6/22/1988 - Too young for his leaving, drugs and alcohol to blame, Native American session player guitarist and solo artist, Jesse Edwin Davis III, with fresh needle marks on his arms (along with burned matches and pieces of tin foil scattered about on the floor), perishes on a laundry room floor in the beach community of Venice, California on June 22, 1988 at the age of only 43.
Davis
Davis is born on September 21, 1944 in a U.S. Naval Hospital in Norman, Oklahoma to Jesse Edwin "Bus" Davis II (an artist and graphic designer for the military who spends three years in the Pacific during WWII, known as Asawoya <"Running Wolf">, he is a citizen of the Comanche Nation with Muscogee and Seminole ancestry) and his wife, Vivian Mae Bea Saunkeah (a piano player and teacher, and a full blooded Kiowa, the first to earn a bachelor's degree from Oklahoma State University). From his mother, Jesse learns to play piano before shifting to guitar under the transforming influence of Elvis Presley (trying to become his childhood hero, Davis will tie a rope around an acoustic Stella guitar he owns and play Elvis tunes as loud as he can in front of a mirror) and Jimmy Reed. He also becomes a huge fan of Chuck Berry, devouring all of the strutting guitarist's records. And he polishes his melodic chops by playing along to the horn parts on Count Basie jazz records. He really becomes proficient at string plucking though when he is fifteen and his grandfather dies. Honoring Kiowa family tradition, the members of the Davis clan observe a year of mourning that the youth uses to hone his skills on the guitar using the instrument his father is also learning on (a Martin). Recognizing the talent his son is showing, papa first gets his boy his own Silvertone guitar from Sears & Roebuck, which Davis will eventually just wear out, eventually replacing his old ax when he is sixteen with Fender Telecaster (again purchased by his father). Sadly, while music fills his youthful heart, Davis also goes forth in life bearing scars of childhood abuse that come from school mates taking Jesse to fist city as often as they can, and by taunting the lad with calls on the playground of "Ching, Ching, China Boy!" believing he is not an Indian, but is actually Chinese (a Davis punch to his tormentors nose ends the confrontation).
Early Davis
Hooked, Davis learns how to play blues from a local blues pianist named Wallace Thompson and broadens his sound by playing locally with as many people as is possible, with his chief work coming from working in high school rock-and-roll bands with Michael Brewer (later the guitarist-songwriter-and singer of the hit duo, Brewer & Shipley), John Ware (later a drummer for Emmylou Harris & Michael Nesmith), John Selk (later a bass player for Donovan), Jerry Fischer (later a vocalist with Blood, Sweat & Tears), and Bill Maxwell (later a drummer for Andrae Crouch). Only sixteen, Davis goes out on his first tour, thirty cities, playing guitar for American Bandstand performance show hosted by Dick Clark, featuring a future Country Music Hall of Fame singer-songwriter named Harold Lloyd Jenkins, now better known as Conway Twitter (riding the tour bus from show to show, Davis becomes a buddy of drummer Levon Helm, also riding on the bus, it is rumored that Davis is sent home when the driver refuses to stop for a potty break, so the guitarist relieves himself in a bottle, then throws his waste out the window ... a window that is unfortunately closed). Returning to Oklahoma City from the tour, Davis graduates from Northeast High School in 1962, teaches guitar at a local music store, and briefly studies literature at the University of Oklahoma before dropping out (for the rest of his life, Davis will enjoy quoting folks like Socrates, Plato, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Dickens among others). The tour a success, in 1965, Davis makes his recording debut on a Twitty single called "I Don't Want to Cry," and then goes on to put down guitar tracks for two singles by Junior Markham & The Tulsa Review on the obscure Uptown label. Not sure what his next move should be, like other artists of the times, Davis relocates to Los Angeles. Living in Marina Del Rey with his girlfriend Patti Daley, and her son Billy (the couple will be together for over a decade, and besides one night stands, Davis will marry twice, to Tantalayo Saenz and Kelly Brady, his wife at the time of his death ... neither relationship produces any children), Davis begins musically networking, using a friendship with drummer Levon Helm of The Band to in turn meet session musician Leon Russell who eventually introduces Davis to bluesman Henry St. Claire Fredericks Jr., better known to the musical world as Taj Mahal. With their feel as outsiders and love for various types of music (Mahal's father is a jazz pianist and arranger that the legendary Ella Fitzgerald will call "The Genius"), instant bonding takes place between the two men, and forming one of the period's first interracial bands, Davis will play guitar and piano on the first four albums Mahal releases, including the band's debut release featuring Davis performing slide guitar on "Blind Willie" McTell's legendary blues tune, "Statesboro Blues" (the version of the song that will directly lead to Duane Allman becoming a slide guitarist). It is said that the guitarist also plays uncredited on the Monkees' hit single, the Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart hit single, "The Last Train to Clarksville." Perhaps. What is known is that Davis' playing and connection to Taj Mahal opens the door to the young guitarist playing with a host of European rock-and-rollers (around this time, Taj Mahal and Davis both make cameo appearances on the Michael Bloomfield's "Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West").
