Elmore James’ incomparable blues recordings continue to be endlessly recycled, and any number of his albums on a myriad of labels could be considered of Blues Hall of Fame quality. But the British compilation The Original Flair & Meteor Sides is a great place to start. While many excellent James albums have offered tempting outtakes and previously unissued songs, this package neatly presents Elmore the way listeners heard him from 1952 to 1954 by programming both sides of his first seven single releases produced by the Bihari brothers. The Biharis first recorded James in Canton, Mississippi, but as he was still under contract to the Trumpet label at the time, those sides (including ‘Please Find My Baby,’ ‘Hand in Hand’ and ‘Rock My Baby Right’ on this LP) were held for later release. The other 11 tracks here were recorded in Chicago with the rocking band that came to be known as the Broomdusters, with Little Johnnie Jones on piano, Odie Payne on drums, and usually J.T. Brown on tenor sax. Of special note is the first Chicago track, the powerful slide guitar masterpiece ‘I Believe,’ an amped-up ‘Dust My Broom’ variant that surpasses all other versions — James’ or anyone else’s — in energy and intensity,
Tracks: I Believe/I Held My Baby Last Night/Baby What’s Wrong/Sinful Woman/Early In The Morning/Can’t Stop Lovin’/Hawaiian Boogie/Hand In Hand/1839 Blues/Make A Little Love/Strange Kinda Feeling/Sho’ Nuff I Do/Make My Dreams Come True/Rock My Baby Right
Released in England as Ace CH-112 (LP) in 1984.