An enhanced reissue of an old friend that’s been repackaged so many times over the years that I’ve lost count, this also includes eight “bonus” tracks. Just as the original Crown LP was an introduction to Elmore James for some, so to is this release. There’s no new or alternate tracks to tempt completists and most blues listeners are by now familiar with the Elmore’s genius. The Crown LP was largely built around two 1955 sessions, one cut in New Orleans and one in Culver City, California. Elmore cut the familiar “Dust My Blues,” “I Was A Fool,” “Blues Before Sunrise,” and “Goodbye Baby,” which is slightly hamstrung by an overdubbed vocal group. Amazingly, producer Joe Bihari didn’t use any horns on the New Orleans session, giving the session a rather antiseptic sound. The California tracks employ Maxwell Davis’ orchestra, which at times sounds somewhat turgid. Nevertheless James’ powerful singing and playing overcame the pedestrian backing, particularly on “Happy Home” and “Standing At the Cross Roads.” The bonus tracks, recorded in Chicago in the mid 1950s, were far more raucous and feature Elmore’s regular Windy City band, the Broom Dusters. The lone exception is “Quarter Past Twelve,” which finds Ike Turner playing some knockdown, drag out piano, with the Kings of Rhythm backing. “Make My Dreams Come True,” “So Mean To Me” and the “Elmo’s Shuffle,” are especially brilliant, benefiting from Little Johnny Jones’ piano and the saxophone interplay of J.T. Brown Boyd Atkins. Granted most listeners will already have these tracks — albeit not with the superior sound quality found here — but for those misguided souls whose collection is low on Elmore James, this CD is a must.