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Chapter 12: The Birth and Growth of Classic Electric Blues
219
Elmore James, slide guitarist
extraordinaire
Elmore James was a Chicago-based blues player known for his electric slide
work. His most famous song was actually written and previously played by
Delta blues great Robert Johnson (for more on Johnson, see Chapter 11).
James recast the signature lick from “Dust My Broom” (James’s version is
known by the shortened version of the title) from conventional fretted playing
to slide and recycled it many times in his other compositions.
James’s techniques with an electric guitar and his explosive assault on the
strings turned “Dust My Broom” into a piece of blues immortality. James’s
slide lick is the first lick you need to learn; its importance is matched only by
its accessibility, and it’s what’ll get you kicked out of the South Side if you
don’t play it correctly.
James’s “Dust My Broom” performed in open D tuning (D, A, D, F#, A, D, low to
high) is shown in Figure 12-3. It’s a lick that’s similar to the one employed by
James on this “slide anthem.”
*
Track 80
Shuffle (qr=qce)
D7
3
3 3 3
T
A
B
with slide
12 12 12 12 12 12
12 12 12 12 12 12
*Open D tuning: D A D F A D, low to high.
3 0
Figure 12-3:
A lick in the
style of
Elmore
James’s
“Dust My
Broom.”
3 3 3 3
12 12 12 12 12 12
12 12 12 12 12 12
3 3
3 2 0 12 12 12 12
12 12 12 12
12 12 12 12
TEAM LinG