The Twitty Tour
Davis With Taj Mahal
Blown away seeing Taj Mahal and his band play a set at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go, Mick Jagger invites the group of Americans to come to Great Britain to be guest stars in a concert film the Rolling Stones are putting together to promote their latest album, "Beggars Banquet." Known as "The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus," along with Taj Mahal performing "Ain't That a Lot of Love," the December 1968 concert features Jethro Tull (the only footage ever shot of the group with future Black Sabbath guitarist, Tony Iommi, as the band's guitarist, a role he'd have for a whole two weeks), The Who, Marianne Faithful, The Dirty Mac (a temporary band put together just for the event featuring John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, the soon-to-be drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Mitch Mitchell, Israeli violin virtuoso Ivry Gitlis, and heinous croaking of Yoko Ono), and The Rolling Stones (with band founder Brian Jones performing with the group for the last time, and long time collaborator, piano player Nicky Hopkins playing live with the band for the first time). And as is often the case with folks hearing Davis play for the first time, the Europeans fall in love with the Oklahoma Indian with chops and other playing opportunities quickly open up for Jesse after his brilliant "Circus" playing. First up is the recording of Davis' first solo album at London's Olympic Sound Studio in 1970. Titled simply "Jesse Davis," the album, featuring Leon Russell on piano, Eric Clapton on guitar, Alan White of Yes drumming, and backing vocals from Gram Parsons, Merry Clayton, and Nikki Barclay, doesn't become a best seller, but does gain the guitarists even more fans (the cover of the album features Jesse in Native American attire and was created by Davis Sr.).
With John & Yoko
First Solo Album
Lots of work requests to choose from, in 1971, Davis plays guitar and produces former Byrds member Gene Clark's second solo album, White Light. Additionally, the guitarist puts down guitar tracks for Marc Benno's "Minnows" album, plays jazz guitar on keyboardist Ben Sidran's "Feel Your Grove" record and tenor saxophone player Charles Lloyd's "Warm Waters" (along with two more production credits), plays electric guitar, banjo, and bottleneck guitar on Oklahoma songwriter Roger Tillson's "Album," plays on four tracks of the album, "Leon Russell and the Shelter People," and is back with Russell and Benno for the pair's "Asylum Choir II," while also sharing guitar duties on Buffy Sainte-Marie's "She Used to Wanna Be a Ballerina" with Neil Young and Ry Cooder. He plays on four tracks of legendary bluesman Albert King's "Lovejoy" album, trades riffs with B.B. King and Joe Walsh on King's album, "L.A. Midnight," lends his slide services to bluesman John Lee Hooker on the guitarist's "Endless Boogie" record, plays electric guitar on Bob Dylan's "Watching the River Flow," and once more hooks up with Taj Mahal and his band for guitar work on "Happy to Be Like I Am" and "Oh! Susanna." The highlight of Davis' work in 1971 though is being invited by George Harrison to play in the band backing up the artists performing at the August 1st benefit concert that takes place at Madison Square Gardens, "The Concert for Bangladesh" (it will later be released as a best selling triple album).
