Blues

Jesse Ed Davis - ¡Jesse Davis! (1970)

2021-02-28T15:34:38Z

Jesse Ed Davis - ¡Jesse Davis! (1970)


A1		Reno Street Incident	4:10
A2		Tulsa County	2:21
A3		Washita Love Child	3:47
A4		Every Night Is Saturday Night	7:11
B1		You Belladonna You	6:29
B2		Rock N Roll Gypsies	4:14
B3		Golden Sun Goddess	4:48
B4		Crazy Love	3:36

Backing Vocals – Bobby Jones, Clydie King, Gloria Jones, Gram Parsons, Maxine Willard,
 "The Magnificent" Merry Clayton, Nikki Barclay, Vanetta Fields
Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet – James Gordon
Bass – Billy Rich, Steve Thompson
Drums – Alan White, Bruce Rowland, Chuck "Brother" Blackwell, Steve Mitchell
Guitar – Eric Clapton, Joel Scott Hill
Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals – Jesse Edwin Davis III
Keyboards – Ben Sidran, John Simon, Larry Knechtel, Larry Pierce, Leon Russell
Percussion – Alan Yoshida, Jackie Lomax, Johnnie Ware, Pat Daley, Pete "Big Boy" Waddington, Sandy Konikoff
Tenor Saxophone – Frank Mayes
Tenor Saxophone [Solo] – Jerry Jumonville
Trombone, Trumpet – Darrell Leonard

While Jesse Ed Davis’ legacy has finally started to see the light of recognition, there is still a long way to go in establishing his rightful place in the pantheon of rock and roll legends. The Kiowa guitarist’s career encompassed work with everyone from Conway Twitty to John Lee Hooker to Bob Dylan, and his time served in the original Taj Mahal band would be highly influential on up-and-coming guitar slingers like Duane Allman (he being the inspiration for the latter’s taking up bottleneck-style guitar in the first place). Davis never really managed to establish himself as a commercially successful singer in his own right, but that did not prevent him from cutting a series of strong and invigorating records in the early 1970s, the first and foremost of these being Jesse Davis.

Davis has surrounded himself with a real who’s-who of rock and roll musicians here, including Eric Clapton, Joel Scott Hill, Gram Parsons and the oddly-omnipresent Leon Russell. This is a hearty American brew; it’s only too bad that the liner notes do not include a track by track breakdown of who is playing what on which songs. Davis’ voice may be an acquired taste – being slightly nasally and, yes, sometimes a little pitchy – but it also has a lot of character, and its hard not to give the guy a break; in the end, whatever vocal limitations the cat may be accused of are more than made up for by his exemplary musicianship. In his guitar playing I have noticed that Davis exhibits a certain degree of Curtis Mayfield influence (similar to that of Woodstock-era Robbie Robertson) in his ability to always serve the song and the rhythm; that is, until it comes time to let loose into a sharp and jagged solo, such as that which leaps out from the end of the otherwise lethargic “Reno Street Incident” – an original composition which was also recorded by Southwind’s Jim Pulte. The expansive horn arrangement on “Every Day Is Saturday Night” falls somewhere between Memphis boogie-woogie and red dirt dixieland, with Davis’ sharp staccato guitar leaping and swerving through the collective improvisation until its gleeful collapse. Make a joyful noise, indeed.

Perhaps the most memorable number here is “You Belladonna You,” which not only manages to lock into a serious groove, but also boasts an inescapable vocal hook. The extended jam at the end is the reason I harbor such ill will towards “the fade-out” on rock and roll records: is this not where the real magic happens? On the other hand, the oddest moment on the record comes with “Golden Sun Goddess,” which is an uncharacteristic detour into Los Angeles yacht rock replete with groovy electric sitars and a lava lamp vocal choir. It sounds like the album’s closest thing to a hit single, though its Steely Dan-isms are pretty jarring. Pretty much everywhere else Davis leans on an earthy, deadpan charm that betrays his deep Oklahoma roots. “Redheaded woman wants me to get a haircut,” Davis grumbles at the end of Pamela Polland’s “Tulsa County” before cracking, “man, I can’t get no haircut. Redhead? That’s a redneck.” Alright, so the Byrds may have cut the definitive take on this one, but they never let themselves have this much fun in the studio. Davis may be criticized for relying so heavily on other people’s material for his own albums, but his takes on these songs are always individualistic, and anyways, the guy’s got some good taste.

