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318 Part VI: The Part of Tens Elmore James (1918–63)
Elmore James was an inspired slide player who started the transition from
the acoustic blues of Robert Johnson to the emerging electrified sound that
was to be known as the Chicago blues. He was known as “king of the slide
guitar,” and his cover of Johnson’s “Dust My Broom” contains the classic
slide lick that every blues guitarist must know. James influenced guitarists
Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman, who both cited him as a major influence.
T-Bone Walker (1910–75)
Born in Texas, Aaron Thibeaux Walker (“T-Bone” was a corruption of his
middle name) is universally recognized as not only the father of the electric
blues but also one of its greatest practitioners. When recordings of Walker’s
all-melody-based electric guitar reached the mainstream, he defined the concept
of electric lead guitarist, and influenced all who immediately followed,
including B.B. King and Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band (“Stormy
Monday” is one of their most famous songs). As if that weren’t enough,
Walker was an accomplished showman, performing splits, behind-the-back
playing, and other stage antics that were adopted a quarter century later by
another devotee, Jimi Hendrix.
Muddy Waters (1915–83)
Waters’s influence is all over the history of rock and the development of
blues: He helped Chuck Berry get his first record contract; the Rolling Stones
named their band after a lyric in Waters’s “Mannish Boy”; and Led Zeppelin
covered his “You Shook Me,” as well as basing their hit “Whole Lotta Love”
on his “You Need Love.” Waters played with virtually every other blues musician
of note: Little Walter, Big Walter Horton, James Cotton, Junior Wells,
Willie Dixon, Otis Spann, Pinetop Perkins, Buddy Guy, and Jimmie Rogers.
His classics include “Got My Mojo Working,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” “I Just
Want to Make Love to You” (covered by the Rolling Stones and Foghat), and
“Rolling and Tumbling.” See Chapter 12 for more info on Waters.
TEAM LinG
Albert King (1923–92)
Albert King was a big man and an original and fiery player, who, along with
B.B. King, followed the path carved by T-Bone Walker for playing lead electric