Jesse Ed Davis - ...and on guitar (1975)

Jesse Edwin Davis was born on 21 September 1944 in Norman, Oklahoma. His parents were both Native Americans, with his father, Jesse Ed Davis II, being Comanche, and his mother's side was Kiowa. His father was an accomplished painter in the "flat-style" tradition of Southern Plains painting, with his works being exhibited in the state capitol in Oklahoma City. Davis began his musical career in the late 50's in Oklahoma City and surrounding areas, with John Ware (later a drummer for Emmylou Harris), John Selk (later a bass player for Donovan), Jerry Fisher (later a vocalist with Blood, Sweat & Tears), Mike Boyle, Chris Frederickson, and drummer Bill Maxwell, amongst others. He graduated from the University Of Oklahoma with a degree in English Literature, but by the mid-60's he was touring with Conway Twitty. He eventually moved to California, living there for 8 years, and through his friendship with Levon Helm, he met Leon Russell, who introduced him to paying session work. As well as playing on sessions, he also joined Taj Mahal's band, playing guitar and piano on Mahal's first three albums. After Mahal's 1969 album 'Giant Step', Davis concentrated on the session work for artists such as Roger Tillison and Leon Russell's band The Asylum Choir, and in 1971 he recorded his first solo album after Atco Records signed a contract with him to record two records with the label. The first was '¡Jesse Davis!', where he called in favours from Gram Parsons, Leon Russell and Eric Clapton to contribute to the recording. He was also close friends with Gene Clark, and in 1971 he played on and produced Clark's second solo album 'White Light', as well as guesting with Russell on Bob Dylan's 1971 single 'Watching The River Flow'. This led to him working with George Harrison, performing at the ex-Beatle's 1971 Concert For Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden, along with Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Jim Keltner, Eric Clapton and many others. 

Two more solo albums followed, with 'Ululu' coming out in 1972 and 'Keep Me Comin'' in 1973, but he still slotted in the odd sessions here and there, culminating in him playing lead guitar on John Lennon's 'Walls And Bridges' and 'Rock 'n' Roll' albums, and almost completing the full set, he also played on Harrison's 'Extra Texture' and Starr's 'Goodnight Vienna'. In late 1975 he performed with the Faces as second guitarist throughout their final US tour, unfortunately becoming addicted to drugs during this time, and after the tour he continued to work as a session player on albums by Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Keith Moon, Steve Miller, Guthrie Thomas, Harry Nilsson, Ry Cooder, Neil Diamond, Rick Danko, Van Dyke Parks, Cher, and many others. In 1977 he moved to Hawaii, but was back in Los Angeles by 1981, broke and ravaged by drug and alcohol addiction, and was in and out of clinics throughout much of the 80's dealing with his addictions. In the ten years he was with Patti Daley, they never married, but after they split up he married twice, and in 1985, with his second wife, he formed and played in The Graffiti Band, which coupled his music with the poetry of the Native American activist John Trudell. In June 1988 he collapsed in the laundry room of an apartment building following a suspected drugs overdose, and died shortly afterwards. He was 43 years old. In his short life he made his mark on the music of many of his peers, with his contributions on Marc Benno's album in particular being outstanding. This two-disc set is just a brief example of his work, as he also played with many blues legends, such as B.B. King, Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, and Albert King, but I've omitted those as they were all legendary blues guitarists in their own right, and so Davis would only be heard as a backing musician, whereas I wanted to showcase his own exemplary playing on these other recordings from the 70's, when he was at the peak of his powers. 

Track listing

Disc One
01 Funny Honey  (from 'Booker T. & Priscilla' by Booker T. & Priscilla 1971)
02 Poor Girl (from' Feel Your Groove' by Ben Sidran 1971)
03 Sweet Home Chicago (from 'Asylum Choir II' by Asylum Choir 1971)
04 Baby I Love You (from 'Minnows' by Marc Benno 1971)
05 Let 'Em Roll Johnny (from 'Roger Tillison's Album' by Roger Tillison 1971)
06 Rusty Toy (from 'Warm Waters' by Charles Lloyd 1971) 
07 Rollin' Mill Man (from 'She Used To Wanna Be A Ballerina' by Buffy Saint-Marie 1971)
08 Watching the River Flow (single by Bob Dylan 1971)
09 One In A Hundred (from 'White Light' by Gene Clark 1971)
10 Reno Street Incident (from 'Out The Window' by Jim Pulte 1972)
11 Heal Your Heart (from 'Recall the Beginning ... ' by Steve Miller Band 1972) 

Disc Two
01 Doctor My Eyes (from 'Jackson Browne' by Jackson Browne  1972)
02 Crossroads Of The World (from 'Rod Taylor' by Rod Taylor 1973)
03 Gypsy Davy (from 'Last Of The Brooklyn Cowboys' by Arlo Guthrie 1973)
04 Black Magic Gun (from 'Home At Last' by Wayne Berry 1974) 
05 Fair Play (from 'ST-11261' by Brewer & Shipley 1974) 
06 Grinning In Your Face (from 'That's A Plenty' by The Pointer Sisters 1974)
07 Subterranean Homesick Blues (from 'Pussy Cats' by Harry Nilsson 1974)
08 Open Up The Watergate (from 'L.A. Turnaround' by Bert Jansch 1974) 
09 Whatever Gets You Thru the Night (from 'Walls And Bridges' by John Lennon 1974) 
10 Only You (And You Alone) (from 'Goodnight Vienna' by Ringo Starr 1974) 
11 (What A) Wonderful World (from 'Midnight On The Water' by David Bromberg Band 1975) 
12 The Hits Just Keep On Coming (from 'Burnin' Thing' by Mac Davis 1975)

Suggested by Maybe The Devil, Maybe The Lord

For MAC users

Press command+shift+period (to show hidden files) and a grayed out folder '...and on guitar" will appear and the mp3s will be inside. Either drag those to another folder OR rename the folder without any periods at the beginning. Press command+shift+period to once again hide the hidden files.