Davis
In Concert With Harrison, bassist Klaus Voormann,
And Clapton
And 1972 is more of the same. Making magic with his finger picking, Davis puts down the electric guitar solo that turns "Doctor, My Eyes" into Jackson Browne's first hit single (it will reach #8 on Billboard's Hot 100). On songwriter Jim Pulte's "Out The Window," Davis produces, engineers (at Sunset Sound Recorders), plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo, sings backup, and contributes the song "Reno Street Incident" to the festivities. He plays guitar on the Steve Miller Band's "Heal Your Heart" and plays on two tracks of Marc Benno's "Ambush" album (slide on "Hall Street Drive"), and joins guitarists Mel Brown, David Cohen, Charlie Grimes, John Lee Hooker, Luther Tucker, and Lightin' Hopkins on Hopkins' "It's A Sin To Be Rich" (recorded in 1972, due to legal issues the tune is not released to the public until 1992). The highlight of the year for Davis though is the recording and release of the artist's most acclaimed solo album, "Ululu." Featuring a core band of Davis on guitar, Dr. John on keyboards, Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass, and Jim Keltner on drums, the album mixes new songs by Davis with covers of songs by Merle Haggard, George Harrison, The Band, and Leon Russell, before concluding with the Taj Mahal and Davis tune, "Further on Down the Road" (a hit that Eric Clapton will one day cover).
Steve Miller
Ululu Album Cover
Adding to his musical resume, Davis plays guitar and sings backup on Brian Ferry's "These Foolish Things," is one of the guitarists on singer Rod Taylor's "Asylum" album, plays on Arlo Guthrie's "The Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys," and releases his third solo album, "Keep Me Comin'" (at the time, Davis will list his three favorite guitars as being his Telecaster, Stratocaster, and Gibson SG with a collection of axes that also includes another Telecaster with a humbucker pickup, a Fender Malibu, a Martin acoustic, a Yamaha 12-string, and a metal-bodied Dobro, depending on his instrument of choice, he uses Ernie Ball Super Slinkys or Rock 'N' Roll Regulars as his strings, strums with Fender Heavy pick, and prefers a Fender Vibro Champ amplifier for studio work, likes a Neumann 87 condenser as a favorite mic, and when onstage, likes an Acoustic 155 for large venues and four 10" J.B. Lansing speakers for smaller, more intimate settings). And beginning in 1974, his collaborations with various former Beatles continues with Davis lending his strumming to John Lennon's "Walls and Bridges" (1974), Lennon's "Rock 'n' Roll" (1975 ... in which the pair play rock classics by Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, Sam Cooke, Link Wray, and Little Richard), playing on the Lennon produced Harry Nilsson album "Pussy Cats" (an alcohol and drug fueled mess from 1974 ... Davis also plays on Nilsson's 1975 album, "Duit On Mon Dei"), plays electric guitar on five tracks of George Harrison's last solo album for Apple Records, 1975's "Extra Texture (Read All About It)," and plays on two Ringo Starr solo albums, "Goodnight Vienna" (1974) and "Ringo's Rotogravure" (1976). And there is work with Gene Clark (on the former Byrd's fourth solo album, "No Other"), The Pointer Sisters, The Attitudes (a band of session players featuring David Foster on keyboards and Danny Kortchmar on guitar), Brewer & Shipley's "ST11261," Mac Davis, guitarist Bert Jansch, folk singer Tom Jans, Canadian singer Valdy, Cher, Keith Moon (on his only solo album, 1975's "Two Sides of the Moon"), Dion, Jackie DeShannon, The 5th Dimension, Eric Mercury, and the David Bromberg Band.
Keep Me Comin'
Fender Vibro Champ
Laughing With Lennon
Unfortunately, Davis' world begins disintegrating in 1975 when he begins playing and hanging out with The Faces (Ian McLagan on keyboards, Ronnie Lane on bass and vocals, Kenney Jones on drums and percussion, Ronnie Wood on guitar) and Rod Stewart. A dabbler with drinking and drugs previously, asked to tour with The Faces and Stewart to supplement the playing of Wood (who is in the process of becoming a Rolling Stone), as a "Sixth Face" just as the band is coming apart, and participating with the creation of two solo albums by Stewart, "Atlantic Crossings" and "A Night on the Town" (where Davis gets to trade chops with Pete Carr, Steve Cropper, Fred Tackett, Jimmy Johnson, Billy Peak, Joe Walsh, and David Lindley) comes away from his association with the British rockers as a drunk and a strung out heroin addict. For awhile, there is still session work for Davis and the guitarist performs with Dunn & Rubini on the duo's "Diggin' It" album, singer David Blue, vocalist Long John Baldry, blues stylist Tracy Nelson, musician Geoff Muldaur, pop star David Cassidy, Grammy award winning artist Neil Diamond (on the singer's 1976 "Beautiful Noise" record), Donovan, Van Dyke Parks, Leonard Cohen, on the Blue Collar soundtrack with Captain Beefheart and Jack Nitzsche, Ben Sidran, Emmylou Harris, as part of the band backing up Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash, Charlie Daniels, Emmylou Harris, and Levon Helm on the concept album "The Legend of Jesse James," Brian Cadd, and cowboy crooner Guthrie Thomas. And there is the magic of playing on one more hit record with Eric Clapton (along with Ron Wood, Bob Dylan, and members of The Band), "No Reason to Cry," where Davis supplies the slide guitar on Clapton's first Top-40 single in two years, the hit "Hello Old Friend."
