click their name to visit their own website booboodavis.com
Boo Boo Davis is the REAL DEAL. He is coming from the same area, period and tradition as most of the blues greats but there is one huge difference… Boo Boo is still alive and kicking, writing and singing his music… raw first–hand experience blues directly from the Delta.
James “Boo Boo” Davis was born in Drew, Mississippi in the heart
of Delta. It was the richest cotton land in the South and the large amounts
of field workers attracted the best musicians from the surrounding areas. The
entire Delta region was rich with blues, but the town of Drew was a particularly
fertile one. Charley Patton stayed near Drew for many years and several legendary
performers spent time there.
Boo Boo’s father, Sylvester Davis farmed cotton and played several instruments.
Musicians who he played with include John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, Robert Pete
Williams and Robert Petway. Boo Boo remembers these and other musicians dropping
by and rehearsing at their house.
At the age of five, Boo Boo was playing the harmonica and singing in church
with his mother. By thirteen he was playing guitar, and by eighteen he was playing
out with his father and older brothers under the name of The Lard Can Band.
This band travelled all throughout the Delta and Boo Boo recalls a Battle of
Music between The Lard Can Band and a young BB King.
In the mid sixties Boo Boo and his brothers moved to East St Louis and started
playing real drums. His first gig was with Doc Terry. After he left Doc Terry
he started a band with Little Aaron and that band became one of the hottest
backup bands in St Louis and they backed up great blues legends like Little
Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Milton and Elmore James.
In 1972 Boo Boo formed another Davis family band known as the Davis Brothers
Band. It was the weekend house band at a club called Tabby’s Red Room
in East St Louis for eighteen years. They played from 2 to 6 a.m. every Friday
and Saturday and ever since Boo Boo has been a regular in the St Louis blues
scene.
Boo Boo can be heard on the Arthur Williams CD “Harpin’ It Out”.
Boo Boo’s recording debut under his own name took place in September 1999
and the result was released on Black and Tan in January 2000. The CD (East St
Louis) got very nice reviews in the international blues magazines and is played
on blues radio stations all over the world.
In the USA Boo Boo performed among others at the KING BISCUIT BLUES FESTIVAL
(Helena, AR) and the POCONOS BLUES FESTIVAL.
His first European tour took place in April 2000 and he performed in Holland,
Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France and the UK. In the UK he made
some excellent recordings for the BBC Radio.
Since then Boo Boo is touring Europe at least twice a year and he has played
on a lot of prestigious jazz & blues festivals all over Europe. Just a few:
Nancy Jazz Pulsations (F), Blues Festival in Eslov (Sweden), Colne GB Blues
Festival (UK) and the North Sea Jazz Festival (NL).
In April 2002 he released his second CD “Can Man” and in February
2004 the third one “The Snake”. Both of them have been critically
acclaimed.