ELMORE JAMES THE BEST OF THE MODERN YEARS
Recorded in Chicago between 1952 & 1956
Released: 2005
Label: Metro Blue
Format: Mp3; 320 Kbps
Time: 54:10 min.


This 19-track compilation focuses on Elmore James's crucial sessions recorded for the Modern Records subsidiaries Meteor and Flair between 1952 and 1956. At the time of these recordings, the distorted amplified sound of James' slide guitar with his unmistakable electrified Robert Johnson lick was helping map out the postwar blues idiom with such classics as "I Believe," "Blues Before Sunrise," "Wild About You," "Mean & Evil," and the extraordinary reworking of Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom" into "Dust My Blues." 
This set is a great Introduction to the dynamic slide guitarist's earliest recordings.  Al Campbell, All Music Guide

01. I Believe (3:16)
02. Baby What's Wrong (2:52)
03. Early in The Morning (2:49)
04. Hawaiian Boogie (2:19)
05. Strange Kinda Feeling (2:36)
06. Please Find My Baby (3:05)
07. Hand in Hand (2:51)
08. Make My Dreams Come True (2:41)
09. Sho' Nuff I Do (2:53)
10. Sunny Land (3:18 )
11. Standing at The Crossroads (2:48 )
12. Mean and Evil (2:16)
13. Happy Home (2:46)
14. No Love in My Heart (For You) (2:24)
15. Dust My Blues (3:11)
16. I Was a Fool, Too (2:52)
17. Blues Before Sunrise (2:45)
18. Goodbye Baby (2:59)
19. Wild About You (3:16)

Personnel: Elmore James (vocals, guitar);  Eddie Taylor (guitar); Boyd Atkins (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Maxwell Davis, Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis (tenor saxophone); Jewell L. Grant (baritone saxophone); James Parr (trumpet); Edward Frank, Johnny Jones , Johnny Jones & the King Casuals, Willard McDaniel (piano); Ransom Knowling (bass instrument); Earl Palmer , Odie Payne, Jr., Jesse Sailes (drums); Ike Turner (guitar, piano); J.T. Brown, Raymond Hill (tenor saxophone).