With Rod Stewart
With Ron Wood
With Peter Asher, Linda Ronstadt, And Ron Wood
Work drying up as his addictions grow, Davis spends the last decade of his life checking into and checking out of rehab facilities, moves to Hawaii in 1977 (where the sea, sand, and sky do little to negate the guitarist's chemical needs), and stops playing guitar from 1980 into 1985. Physically cleaned up for the moment, in 1981 he is back to California and in 1985 he forms The Graffiti Band with Santee Sioux activist and poet John Trudell (the guitarist also serves as a drug and alcohol counselor at the American Indian Free Clinic in Long Beach, California). Sold exclusively through mail-order as a cassette (Bob Dylan will play the record during intermissions at his concerts and will proclaim the work to be the "album of the year," produced by Davis and Rick Eckstein, and executive produced by Jackson Browne), the pair put out two albums, "A.K.A. Graffiti Man" (1986) and "Heart Jump Bouquet" (1987). Comeback in full swing, Davis suffers a stroke in 1986 that paralyzes his picking hand, but dedicated to playing, he teaches his fingers to move again and appears on up-and-coming guitarists Scott Colby's "Slide of Hand" album (1987) and strums away on a Christmas tune for Warner Brothers Records 1988 holiday album "Winter Wonderland," playing on a tune called "Santa Claus Is Getting Down." And there is one final night of musical magic in the spring of 1987 for Davis and his friends to savor when performing with The Graffiti Band and Taj Mahal at the Palomino Club in North Hollywood, California, the guitarist is joined on stage by three members of the audience, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and John Fogerty. Unrehearsed, the musicians play a special set of songs that includes Fogerty's "Proud Mary," Dylan's "Watching the River Flow," "Gone, Gone, Gone" by The Everly Brothers, the Buddy Holly hit "Peggy Sue" (written by Jerry Allison and Norman Petty), and the Carl Perkins' classics, "Matchbox," "Honey Don't," and "Blue Suede Shoes."
Album
On Stage At The Palomino
Backstage
Seemingly about to turn his life around after getting out of rehab once more on June 16th, and delighted that he and his band have been booked into a gig at San Juan Capistrano's musical venue, The Coach House, Davis instead goes right back to injecting himself with junk, and on Wednesday, 6/22/1988, he is found collapsed in a Venice laundry room with a fresh needle mark on his arm and drug paraphernalia scattered about on the floor, victim of a self-induced heroin overdose at the age of 43. Ruled yet another "death by misadventure" for a member of the Los Angeles entertainment community, Davis has his body flown back to Oklahoma City for a Comanche funeral and is buried in the city's Memorial Park Cemetery (Section 18, Lot 37, ID 57247854). In 2002, the guitarist is posthumously inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame (with pianist & composer Dave Brubeck and singer Patti Page), in 2011 he is posthumously inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, and in 2018, he is posthumously inducted into the Native American Music Institute Hall of Fame. And if there is any justice, one day he will also become a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame located in Cleveland, Ohio (summing up his career, Davis will state, "I ain't an Okie from Muskogee, but rather a red-dirt boogie brother, all the time."). Rest in Peace, Jesse ... and thank you for the amazing music you gifted the world with during your brief stay here (Davis can still be heard on a myriad of musical CDs, can be seen in the documentary "Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World," along with the musical filmed events already mentioned, and his tale is being told in a forthcoming book by Native American scholar Douglas K. Miller).
Resting Place
Davis
No comments:
Post a Comment