Little Sammy Davis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Little Sammy Davis
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Davis in 2008
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sammy Davis |
| Also known as | Little Sam Davis, Harmonica Sammy Davis |
| Born | November 28, 1928 Winona, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | February 16, 2018 (aged 89) Middletown, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Blues R&B, Country |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter. |
| Instruments | Vocals, harmonica, guitar |
| Years active | 1940s–2018 |
| Labels | Delmark Records, Trix Records, Rockin' Records, Fat Fritz Records, Mr. Fritz Records |
| Associated acts | Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker,Ike Turner, Pinetop Perkins, Little Walter, Steve Guyger, Paul Oscher Albert King, Levon Helm Band, Midnight Slim |
Little Sammy Davis (born November 28, 1928 – died February 16, 2018) was an American blues musician. He lived in the Hudson Valley area of New York. Sammy started his music career in the 1940s. However, he became much more famous in the mid-1990s. At that time, he began performing on the radio, singing, touring, and making studio albums.
Early Life and Music Career
Sammy Davis was born in Winona, Mississippi. He grew up in a small, one-room home. He learned to play the harmonica when he was just eight years old. Later, he moved to Florida. There, he kept playing blues music around Miami. He also worked in orange groves and sawmills to earn money.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Sammy traveled with "medicine shows." These were traveling shows that sold medicines and featured entertainment. He played with other blues musicians like Pinetop Perkins and Ike Turner. He spent nine years traveling with Earl Hooker. They were even part of a band with Hooker, Turner, Perkins, and Albert King. This band broke up when Hooker and King, who were both amazing blues guitar players, had a disagreement. Sammy and Hooker recorded four songs together in 1952 and 1953. They were known as Little Sam Davis.
In the late 1950s, Sammy lived in Chicago, Illinois. He performed with famous musicians like Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed. Sometimes, he even led Little Walter's band, called the Aces. This happened when Little Walter himself didn't show up for a performance. People started saying that "some guy looks and plays just like Walter." One night, while Sammy was playing with Earl Hooker, he saw a police officer. Little Walter and the officer waited for Sammy to finish his set. When he left the stage, he was taken in by the police. Sammy later said that Walter was a good person. Walter told him, "Yes, you sound just like me, but you can't let people think you are me." Sammy spent a night in jail. Walter later dropped the charges, and they remained friends for the rest of Walter's life.
Sammy later got married and settled in Poughkeepsie, New York. A local musician named Dan DelSanto "discovered" him there. Dan was looking for blues players for his friend Pete Lowry, who studied folk music. In 1971, Sammy recorded some songs for Pete Lowry's Trix Records at his apartment. This led to a single record with the songs "Someday Blues" and "Sam's Swing." Sammy also played harmonica on recordings by Eddie Kirkland in 1972. After his wife passed away suddenly in 1972 or 1973, Sammy stopped playing music. He disappeared from the music scene for about 20 years. No one knew where he was, or if he was still alive.
His Comeback to Music
In 1990, a local radio DJ named Doug Price heard a rumor. He heard that Sammy Davis was playing at a blues jam session. Doug Price talked about Sammy's story on his radio show, WVKR. He also played some of Sammy's old songs. One night, a drummer named Brad Scribner played at the blues jam. He was amazed by Sammy's music. Brad told his brother Fred Scribner about Sammy. Fred had been playing blues music for the radio host Don Imus. Fred was looking for a singer to join him on Imus's radio show, Imus in the Morning.
Fred Scribner arranged for Sammy and Midnight Slim to record new music. They went to Tom Veneble's Recording Studio in Walden, New York. They recorded songs like "Sitting on Top of the World." Don Imus interviewed Sammy and Fred live on the phone. They became very popular right away. Imus then invited them to perform live on his show regularly. The New York Daily News newspaper wrote that "Little Sammy Davis and Fred Scribner score on the Imus show." Sammy and Fred became the house band for the Imus program for many years. Imus often joked that Sammy had "more harmonicas than teeth." He also joked that Fred looked like a manager of a hardware store.
Because of this fame, Sammy and Midnight Slim (Fred Scribner) went on tour. They played at top blues clubs, colleges, and blues festivals. They performed all over the East Coast and sometimes on the West Coast. In 1996, Sammy released his first full album, I Ain't Lyin'. Fred Scribner produced the album, played guitar, and helped write songs. The album was nominated for a W. C. Handy Award. Sammy also won a "comeback artist of the year award" from Living Blues magazine. Sammy and Scribner released another album called Ten Years and Forty Days.
As the house band for the Imus show, they helped many charities. For 10 years, they donated their time to a radio-telethon. This event supported the Tomorrows Children's Fund, which helps children with cancer. They also helped the S.I.D.S Foundation and the Imus Ranch for Children. Their regular performances for the telethons ended in 2001. This was due to the events of 9/11, which affected the location where the telethons were held. They still appeared as guests on the Imus Show from time to time.
Around this time, a former guitar student of Fred Scribner's, John Rocklin, took Sammy to Woodstock, New York. There, Sammy met Levon Helm, who was the drummer and singer for the band The Band. Levon and Sammy became friends. Sammy started joining Levon for performances at Levon's home in Woodstock. He also toured with Levon Helm and the Barn Burners. In 2006, Sammy suggested that Fred Scribner would be a great guitar player for Levon's band. Fred was hired, and the group's name changed to the Levon Helm Band. Levon started holding concerts at his home. Some of these performances were recorded and released on the album Midnight Ramble Sessions, Volume One.
The Levon Helm Band, starring Little Sammy Davis with Fred Scribner on guitar, performed on the Imus Show. They promoted the release of Midnight Ramble Sessions, Volume One.
In 2002, Arlen Tarlofsky made a documentary film about Sammy's life and music. It was called Little Sammy Davis. The film was chosen for the London Film Festival and the Woodstock International Film Festival. It also won an award at the AFI/Silverdocs Discovery Channel Documentary Film Festival.
In 2008, Sammy had a stroke. He was able to start performing again the next spring. However, he could no longer travel for tours. He performed every Saturday at Levon Helm's "Midnight Ramble." Less than a year later, he had a second stroke. This left him partly paralyzed.
Sammy Davis lived in a nursing home in Middletown, New York. He passed away in Middletown on February 16, 2018, at 89 years old.
Discography
Singles
- Goin' Home To Mother / 1958 Blues (Rockin' 512) 1953 - As "Little Sam Davis"
- She's So Good To Me / Goin' To New Orleans (Rockin' 519) 1953 - As "Little Sam Davis"
- Sam's Swing / Someday Blues (Trix 4505) 1971 - As "Harmonica Sammy Davis"
Albums
- I Ain't Lyin' (Delmark DE-682) 1995
- The Midnight Ramble Sessions Volume One (Levon Helm Studios) 2005 - as "Levon Helm Band starring Little Sammy Davis"
- Ten Years and Forty Days (Fat Fritz FFR5771) 2008
- Travelin' Man (Fat Fritz 0002) 2009
