onurblues: Boo Boo Davis

April 28, 2022

Boo Boo Davis - East St Louis (1999)

Boo Boo... Boo Boo... boogie

Heavy pounding beat halfway between Delta, Memphis and Chicago blues, sometimes as hypnotic as Hill Country style, wild raw hoarse blues-shouter voice inherited from the cotton fields hollers which reminds Howlin' Wolf, here is Boo Boo Davis !

Born in 1943 in the Delta town of Drew, a few miles south of the sinister Parchman Farm penitentiary, in a cotton farming family, Davis started to bang on lard cans, too poor to afford a drum set. He rambled around the Delta playing in the family band led by his multi-instrumentist father, before moving north to St Louis when he was about twenty and making a name for himself there, playing drums in Doc Terry's band, then with Little Aaron, before setting up his own band with two of his brothers in 1972.

Davis had to wait to be 56 to record this album, his first. And as none is a prophet in his own land, it was recorded in Holland for a Dutch label but sounds as raw and powerful as a Saturday night show in an East St. Louis blues club which is exactly what Davis did every week-end for almost twenty years at Tabby’s Red Room, precisely in East St. Louis, with his brother as the Davis Brothers Band.

Davis' blues shake, rattle and roll like only a drummer can do : the rocking groove goes crescendo throughout the album, it's hot and irresistible, and what a voice the guy has ! A real old school blues shouter  who could easily overcome a mike failure and be heard clearly from the remote corner of a club over the ambient noise of stomping feet on the dance floor, customers' shouting and clinking bottles.

Davis sings his own material, except one song from Sam Cooke and one co-signed with Little Aaron, extremely well backed by a gang of not very famous but top musicians, except the great Arthur Williams on harmonica : the obscure but appealing Larry Griffin on guitar (hear him on "I Had A Dream" !), the excellent Bob Lohr on piano and the equally excellent Dutch organist Roel Spanjers, particularly good on "Ice Storm", and the solid Greg Edick who keeps a classic but heavy clockwork swing on bass.
Not a single one of these twelve tracks is of lower quality though a few are standing out. Leaning on the rhythmical foundations set by the bass and Davis' drums, illuminated by the piano-harmonica-guitar threesome and Davis incredible vocals, the show (though it's not a live album) starts with the solid boogie "Sad Thing" followed by the pounding "We're In Hell".

Then comes the excellent cover of Sam Cooke's "Somebody Have Mercy"; "Hard Times" sung with a Howlin' Wolfesque voice; the title song "East St Louis" shouted over the piano with harmonica and excellent guitar lines; the outstanding "Ice Storm", certainly the highlight of the album, with Davis incredible from-beyond-the-grave roaring voice and the superb organ work of Roel Spanjers; the seriously jumping boogie "Talkin' 'Bout My Dogs", another highlight, with Williams' great harmonica interventions; "Ain't Got No Problems", a heavy piano driven piece; the long "What Makes A Fool Fall In Love" again featuring nice piano and Willams' great harmonica style; "Walk That Walk" where Larry Griffin shows his skill on slide steel guitar; "I Had A Dream" dominated by Larry Griffin's guitar, definitely a very interesting musician, and Roel Spanjers' organ; and finally the rocking Hill Country-like boogie "Walk On Tall", the third highlight of this really exciting album.

The whole thing sounds as unsophisticated as it would in a smoky and booze smelling country juke-joint, as hot and grooving as a blues club band eager to see the people dance until exhaustion, as down-home and roots as the Mississippi Delta cotton pickers hollering songs. Absolutely great vintage blues on a great album ! ■

Unfortunately there isn't many interesting good quality videos of Boo Boo Davis live and none in US festivals or clubs neither showing him play drums. Most of the following ones are from his numerous shows across Europe and feature his band composed of Dutch musicians Jan Mittendorp (head of Black & Tan Records) on guitar and John Gerritse on drums.