The first time I heard Elmore I was smitten. I was fifteen years old and I loved the sound of the guitar. In terms of Blues guitar I had been introduced to Lightnin’ Hopkins, Howlin’ Wold (Hubert Sumlin on guitar), Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker and I adored the sound they made. But when I heard that extraordinary searing slide guitar of Elmore’s I was amazed. It was so strident and rich! The voice wasn’t bad either and the lyrics were great. Elmore was the whole package for me.

I had one album of Elmore’s that I cherished and played to death. One day I was motorbiking past Dobells in Charing Cross Road (London) and noticed two Elmore Albums in the window. It was late at night and the shop was shut.

The next day I made the sixty mile journey to buy those two albums. They cost me £5 each and I still have them. Each album had ten tracks of raw searing Blues. Brilliant.

Unfortunately Elmore had heart problems and died of a heart attack before I got to see him. He was due to come over to England on one of the Blues packages but it was not to be. I failed to see him play live.

Now you can go on amazon and order every track he ever recorded and get them delivered the very next day. There’s no hunting round for elusive albums and none of the joy of discovering a long sought after gem. I have 27 CDs of Elmore and ten vinyl albums. Back in the sixties that would have been unthinkable. My latest purchase  is a three CD collect – The Ultimate Collect. It has sixty tracks (six old vinyl albums worth) and cost me £4. I have every tack on it but I bought it to play in the car. You cannot beat driving along with the CD Player cranked up high with Elmore’s guitar blasting your ears!

Back in the sixties Elmore was so hard to get that you valued every track and played they to death. You learnt every word and every note by heart.

I’m glad I did. Fifty years later I’m still loving it. I just gave a CD to my daughter-in-law – she’s got taste!