Blues

Larry Davis - Funny Stuff (1982)

2019-10-24T12:40:09Z

Larry Davis - Funny Stuff (1982)


1 	Funny Stuff 	3:38
2 	Teardrops 	6:22
3 	Next Time You See Me 	3:36
4 	Worried Dream 	4:57
5 	Totsy	3:05
6 	Since I Been Loving You 	3:37
7 	That Will Never Do 	3:04
8 	Walk Out Like A Lady 	4:02
9 	Find 'Em, Fool 'Em & Forget 'Em 	4:07
10 	Got To Be Some Changes Made 	4:11

Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Oliver Sain (tracks: 2-4 & 7-9)
Bass – Eugene Johnson (tracks: 2 & 7), Jimmy Hint (tracks: 3, 5, 8-10), Phil Westmoreland (tracks: 1, 4 & 6)
Drums – Billy Gayles (tracks: 3, 5, 9 & 10), Don Smith (tracks: 2), Jimmy Hint (tracks: 1 & 6-8)
Guitar [All Tracks] – Phil Westmoreland
Organ – Oliver Sain (tracks: 1-3, 5 & 8-10)
Piano – Johnnie Johnson (tracks: 2, 4, 7 & 10), Oliver Sain (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8 & 9)
Vocals, Lead Guitar – Larry Davis
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Piano [Left Channel] – Oliver Sain (track 5)
Piano [Right Channel] – Johnny Johnson (track 5)

Larry Davis didn't record all that often, but when he did, he certainly made it count. That's the case with this fine St. Louis recording. Produced by Oliver Sain (who handled all sax work) and featuring Billy Gayles on drums and pianist Johnnie Johnson, the set is a ringing endorsement of Davis's slashing, tremolo-enriched guitar and booming vocals. ---Bill Dahl, AllMusic Review

Larry Davis grew up in Arkansas, working with Fenton Robinson in the mid-50s. He started recording for Duke in 1958 with “Texas Flood” (the original version by the way - and likely still the best.) He signed to Duke at the recommendation of Bobby Bland. Larry recorded sporadically over the years and passed away in 1994.

Davis was an extraordinary talent. He had a tremendous voice, with a soft vibrato. He sang in the B.B. King, Little Joe Blue, Bobby Bland style. His biting single-not guitar work could be placed somewhere between the sounds of B.B. King and Son Seals. He had more edge in his playing than King, but it wasn’t as harsh as Seals. “Funny Stuff” was originally released in 1982, and was re-released on CD by Rooster Blues in 2001. This review is based on the 2001 version of the album. “Funny Stuff” is basically Larry Davis’ St. Louis album. All of the musicians on the album were St. Louis stalwarts. The cast of characters was: Oliver Sain on piano, organ and all saxes; Phil Westmoreland on guitar; Johnnie Johnson on piano; Billy Gayles on drums; Jimmy Hinds on bass and drums; Eugene Johnson on bass; and Don Smith on drums. The album has all the features of the St. Louis blues sounds, with a combination of raw emotion mixed with Uptown sensibilities. ---East Side Slim, stlblues.net

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Larry Davis - Live At J.B. Hutto's (1980)

2015-02-28T16:48:36Z

Larry Davis - Live At J.B. Hutto's (1980)


A1 	Everyday I Have The Blues Medley: 	
A2 	Stormy Monday 	
A3 	Cummins Prison Farm 	
A4 	Sweet Sixteen 	
A5 	Just A Little Bit 	
A6 	Goin´ Down Slow 	
B1 	Walking The Back Street And Crying 	
B2 	Summer Time 	
B3 	As The Years Go Passing By 	
B4 	Sad Memories 	
B5 	The Thrill Is Gone

Anyone who associates "Texas Flood" only with Stevie Ray Vaughan has never auditioned Larry Davis' version. Davis debuted on vinyl in 1958 with the song, his superlative Duke Records original remaining definitive to this day despite Vaughan's impassioned revival many years down the road.

Davis grew up in Little Rock, AR, giving up the drums to play bass. Forging an intermittent partnership with guitarist Fenton Robinson during the mid-'50s, the pair signed with Don Robey's Duke label on the recommendation of Bobby Bland. Three Davis 45s resulted, including "Texas Flood" and "Angels in Houston," before Robey cut Davis loose. From there, Davis was forced to make the most of limited opportunities in the studio. He lived in St. Louis for a spell and took up the guitar under Albert King's tutelage while playing bass in King's band.

A handful of singles for Virgo and Kent and a serious 1972 motorcycle accident that temporarily paralyzed Davis' left side preceded an impressive 1982 album for Rooster Blues, Funny Stuff, produced by Gateway City mainstay Oliver Sain. But follow-up options remained hard to come by: few blues fans could find a copy of the guitarist's 1987 Pulsar LP I Ain't Beggin' Nobody.

Finally, in 1992, Ron Levy's Bulleye Blues logo issued a first-class Davis set, Sooner or Later, that skillfully showcased his rich, booming vocals and concise, Albert King-influenced guitar. Unfortunately, it came later rather than sooner: Davis died of cancer in the spring of 1994. --- Bill Dahl, allmusic.com

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Larry Davis - Sooner or Later (1992)

2011-08-30T09:59:46Z

Larry Davis - Sooner or Later (1992)


1 How Could You Do It to Me 	Campbell 	4:35
2 I'm Workin' on It 	Dee 	2:56
3 Penitentiary Blues 	Johnson, Mosley 	4:07
4 You'll Need Another Favor 		4:22
5 Help the Poor 	Singleton 	3:55
6 Letter from My Darling 	Jay & Cee, Singleton 	4:48
7 Goin' Out West, Pts. 1 & 2 	Davis 	5:56
8 102nd Street Blues 	Davis, Levy 	4:20
9 How Long 	Burnett 	3:00			play
10 Little Bluebird 	Hayes, Jones, Porter 	5:40
11 Little Rock 	Davis, Levy 	2:45		play

Larry Davis (Guitar), (Vocals)
Thomas Bingham (Guitar (Rhythm)
George Journigan (Bass)
James Rudy (Piano)
Ron Levy (Organ)
Curtis Steele (Drums)
Wayne Jackson (Trombone), 
Andrew Love (Sax (Tenor).

Larry Davis, whose "Texas Flood" was covered by Stevie Ray Vaughan, pledged truth to the blues as far back as the early 1950s, and it has been a long, arduous haul to the belated recognition rightfully accorded him by this recent Memphis soul/blues session. His tenor voice is genuine, unclouded, resilient, carrying the meaning of the words of, for example, Little Milton's Stax Records~-era "How Could You Do It to Me?" and heartsore Howlin' Wolf's 1954 song "Baby, How Long?" The interplay between his conscientiously played guitar and the irrepressible swell created by his skilled Tennessee sidemen further lends the tradition-bound material a new lease of believability. ---Frank John Hadley

Unless someone has the ultimate Larry Davis album still awaiting release somewhere, the late guitarist's final album also looks to be his best. Sumptuously produced by organist/Bullseye Blues boss Ron Levy with the Memphis Horns providing punchy interjections, Davis roars a finely conceived concoction of covers and his own material ("Goin' Out West," "Little Rock") that represent contemporary blues at its finest. ---Bill Dahl, allmusic.com

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