A recent post today on the 30 Days Out blog reminds us of the tremendous influence the blues has had on other genres. They call it "our great national resource."

At the same time, the popularity and interest in the blues has declined to where you can't hardly hear a lick of it on radio. So a little attention to our favorite music style is in order.

Popular music owes much to the musicians who expressed the hardships and joy of Mississippi Delta living and working. Then they came to Chicago and cooked up a potent urban stew.

The writer (George or Denny) points to a few important artists who are carrying the blues candle forward, keeping the music alive and growing. Lonnie Brooks, John Primer, Buddy Guy to name a few. Oh, and our own Elmore James Jr.

On behalf of Elmo, thanks to the 30 Days Out guys for mentioning him in this great company.

They also wrote a review of Elmo's "Daddy Gave Me the Blues" recording. Excerpts: "Junior’s got his own stinging style on the guitar..." and "...solid Chicago-style blues album".

We're doing our best to keep blues thriving because it's the music we love. And if you're reading this, you're playing a part too, so thanks.

--blue dave

Just want to mention a couple of nice Elmore James Jr. feature articles recently appearing in well-known blues magazines.

The first is from Blues & Rhythm, a UK-based publication. This is all the more appropriate given that Elmo's latest CD, Daddy Gave Me the Blues, is handled by JSP Records of London. Here's a link to the review in their Archives section (not sure how long they'll keep the review publicly available there).

Here's a little excerpt:

"There is no rock influence discernible at all on this release, just great gobs of rocking Windy City (sometimes out of Mississippi ) blues in the grand old fashion. Besides the obvious connection (and if Elmore Sr. had lived to cover 'Cummins Prison Farm', this is just how he would have done it) and with the proviso that the sound quality here is far superior, plenty of the music on this CD reminds me of the better recordings made in the Chicago clubs back in the seventies by the likes of Bobby King and Hip Lankchan - take a listen to 'Tore Down' for a good example.

"JSP has done it again then. Recommended? What do you think? Go get."

The second article appeared in the most recent issue of Living Blues Magazine. I actually discovered this by accident as I had just subscribed to the publication, and stumbled into a feature article on my band leader as I was happily thumbing through my first issue of the magazine. "Woa! That's my man!"

The article, entitled "Breaking Out – Elmore James Jr.," spans two pages, complete with a large half-page photo of Elmo. There's a lot of good history on Elmore James Jr. here.

Unfortunately, the article is not available online. You'll have to subscribe to the magazine to read it. But I'm really glad I got a subscription. They cover the whole geographical and stylistic spectrum of the blues genre, including tons of record reviews.

--blue dave