Jesse Davis has been reissued both individually and as a set with the follow up release, 1972’s Ululu, but somehow both are currently out-of-print and demanding ridiculously high prices. Your best bet is to keep an eye out for some original vinyl or else sucking it up and purchasing a digital copy, which may in fact be the most affordable choice at the moment though it does entail missing out on the righteous jacket artwork. ---Nik, therisingstorm.net

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Jesse Ed Davis - Keep Me Comin' (1973)

2017-08-10T14:39:31Z

Jesse Ed Davis - Keep Me Comin' (1973)


01. Big Dipper — 3:04
02. She’s A Pain — 2:50
03. Where Am I Now (When I Need Me) — 3:13
04. Natural Anthem — 6:14
05. Who Pulled The Plug? — 5:12
06. Ching, Ching China Boy — 3:20
07. Bacon Fat — 4:40
08. No Diga Mas — 0:42
09. 6:00 Bugalu — 6:00
10. Keep Me Comin’ — 4:32

Jesse «Ed» Davis — guitar, vocals, producer
Bob Glaub — bass
Howard Johnson — baritone saxophone
Bobby Torres — congas
Bill Plummer — double bass
John Angelos — harmonica
James Gordon — piano, electric piano, clavinet
John Smith — tenor saxophone
Clifford Scott — tenor saxophone
George Bohannon — trombone
Jacques Ellis — trombone
Jerry Jumonville — alto saxophone
Gary Barone — trumpet, flugelhorn
Bobby Bruce — violin
Felix Falcon — percussion
Jim Keltner — drums
Billy Davis, Carolyn Willis, Chris O’Dell, Johnny Angelos, Julie Tillman,
 Oma Drake, Patti Daley, Russell Saunkeah — backing vocals

Originally issued in 1973 by Epic, Keep Me Comin' was Oklahoma guitar firebrand Jesse Ed Davis' (who began his career at 16 with Conway Twitty in 1964) third and last album for the label. It featured a killer band featuring drummer Jim Keltner, keyboardist Jim Gordon, and bassist Bob Glaub with a slew of side players featured in various places on horns (Clifford Scott, George Bohannon, Jerry Jumonville, and Howard Johnson among them), and backing vocals and notable cameos by Merry Clayton, Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell, and many others. The music walks a line between electrified blues ("Big Dipper"), Southern fried rocked up R&B ("She's a Pain" and "Where Am I Now"), greasy funk (Andre Williams' "Bacon Fat") freaky soul-jazz ("Natural Anthem" and "6:00 Bugalu"), country-rock ("Ching, Ching China Boy" -- a song about the racial epithets tossed his way when he was young -- and "Keep Me Comin'"). In other words, from all appearances it's an all over the place mess. Interestingly, that is exactly what most of the music press thought and it sank like a stone. Hearing it over 30 years later, there is an undeniable appeal to this music. Davis may have been self-destructive, but he was wildly adventurous musically, and he had the chops to pull it off. He could play with anyone, and his approach was deeply roadhouse blues and soul-jazz. His approach to funky was relaxed and natural, and nothing feels forced here at all. If anything, this may be the best of his studio records for Epic because the groove from track to track is constant, loose, and organic. "6:00 Bugalu" in particular is monstrously funky, the horn section is just popping, and the bassline is pure bad nasty! Davis' chunky rhythm fills and changes get underneath all tinny and nasty. His solo, with full-on phase shifter is economical, tight, and in the cut. There are certain production elements that don't date so well, but these are such minor considerations that they don't even matter. If anything, Keep Me Comin' is a record that really deserves to be reconsidered for its sheer musical merit. If anything, Davis' forgotten legacy, includes sessions with Russell, Bob Dylan, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, and John Trudell, to name a handful; he was George Harrison's guitarist at the Concert for Bangladesh as an ill Eric Clapton's replacement. Davis' work deserves to be reconsidered and this set is part of the evidence. ---Thom Jurek, AllMusic Review

