Born in 1919, Mississippi's Elmore Brooks took his father's last name and became arguably the most influential slide blues guitar player of the post-war era. As a sideman for Sonny Boy Williamson II (a/k/a/ Rice Miller), James' would write several songs made popular by Williamson including Look Over Yonder Wall and One Way Out. After serving in the military, stationed in Guam, like many from the agricultural south, James' moved north to Chicago and recorded most of his iconic songs for the Modern Recording label. James died in 1963 from a long-term heart ailment.

Pacific St Blues & Americana
April 10, 2022


1. J Geils Band / Struttin' with My Baby
2. Harvey Brindell / Mississippi Medicaid
3. BB King / See That My Grave is Kept Clean
4. Bonnie Raitt / Ain't Gonna Let You

The Influence of Elmore James
5. Keb Mo / Look on Yonder Wall 
6. Elmore James / Blacksnake Blues 
7. Fleetwood Mac / Got to Move
8. Jeremy Spencer (Fleetwood Mac)  / Bleeding Heart 
9. The Beatles / For You Blue ("Elmore James' got nothing on this baby...") 
10. Tedeschi Trucks Band / Rollin' and Tumblin' 
11. Rodney Crowell / Shake Your Moneymaker
12. Eric Clapton / It Hurts Me Too 
13. Lowell Fulsom / Every day I have the Blues 
14. Kansas City Jay McShann / Confessin' the Blues 
15. Etta James / Dust My Broom
16. Johnny Winter & Ben Harper / I Can't Hold Out (Talk to Me) 
17. Allman Brothers / One Way Out
18. Gov't Mule / Blues Before Sunrise
19. Jimi Hendrix / My Bleeding Heart
20. Shelby Lynne & Allison Moore / Strange Angels
21. George Thorogood / Madison Blues
22. Tom Petty / Done Somebody Wrong
23. Stevie Ray Vaughan / The Sky is Crying 
24. Warren Haynes (gov't mule), Billy Gibbons (zz top), Mickey Raphael / Mean Mistreatin' Mama