About this user
Little Sammy Davis is one of the last of the great delta blues harp players. Sammy was born in winona missisippi in 1928. At the age if eleven,he left missisippi on the back of a chicken truck headed for florida.There he got together with blues guitar great,Earl Hooker.Sammy would play all over the south,eventuly winding up in chicago,where he hung out and jammed with Little Walter,Muddy Waters,and Jimmy Reed.At one time, the band lineup with Sammy and Hooker included Albert King and Pinetop Perkins,disolving when Hooker and King reportedly came to blows. .In 1970 Pete Lowery coaxed Sammy out of seclusion after having lost his wife of many years, with the sessions that where later released on his Trix label.In 1991 Fred scribner's brother Brad told Fred of this ex - member of Hooker 's band coming to the jam at the sidetracked in poughkeepsee.Fred had been suplying blues beds for the Imus Show with his band ,"midnight" Slim ,the tape was presented to Imus and they where booked regularly on the show after that,performing at the Radiothons for the Tommorows Childrens Fund,the Imus Ranch,and the hackensack medical center as well as performing with Fred Scribner on Broadway at the St.James Theatre as part of "Imus On Broadway".Little Sammy Davis and Midnight Slim went on to record what is considered a classic blues album,I Ain't Lyin' on Delmark records that Was nominated for a W.C.Handy Award as well as winning Comeback Artist In "Living Blues "Magazine in 1996.A second album,Ten Years And Forty Days was released on the band's own"Fat Fritz"Records.In 2009 the Band released "Travelin' Man ",a collection of unreleased material including intrumentals heard on "Imus",Recent live material, and the title song,recorded just 3 weeks before Sammy's stroke back in october,that he is making a fine recovery from.Little Sammy Davis is set to perform at the Riverhead Blues Fest on july 19 2009. April 2007 marked the return of Little Sammy Davis and Midnight Slim, with an acoustic performance at Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY,
In January 2008, Sammy and Fred Scribner ventured to Los Angeles to record a couple of tracks for the upcoming Delta Groove project, Low Down Feeling with the Mannish Boys. Meanwhile, The Levon Helm Band featuring Little Sammy Davis, were playing all over the US. The New, Revised lineup of Midnight Slim made its debut at the Midnight Ramble.
The Mannish Boys, Low Down Feeling was released. Sammy appeared in a behind the scenes DVD of Levon Helms GrammyÒ nominated Dirt Farmer. . Sammy also made a cameo appearance in J recording artist Gavin Degraws music video, Cheated on Me. Levon won the GrammyÒ for Dirt Farmer.
Winning the Grammy created momentum for the Levon Helm Band with Little Sammy Davis as they traveled the US playing shows. During their tour, they performed in Central Park, at The Bonaroo Festival and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with Bob Dylan, and many more.
In between these road excursions, Midnight Slim was lucky enough to get Sammy in the studio only three weeks before he had a mild stroke. This session resulted in Travelin Man. Happily, Sammy got out of the hospital in time to celebrate his 80th birthday and he is getting better. Hes itching to play Sammys Chicago Days reminiscent of his mentor and friend, Little Walter, a guy who once brought the police to the club Sammy was playing after hearing some people say that they saw Little Walter Jacobs.
Walter said, I dont mind you playing my songs, and yeah, you do em just like me, but these people think that you are me!
Sammy says, Little Walter was a good guy.
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