and early ’60s. Robinson later recalled, “I drove by a club on the South side (of Chicago) and saw a sign that read Elmore James Here Tonight. I went inside and stayed all night listening to him. I introduced myself, we went out for a bite to eat and I talked about recording. The next morning Elmore called his band together for a rehearsal. I remember that it was raining all day long, and I said to Elmore, ‘Man, it’s just pouring down rain.’ And Elmore says, ‘Yeah, it looks like the sky is crying.’ I said ‘That’s a great idea.’ We started writing ‘The Sky Is Crying’ and cut it there in Chicago with Elmore’s band the Broomdusters) that very day.” It would be Elmo’s last chart hit, #15 R&B, before his death in 1963.

Tracklist:
1-1 Elmore James - The Sky Is Crying [2:46]
1-2 Elmore James - Dust My Broom (Re-recording) [2:53]
1-3 Elmore James - I Held My Baby (Re-recording) [2:51]
1-4 Elmore James - Fine Little Mama [2:32]
1-5 Elmore James - Bobbie's Rock [2:10]
1-6 Elmore James - I Can't Stop Lovin' You [2:37]
1-7 Elmore James - I Done Somebody Wrong [2:18]
1-8 Elmore James - Rollin' and Tumblin' [2:29]
1-9 Elmore James - One Way Out [2:25]
1-10 Elmore James - My Bleeding Heart [3:04]
1-11 Elmore James - I'm Worried [2:47]
1-12 Elmore James - Standing At the Crossroads (Re-recording) [2:59]