Standing at the Crossroads

Elmore James recorded Standing At the Crossroads in New York in 1959 during his Fire Records period with Bobby Robinson overseeing the session. The performance reshaped Robert Johnsons Cross Road Blues into James hard electric slide-guitar style with a full band behind him. Released by Fire in 1960, Standing At the Crossroads extended James commercial run after his late-1950s revival on New York labels. The single showed how prewar Delta material could be remade as forceful electric urban blues. Standing At the Crossroads became one of James best known Robert Johnson adaptations and remained a staple on later Elmore James compilations. Its slide-guitar attack helped carry the Crossroads theme into later blues-rock repertory.