Jesse Ed Davis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jesse Ed Davis | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 September 1944 Norman, Oklahoma, United States |
| Died | 22 June 1988 (aged 43) Venice, Los Angeles, California |
| Genre(s) | Rock, blues |
| Occupation(s) | Session musician, sideman |
| Instrument(s) | Electric guitar, slide guitar |
| Years active | 1950s-1970s |
| Label(s) | Atco |
| Associated acts | Taj Mahal, The Monkees, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, John Lennon, George Harrison, John Lee Hooker |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Fender Telecaster | |
Jesse Ed Davis (September 21, 1944 – June 22, 1988) was an American guitarist.
Contents |
[edit] History
Born in Norman, Oklahoma, Davis began his musical career in Oklahoma City, where his dad Jesse Ed Davis II had painted all of the Native American murals on the State Capital building hallways. He was Kiowa (on his Mother's side) and his Father was Kiowa and Cherokee, although in his autobiographical song, "Washita Love Child," he sang that he was born in a Kiowa-Comanche tepee (Jesse Davis).
Ed began his musical career in the late 1950s playing in Oklahoma city and surrounding cities with John Ware (later Emmylou Harris' drummer) , John Selk (later Donovan's bass player), Jerry Fisher (later Blood, Sweat & Tears vocalist) Mike Boyle, Chris Frederickson, and others. He graduated from Northeast High School in 1962, and one of his classmates was Mike Brewer, later of Brewer and Shipley.
By the early 1960s Jesse had quit the University of Oklahoma and went touring with Conway Twitty, although he had toured with Twitty before, notably when Conway was still a rock and roll performer.
Davis eventually moved to California, where, through his friendship with Levon Helm, he became friendly with Leon Russell. He became an in-demand session player before joining bluesman Taj Mahal and playing guitar and piano on his first three albums. It was with Mahal where Davis was able to showcase his skill and range, playing slide, lead and rhythm, country and even jazz during his three-year stint, (and writing the graceful calligraphy for "Giant Step" 's liner-notes), making a celebrated appearance with the band as a musical guest in the The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. During this performance, Jesse Ed Davis was playing with such passion and finesse throughout the set that afterwards in the audience you can see a smiling Davis sitting beside John Lennon and Yoko Ono taking in the rest of the show. Davis went on to work closely with Lennon in the future featuring as guitarist on a few of his albums, amongst many others.
The period backing Mahal was the closest Davis came to being in a band full-time, and after Taj's 1969 album Giant Step, Davis soon made a reputation for sterling session work for such diverse acts as David Cassidy, Albert King and Willie Nelson. In 1971, Davis produced and played on Gene Clark's classic second solo album, White Light (A&M, 1971). He also recorded a solo album, Jesse Davis (Atco, 1971), which featured backing vocals by Gram Parsons and appearances by Leon Russell and Eric Clapton. Two more solo LPs followed, Ululu (Atco, 1972) and Keep Me Comin,' occasionally listed as, Keep On Coming (CBS, 1973). Davis also added guitar to Clark's No Other album (Asylum, 1974). As a result of his talent and connections, Davis eventually played on a raft of albums of the 1970s, including LPs by John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Leonard Cohen, Keith Moon, Jackson Browne, Steve Miller, Harry Nilsson and Van Dyke Parks, and was a featured guest in George Harrison's The Concert for Bangladesh on August 1, 1971 at Madison Square Garden, New York City; he was scheduled to appear when it was uncertain that Eric Clapton would make it to the event, however, both Clapton and Davis performed.
In and out of clinics, Davis disappeared from the music industry for a time, spending much of the 1980s dealing with alcohol and drug addiction. At the time of his death of an apparent drug overdose in a Venice, Los Angeles, California laundry room, Davis was playing in The Grafitti Band, which coupled his music with the poetry of American Indian activist John Trudell.
Four months before Davis died, The Grafitti Band performed with Taj Mahal at the prestigious Palomino Club in Hollywood. At this memorable show, George Harrison, Bob Dylan and John Fogerty rose from the audience to join Davis and Mahal in an unrehearsed set of rock standards which included Fogerty's "Proud Mary" and Dylan's "Watching The River Flow".
[edit] Death
On June 22, 1988 Jesse Ed Davis collapsed and was pronounced dead in a laundry in Venice, California. Jesse had various drugs in his system and his death is usually ruled as a heroin overdose, although with the various drugs in his system, it is more of a death by misadventure, seeing he was in a laundry at the time of his passing. He was 43 years old.
[edit] Present day
Acclaimed Native American Filmmakers Steven Judd and Tvli Jacobs (American Indian Graffiti) are set to begin filming a documentary about Davis in February, 2007, rumored to be produced by Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals). Angelique Midthunder is also said to be involved in the project in the role of Executive Producer.
