I want to tip my Hat to Jesse Ed Davis. When I was a young lad, whilst perusing the liner notes of “John Lennon’s (“Wall And Bridges”, “Rock And Roll” George Harrison’s (“Extra Texture”), Ringo Starr’s (“Goodnight Vienna”, “Rotogravure”), Rod Stewart’s (“Atlantic Crossing”, “A Night On The Town”), Jackson Browne (“Jackson Browne”), Harry Nilsson (“Pussy Cats”) albums, I will always come across a name – “Jesse Ed Davis”. The more I explored who this Jesse Ed Davis was, the more intriguing he became. I adored his signature mastery on the slide guitar on these said albums.
His magical slide work on Taj Mahal’s “Statesboro Blues” inspired Duane Allman to record his own seminal version of the song on the Allman Brothers Band “At Fillmore East” album.
This blog is my continuing Homages to Unsung Rock Heroes. Please also check out my “Nicky Hopkins” and “Jim Gordon” blogs.
Born in Norman, Oklahoma in 21 September 1944, Jesse Edwin Davis III was the child of a Kiowa mother and a Comanche father. Davis graduated with an English degree from the University of Oklahoma. He left us on 22 June 1988.
Davis was the go-to session guitarist for music’s greatest in the late 60’s and 70’s – John Lennon, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Bryan Ferry, Emmylou Harris, BB King, Albert King, John Lee Hooker, Pointer Sisters, Gene Clark, Mac Davis, Leonard Cohen, Lightning Hopkins, Willie Nelson, Harry Nilsson, Taj Mahal, Gram Parsons, Leon Russell, Bert Jansch, Buffy Sainte Marie etc.
Steve Tyler of Aerosmith once said that whilst trying to figure out the sound of Aerosmith, Joe Perry and him went to Taj Mahal’s debut album which featured Davis’ prominent lead guitar prowess.
Slide guitar legend Derek Trucks pays homage, “To me, what stood out was his tone and his feel.” “There was something so cool in the way he played. He was never in a rush. And there was something so clear about his playing.”
In particular, check out Davis’ masterly guitar licks which brought welcome-energies to John Lennon’s “Stand By Me”, Jackson Browne’s “Doctor, My Eye” (note: Davis’ guitar solo took up half the song) and Bob Dylan’s “Watching The River Flow” hit songs. Also checkout Davis’ flaming guitar solos in Taj Mahal’s performance (the only US band invited) on the Rolling Stone’s “Rock And Roll Circus” concert appearance.
My CD Copy of Jesse Ed Davis’ “Red Dirt Boogie – The ATCO Recordings – 1970-1972” (above image). A compilation of Davis’ first two albums with unreleased tracks. It’s been a favourite CD on my playlist, whenever I want to soak in the 70’s sound.
“Washita Love Child – The Rise of Indigenous Rock Star Jesse Ed Davis” by Douglas K. Miller (above image). I am currently reading the just-released (December 2024) long-awaited autobiography of Jesse Ed Davis. A fascinating read.
Douglas K. Miller recounts , “Jesse’s guitar playing was largely influenced by the fact that he started on piano. he also learned a lot of his guitar licks by playing along to Count Basie records – to the horn parts in particular. That’s why his work was so melodic.”
“Jesse Davis”, Jesse’s first album (above image). Jesse was mighty proud of the album artwork – “My father did the cover art, I’m really proud of that, because it’s the first artwork that he’s done in about ten years. He hasn’t painted in a long time. On the back is a photo of me smoking a salami.” My CD copy of this album is in my storage.
“Ululu”, Jesse’s second album (above image). My CD copy of this album is in my storage. The album is Jesse’s “catchy way to spell “ooh Lulu”. Lulu is the nickname of his wife Patti Daley.
“Keep Me Comin”, Jesse’s third album (above image).
When I meet new friends who claim to know their rock and roll, I usually see if they know the following bands and maestros, (bypassing the usual Beatles, Stones, Bob Dylan, Bee Gees, ELO, ABBA, Beach Boys, Blondie, Ramones, Led Zeppelin) – Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Little Feat, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, Crazy Horses, Jethro Tull, Groundhogs, Sparks. If they passed the audition, we explore the likes of Mungo Jerry, Atomic Rooster, Daniel Lanois, Lowell George, T-Bone Burnett, Phil Spector, Jimmy Reed. Then in for the kill – onto maestros like Jesse Ed Davis, Nicky Hopkins, Jack Nitzsche, Ry Cooder, Jim Gordon, Leland Sklar, Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro, Leon Russell, Darian Sahanaja, Carol Kaye, Herbie Flowers, Hal Blaine etc.
The Concert for Bangladesh featuring two former Beatles, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Badfinger, Leon Russell, Ravi Shankar, Jesse Ed Davis and other rock luminaries (above image).
Personal backstory: When I was in Secondary 3 (all of 15 years old), I asked a rock-inclined classmate whether he wanted to watch a banned-in-Singapore concert movie featuring George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr. I told him to bring his passport the next day and off we went by bus to neighbouring country, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, to watch “The Concert for Bangladesh” movie.
Years later, I became buddies with Barry Feinstein, the official concert photographer for “The Concert for Bangladesh”. Barry graciously invited me to his Woodstock home on various occasions. George Harrison’s first-ever global charity concert pre-dates Bob Geldof’s Live Aid charity concerts by 14 years.
Jesse Ed Davis can be seen in the Concert for Bangladesh film footage (above image) playing with the superstars, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, Klaus Voorman and many others.
Jesse Ed Davis hangs out with the top names in rock and roll – eg. Bob Dylan and George Harrison (above image).
In the acclaimed rockumentary “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World” by Stevie Salas – check out the prominent segments on Jesse Ed Davis.
Stevie Salas says, “He (Jesse) was going for a cleaner sound. He didn’t use a lot of distortion. if you’re a guitar player, that’s the hardest sound to play because the most unforgiving.” “The Indigenous people have this feeling. It’s a rhythm that isn’t like anybody’s else.”
Sadly, on 28 June 1988, Davis died of a heroin overdose in the laundromat in his apartment block.
Douglas K. Miller says it best, Jesse Ed Davis is “a guy who played on over 100 of the greatest albums of the classic rock era, who inspired more people that we can count, yet he’s not known by most people. But even if you don’t know who he is, you’ve heard him.”
“The day he died was a tragedy. But the rest of his life wasn’t.” – Douglas K. Miller
