Credit: Alamy

When The Beatles named-dropped Elmore James

Fri 27 January 2023 9:00, UK

Blues legend Elmore James has a lasting legacy in popular music thanks to one of his major innovations: the slide guitar. While James didn’t invent the technique, it’s hard to argue against the idea that he perfected it. Everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Brian Jones acknowledged James’ influence, and his impact even found its way to unexpected acts like Frank Zappa and The Beatles.

While none of James’ material ever made it into The Beatles’ repertoire, his music was floating around the diverse listening habits of the four band members. Toward the tail-end of the band’s existence, George Harrison began to experiment with slide guitar, prominently using the technique throughout his solo career. But on one of Harrison’s Beatles-era blues numbers, he wasn’t actually the man holding the slide.

Harrison originally wrote ‘For You Blue’ in 1968 as a love song to his wife, Patti Boyd. A simple twelve-bar blues, Harrison brought the song to his bandmates during the sessions for what would eventually become Let It Be. Rumours continue to persist that Harrison hung on to his more personal material during the rehearsals, especially once songs like ‘All Things Must Pass’ were largely ignored. ‘For You Blue’ represented something simple and easy that Harrison’s bandmates could pick up almost immediately.

While the initial takes of the song featured a basic country shuffle, Harrison and the band decided that something new was needed. When production was moved to the basement of the band’s Apple headquarters, a request was put in for a lap steel guitar. A Höfner Hawaiian Standard lap steel was procured, and John Lennon wound up being the one to provide the song’s lead slide guitar.

Almost a full year after the song’s initial recording, Harrison decided to re-record his lead vocal for the song. By that time, Lennon had already privately left the band, but his slide guitar was kept in the final mix. During his vocal recording, Harrison ad-libbed some call-outs as if they were recording live, including encouraging Lennon with a call of “Go, Johnny Go!” Harrison also provided some playful commentary on Lennon’s playing by stating, “Elmore James got nothing on this, baby!” while suppressing a laugh.

Lennon never really took to the slide guitar, but Harrison made it a part of his signature sound. When Lennon recorded Imagine in 1971, the roles were reversed, with Harrison now providing slide guitar accompaniment to Lennon’s songs. In either configuration, Elmore James would have been proud to have an association with the biggest band in the world.

Check out ‘For You Blue’ down below.