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Jesse Ed Davis – Ululu (1972)

2011-05-26T20:27:09Z

Jesse Ed Davis – Ululu (1972)


1. Red Dirt Boogie Brother
2. White Line Fever
3. Father On Down The Road
4. Sue Me Sue You Blues
5. My Captain
6. Ululu
7. Oh! Susannah		play
8. Strawberry Wine
9. Make A Joyful Noise
10. Alcatraz			play

Personnel: 
Jesse Ed Davis Primary Artist, Guitar, Vocals, Background Vocals; 
Dr. John Piano, Organ, Piano; 
Leon Russell Piano; 
Clydie King Vocals, Background Vocals; 
Jim Keltner Drums; 
Albhy Galuten Piano; 
Charles Chalmers Vocals; 
Merry Clayton Vocals, Background Vocals; 
Donald "Duck" Dunn Bass, Electric Bass; 
Venetta Fields Vocals; 
Chuck Kirkpatrick Vocals, Background Vocals; 
Larry Knechtel Organ, Keyboards; 
Billy Rich Bass, Electric Bass; 
Arnold Rosenthal Bass, Electric Bass; 
Stan Szelest Piano.

Wounded Bird is a label that has been dredging the depths of the record company catalogs and issuing a slew of outings from the sublime -- the MJQ's 1957 Modern Jazz Quartet album -- to the ridiculous -- Fiona's two albums -- on CD. Here they do the rock & roll world a great service by reissuing the first two albums by the brilliant late guitarist Jesse Ed Davis, who recorded for Atlantic in the early '70s. Jesse Davis was originally released in 1971 and cut haphazardly over a weekend. It has the same loose feel that Delaney & Bonnie's Motel Shot does, though it does not reach the same staggering heights. This is a star-studded affair that includes Eric Clapton, Ben Sidran, Leon Russell, Joel Scott Hill, Alan White, and a dozen others, along with a horn section. The backing vocalists are a who's who as well: Gloria Jones, Venetta Fields, Clydie King, Merry Clayton, Bobby Jones, Maxine Willard, and some kid named Gram Parsons (also present on the Motel Shot session in the same capacity). Davis' songwriting wasn't quite there, but 30 years later, its raw immediacy and good-time feel hold up and deserve another listen.

In contrast, Ululu, released in 1973, is a monster. It's swampy, greasy, nocturnal blues and roll of the highest order. The cast this time out is no less stellar, though there are a lot fewer people in the mix. Russell is back, as are most of the background singers, but added to the fold are Dr. John, Donald "Duck" Dunn, and drummer Jim Keltner. This time out, Davis' guitar playing, particularly his slide work, is front and center, and the overall approach is tighter, more focused. The album's first cut, Davis' "Red Dirt Boogie, Brother," is spooky, dirty, and nasty, and the next track, a cover of Merle Haggard's "White Line Fever," transforms the tune from a hillbilly anthem into a barroom singalong with killer guitar fills. Other remakes include a beautiful version of George Harrison's "Sue Me, Sue You Blues," the Band's "Strawberry Wine," and Leon Russell's "Alcatraz," which closes the set. The finest moment here, however, is in "Farther On Down the Road (You Will Accompany Me)," co-written with Taj Mahal and first recorded when Davis was playing with the bluesman. It's grittier than the original, more desperate, forlorn, and shambolic, with Davis' vocal stretched to its limit buoyed by his weeping guitar. No doubt about it, everyone is richer for having these recordings available on CD domestically, and '70s rock fans would do well to check this disc out. ---Thom Jurek, allmusic.com

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