{"id":1417,"date":"2021-04-23T11:58:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T11:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/folksyblues.com\/?page_id=1417"},"modified":"2021-04-23T11:58:24","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T11:58:24","slug":"cedell-davis","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksyblues.com\/?page_id=1417","title":{"rendered":"Cedell Davis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ellis CeDell Davis<\/strong>\u00a0(June 9, 1926 \u2013 September 27, 2017) was an American\u00a0blues\u00a0guitarist and singer. He was most notable for his distinctive style of guitar playing. Davis played guitar using a butter knife in his fretting hand in a manner similar to\u00a0slide guitar, resulting in what\u00a0The New York Times<\/em> critic\u00a0Robert Palmer\u00a0called ”a welter of metal-stress harmonic\u00a0transients\u00a0and a singular tonal\u00a0plasticity”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis was born in\u00a0Helena, Arkansas, (and so not a proper Hill Country player), where his family worked on a local plantation.\u00a0He enjoyed music from a young age, playing harmonica and guitar with his childhood friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he was 10, he suffered from severe\u00a0polio\u00a0which gave him little control over his left hand and restricted use of his right.\u00a0He had been playing guitar prior to his polio and decided to continue despite his handicap, which led to his development of the butter knife method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once he sufficiently mastered his variation on\u00a0slide guitar\u00a0playing, Davis began playing in various nightclubs across the\u00a0Mississippi Delta\u00a0area. He played with\u00a0Robert Nighthawk\u00a0for a ten-year period from 1953 to 1963.\u00a0While playing in a club in 1957, a police raid caused the crowd to stampede over Davis. Both of his legs were broken in this incident and he was forced to use a wheelchair from that time onwards. The hardships resulting from his physical handicaps were a major influence on his lyrics and style of blues playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis moved to\u00a0Pine Bluff, Arkansas\u00a0in the early 1960s and continued his artistic work. In recent times, Davis’ music has been released by the\u00a0Fat Possum Records\u00a0label to much critical acclaim. His 1994 album, produced by\u00a0Robert Palmer,\u00a0Feel Like Doin’ Something Wrong<\/em>, received a 9.0 from\u00a0Pitchfork Media\u00a0who called it ”timeless.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Best Of CeDell Davis<\/em>\u00a0(1995) was also released, with help from\u00a0Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit.\u00a0The Horror of It All<\/em>\u00a0followed in 1998. His album\u00a0\u00a0When Lightnin’ Struck the Pine<\/em>, released in 2002, included work by musicians\u00a0Peter Buck,\u00a0\u00a0Barrett Martin,\u00a0Scott McCaughey, and\u00a0Alex Veley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis died on September 27, 2017, from complications of a heart attack in\u00a0Hot Springs, Arkansas, at the age of 91.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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