Elmore James
The Sky Is Crying
Play The Sky Is Crying
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MOG Editorial Review
Dubbed "The King of the Slide Guitar," Elmore James made a lasting impact on a lot more than a single instrument. His playing is raw, and his barreling howl is as recognizable his guitar's custom, old-school overdrive. The Sky Is Crying presents James' best work with the Fire label in the '50s and '60s. Although he didn't live to see his success, his voice is now one of the world's most unmistakable, a long-time template for every impassioned blueman brandishing an ax. In fact, Elmore James is practically synonymous with the kind of unmitigated passion and honesty that serves as the backbone for the blues.
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AMG Review of Sky Is Crying: Charly Blues Masterworks, Vol. 12
Ken Chang
All Music GuideA decent-sized helping of late-'50s and early-'60s sides that Elmore James cut for Bobby Robinson's Fire label. Unfortunately, nothing from James' last two Fire sessions is included here (the big omissions being "Shake Your Money Maker," "Look on Yonder Wall," and the definitive version of "It Hurts Me Too"), but there's still plenty of slide guitar to go around, and with a lot more range than you might expect, from the raunchy riffs of "Done Somebody Wrong" to the mellower, acoustic dust-my-broom treatment on "I'm Worried." As a blues singer, James never really topped what he waxed for Fire, and The Sky Is Crying offers as good a sampling as anything else you can find on one CD. In addition to two killer slide instrumentals, "Bobby's Rock" and "She Done Moved Me," there's also a nice glimpse of James playing in standard tuning on "Strange Angel." If all this still doesn't satisfy you, then you'll have to seek out Capricorn's King of the Slide Guitar box set.
 "The Sky Is Crying")
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