Larry Davis (December 4, 1936 – April 19, 1994) was an American electric

Texas blues Texas blues is blues music from Texas. As a regional style, its original form was characterized by jazz and swing influences. Later examples are often closer to blues rock and Southern rock. History Texas blues began to appear in the early 1900s ...

and

soul blues Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music. Origin African American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by ar ...

musician. He is best known for co-writing the song " Texas Flood", later recorded to greater commercial success by

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

Biography

Davis was born in

Pine Bluff, Arkansas Pine Bluff is the eleventh-largest city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combin ...

, and was raised in

England, Arkansas England is a city in southwestern Lonoke County, Arkansas, United States and the county's fourth most populous city. The population was 2,825 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock– Conway Metropolitan St ...

, and

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

. He swapped playing the

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s to learn to play the

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

. In the mid-1950s, he had a working partnership with Fenton Robinson, and following the recommendation of

Bobby Bland Robert Calvin Bland (born Robert Calvin Brooks; January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was descr ...

was given a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

Duke Records Duke Records was an American record label, started in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1952 by David James Mattis (WDIA program director and DJ) and Bill Fitzgerald, owners of Tri-State Recording Company. Their first release was Roscoe Gordon singing "Hey ...

. Davis had three

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

released, which included " Texas Flood" and "Angels in Houston". Thereafter, he had limited opportunity in the

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

. He resided in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, for a while, and played bass in

Albert King Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...

's group. He also learned to play the guitar at this time; the guitar on Davis's

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

of "Texas Flood" was by played by Robinson. Several single releases on the Virgo and Kent labels followed, but in 1972 a motorcycle accident temporarily

paralyzed Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...

Davis's left side. He returned a decade later with an album released by

Rooster Blues Rooster Blues is an American independent record label founded in 1980. The label is dedicated to blues music from the Mississippi Delta. Rooster Blues was co-founded by Jim O'Neal in Chicago, and initially released 14 albums by South Side blues m ...

, ''Funny Stuff'', produced by

Oliver Sain Oliver Sain Jr. (March 1, 1932 – October 28, 2003) was an American saxophonist, songwriter, bandleader, drummer and record producer, who was an important figure in the development of rhythm and blues music, notably in St Louis, Missouri. ...

. He won four W. C. Handy Awards in 1982, but a decade later he was known only to blues specialists. His 1987 Pulsar LP, ''I Ain't Beggin' Nobody'', was difficult even for blues enthusiasts to locate. In 1992, Bullseye Blues issued another album, ''Sooner or Later'', highlighting his booming vocals and guitar playing influenced by Albert King. Davis died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in April 1994, at the age of 57.

Selected discography

*''Funny Stuff'' (1982),

*''I Ain't Beggin' Nobody'' (1987), Evidence *''Sooner or Later'' (1992), Bullseye Blues *''B. B. King Presents Larry Davis'' (2002) *''Sweet Little Angel'' (2002), P-Vine Records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Larry 1936 births 1994 deaths People from Pine Bluff, Arkansas Musicians from St. Louis African-American guitarists American blues guitarists American male bass guitarists American blues singers Songwriters from Arkansas Songwriters from Missouri Electric blues musicians Deaths from cancer in California Texas blues musicians Soul-blues musicians 20th-century American bass guitarists Singers from Arkansas Singers from Missouri Guitarists from Missouri Guitarists from Arkansas African-American male songwriters 20th-century African-American male singers

Biography

Selected discography

See also

References