Blind John Davis (December 7, 1913 – October 12, 1985) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pi ...

pianist and singer. He is best remembered for his recordings, including "A Little Every Day" and "Everybody's Boogie".

Biography

Davis was born in

Hattiesburg, Mississippi Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County, Mississippi, Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County, Mississippi, Lamar County. The city popu ...

, and relocated with his family to Chicago at the age of two. Seven years later, he had lost his sight. In his early years Davis backed

Merline Johnson Merline Johnson (born c. 1912 or 1918, date of death unknown) was an American blues singer in the 1930s and 1940s, billed as The Yas Yas Girl. "Yas yas" was a euphemism for buttocks in hokum blues songs such as Blind Boy Fuller's "Get Yer Yas Y ...

, and by his mid-twenties he was a well-known and reliable accompanying pianist. Between 1937 and 1942, he recorded with

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African American audiences. In the 1930s ...

Sonny Boy Williamson I John Lee Curtis "Sonny Boy" Williamson (March 30, 1914 – June 1, 1948) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He is often regarded as the pioneer of the blues harp as a solo instrument. He played on hundreds of rec ...

Tampa Red Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903March 19, 1981), known as Tampa Red, was a Chicago blues musician. His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago blues gu ...

, Red Nelson, Merline Johnson, and others. He also made several records of his own, singing in his lightweight voice. Having played in various recording sessions with Lonnie Johnson, Davis teamed up with him in the 1940s. He recorded later on his own. His "No Mail Today" (1949) was a minor

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

. Most of

Doctor Clayton Doctor Clayton (born Peter Joe Clayton; April 19, 1898 – January 7, 1947) was an American blues singer and songwriter. Biography Clayton was born in Georgia (though he claimed he had been born in Africa) and moved to St. Louis as a child with ...

's later recordings featured Davis on piano. He toured Europe with Broonzy in 1952, the first blues pianist to do so. In later years Davis toured and recorded frequently in Europe, where he enjoyed a higher profile than in the United States.

House Fire

In 1955, Davis's house in Chicago burned down. His wife died in the fire, and his collection of 1700 78-rpm records, some of them unissued, was destroyed.

Death

Davis died in Chicago in October 1985, at the age of 71.

Discography

*''The Incomparable Blind John Davis'' (1974),

Oldie Blues Oldie Blues was a Dutch record label founded and owned by Martin van Olderen. History The label was founded in 1974 and focused primarily on piano blues, boogie-woogie and Delta blues, issuing 46 LPs and 13 CDs.Wynn, Neil, ''Cross the Water Blu ...

OL 2803 *''Alive "Live" and Well'' (1976), Chrischaa *''Heavy Timbre: Chicago Boogie Piano'' (1976, re-released 2002), Sirens Records *''Stompin' on a Saturday Night'' (1978),

Alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...

*''You Better Cut That Out'' (1985), Red Beans *''Blind John Davis tory of Blues' (1991), Story of Blues

References

External links