Roots of Blues -- Blind John Davis „C.C. Rider"

„C.C. Rider"
(W. C. Handy)

Recorded:
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Blind John Davis (vcl) (p)


Blind John Davis (7 December 1913 — 12 October 1985) was an African American, blues, jazz and boogie woogie pianist and singer.
He was born John Henry Davis in Hattiesburg Mississippi, the son of John Wesley Davis, a sawmill worker and mother, Lillie, a former minstrel show dancer. When John was three, his father moved the family to Chicago and ultimately found work in a speakeasy. Prohibition came along and John's father took advantage of the opportunities it created to make money. He opened a number of "good time" or "sporting" houses, where people secretly consumed bootleg spirits. His father made different home brews and supplemented his income so his family did not feel the setbacks others felt during the Depression.
Davis was nine when he lost his eyesight. He stepped on a rusty nail and the infection set in his eyes. His mother tried to cure him with a home remedy, but was unsuccessful. Music was the main form of entertainment at John's father's sporting houses, thus, he was exposed to it whenever his father took him by one. Davis learned to play piano when he was fourteen. His father paid people to play piano in his houses, so Davis asked his father if he would pay him if he learned to play. His father bought him a piano and Davis taught himself by listening to others play on the radio and in the houses.[2] Within a couple of years, Davis was playing in his father's places and at parties in the area. He found work in many white clubs in town because of his wide selection of songs. In 1933 he put together his first band, Johnny Lee's Music Masters, and later another group called the Johnny Davis Rhythm Boys. They played many of the white speakeasies in the suburbs and the downtown area
The Library of Congress recorded Davis in 1958 and 1959, but these recordings were never available to the buying public. Davis also played on a session with fellow Chicago musician Al Wynn, which was put out on the Riverside Records label in 1961. During the rest of the 1960s, he played almost exclusively in Chicago, except for his appearance at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. Even in the face of the resurgence of the blues, (now with a young white audience), Davis continued playing mostly cocktail lounges and white night clubs.
Europeans, however, had not forgotten his brief visit. Their interest prompted another trip in 1973. During this visit, Davis made a studio recording for the German label Happy Bird, and a live recording for another German label called Christi. Bruce Gulag's new Chicago label put out the live recording in the United States in 1977

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Blues
• Roots_of_Blues
• History_of_music

[mwkop39]

Outstanding!!



[Coolcoco9]

my favorite pianist Thanks for posting this treasure

[sunnyrainblue10]

Yes.............yes  THANKS

[TheIsraDave]

Marvelous!

[RIDERxXxJUGGALO1]

thats right i love it from the rider

[CavenEdwards]

Wow, I wish youtube still had the star rating system because I would give this 5 stars.

[Lupitamihita]

Love the song. Love the singer.

[sully1615]

Old Blind Man with a piano! Nice and so fluid......

[glasgraveur]

Old blind Man and wonderfull Musik--THANK YOU

[hoot6theyre]

keep all of it up...