Blind John Davis – Magic Carpet
Document Records
24 Tracks – 76 minutes
John Henry Davis was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on December 7, 1913. His family moved to Chicago when he was just two years old. At age 9, John stepped on a rusty nail and was incorrectly treated causing an infection that resulted in his blindness. He learned to play the piano in his father’s speakeasy and started his career in 1937 as a staff pianist. Between 1937 and 1942, he recorded with Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Boy Williamson I, Tampa Red and many others. He later teamed up with Lonnie Johnson in the 1940’s and toured Europe with Big Bill Broonzy in the early 1950’s, where he gained greater recognition than in the US.
Davis frequently said he did not really like to play the blues but preferred to play Fats Waller styled jazz. Memphis Slim explained that recording with Davis generally involved John starting a blues or boogie pattern and then the artist he was recording with improvised their sound to accompany him.
In 1938, the first six songs on the album were recorded for Vocation with George Barnes on electric guitar on the first four and Willie B. James (possibly) on acoustic guitar for tracks 5 and 6. and Alfred Elkins on bass for all six. The album opens with “Jersey Cow Blues” with a slight double entendre involving the cow. Next up is “Booze Drinking Benny”, a tale of a man who “if he can’t get liquor, he will drink kerosene”. On “Alley Woman Blues”, he says, “I don’t want no woman from the avenue, one from the alley will do”. He proclaims that he has “Got the Blues So Bad” “since my baby went away”. In later years, Davis disavowed his involvement with ” I Love My Josephine” and some believe John “St. Louis Mike” McBailey might actually be the vocalist, but it is still attributed to Davis as the vocals sound more like Davis. “Anna Lou Breakdown” introduces us to Davis’ boogie -woogie style.
The next three songs include Ransom Knowling on stand-up bass and either George Barnes or Nate Harper on acoustic guitar. these were likely recorded in 1948. “No Mail Today” is a sad statement of loneliness as he “dreams my baby came back to me”. “Walkin’ and Talkin'” gets a jazzy upbeat as he says, “that is all I have done since you have been gone”. On “My Red”, he cries “look what you have done to my heart…you deceived me all the time”.
The next three songs also probably from 1948 again features Knowling on bass, but with Willie Lacey on guitar. On “Honey Baby” he declares, “You told me that you loved me, was mine completely, then you turned around and left me all alone”. The “Telegram to My Baby” read “I will be home soon, never more to roam, I know I have been bad…please take me back baby”. “Your Love Belongs to Me”. is a sweet love song as he tells her “Like the flowers on the vine, your love just gets sweeter than wine”. The next two songs also from 1948 again features Barnes and Knowling. He proclaims, “The Day Will Come” “when you regret the many wrongs you did to me”. “Magic Carpet” is a rollicking boogie-woogie instrumental with George given an opportunity to shine as well.
In 1951, while traveling with Big Bill Broonzy in Europe, John was given the opportunity to record nineteen solo instrumentals for Vogue Records, the first of those eight are included next starting with the rousing Paris Boogie (Boogie Woogie)”. “O Solo Mio” is a jazzy piano solo of the well-known song. “Sunrise Boogie” and “Rockin’ in Boogie” gets things jumping again. “Everybody’s Got the Blues” is a moody, jazzy solo. “How Long Blues” and “Hometown Blues” are laidback blues numbers. “Davis Boogie” concludes the set of eight songs in high style.
The final two songs on the album were recorded in 1961 with Al Wynn’s Gutbucket Seven. A lengthier, vocal version of “How Long Blues” is the first cut. On “Honey”, he declares that “I loved you from the very first, my little angel”.
As noted in the title, this is the first of two volumes, the latter likely picking up in in the latter years of this volume and extending into numerous albums recorded up into the 1970’s. Blind John Davis died in 1985 after suffering a heart attack in Chicago as his son was driving him to the airport to go to a concert in Charleston, South Carolina.
This album was previously released in 1999, but Document Records re-mastered the recording. While some surface noise still exists on the early recordings, as anyone familiar with the transfer of old 78 records to modern sounds would expect, their noise reduction offers a quality sound that is not impacted by the slight hiss that remains.
If you are not familiar with Blind John Davis, or even if you are, if you enjoy piano blues, this would be a highly recommended album for any blues lover. John is an accomplished blues pianist with a warm, smooth voice.
