Madison Blues
"Madison Blues" is a blues song by American blues musician Elmore James. It is an upbeat Chicago-style shuffle featuring James' amplified slide guitar and vocal. He recorded it in 1960 for Chess Records, during a session that also produced "Talk to Me Baby" and "The Sun Is Shining", a follow-up to his popular single "The Sky Is Crying".
Background
James recorded the song with his long-time backup band, the Broomdusters: tenor saxophonist J. T. Brown, pianist Little Johnny Jones, and second guitarist Homesick James, with drummer Odie Payne. It is a twelve-bar blues notated in time in the key of D and includes a twelve-bar slide-guitar intro and two twelve-bar sections with Brown's sax solo. The chorus makes a pun on "blues":Music writer Don Snowden describes the session as "showcas his mature style—the trademark bottleneck guitar licks and raw-edged, gritty vocals complemented by J. T. Brown's braying sax solos, tinkling piano by Johnnie Jones and Odie Payne's tough, propulsive drumming." The song was not issued as a single, but was later included on the Elmore James–John Brim compilation albums Tough, and Whose Muddy Shoes.