Chanteur, saxophoniste, fiddler et harmoniciste Country US, né le 8 juillet
1914 à Wills Point (Texas). Link Davis s'intéressa au Western Swing et débuta dans les Crystal Springs Ramblers en 1937, puis il passe
avec Cliff Bruner & the Texas
Wanderers en 1940. Après la guerre, il enregistre pour les labels Goldstar, Imperial, Okeh, Columbia, Nucraft,
Starday, Western, Bayou et Sarg Records. Jusqu'à sa mort
le 5 février 1972, Link Davis enregistra aussi pour les labels: Allstar (58), Tanker (59), Paradise, Venus, All Boys, Kool, Stoneway, Crazy Cajun, Mercury (68) et Princess Records.
Link Davis
was born in 1914 in Wills Point, Van Zandt County, TX, near Dallas. One of eight
children, he formed a trio with two of his brothers during the late '20s,
playing local dances. A natural musician, Davis started out playing the fiddle
and later took up the saxophone. He gravitated toward Western swing music when
he turned professional and one of his earliest known steady gigs was as a member
of the Crystal Springs Ramblers, a Fort Worth-based outfit with which he cut his
first record in 1937. It was after passing through several other local bands
that Davis became a member of Cliff Bruner &
the Texas Wanderers, playing fiddle or saxophone on a number of their
records during the early '40s. He tried forming his own band — later known as
the Blue Bonnet Playboys — in 1945, and cut his first solo sides in 1948. Davis
moved to the Gold Star label the following year for one release, which included
his version of "Good Rockin' Tonight," retitled "Have You Heard the News."
Davis spent the 1950s working under a variety of names, as well as backing
various other musicians, including bandleader
Benny Leaders,
Floyd Tillman, and Smith Spadacene
(working as "the Harmonica Kid") on fiddle or saxophone, occasionally singing
with them, and making music in a variety of idioms and styles, ranging from
country blues and Cajun music to rockabilly. He was equally capable in all of
these areas — as far back as 1949, he'd cut a hot adaptation of "Good Rockin'
Tonight" under the title "Have You Heard the News" — and could easily have been
a competitor in the new field of rock & roll when it began breaking out in the
middle of the decade. Some of the flavor of his stuff, such as "Grasshopper,"
was a little too southern to ever find favor outside of the region, but he was
better suited in style to the new music than many other country music veterans
who tried it on for size. Moving between the Starday, OKeh, Columbia, Nucraft,
Sarg, and Allstar labels, and his own Western and Tanker labels, among many
others, he left behind a significant legacy spread among all of those variant
styles, which may be one reason Davis isn't better known. A fixture in the
industry, he was too good at too many different kinds of sounds and not great
enough in any one of them to make a deep impression with the public. He did earn
a spot in the footnotes of rock & roll history by accompanying
the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" and
Johnny Preston on "Running Bear,"
but most of Davis' recognition would reside in the country field.
Even into the 1960s, he occasionally made a foray into rock & roll with songs
like "Rice and Gravy," but he failed to make a lasting impression in the field.
He continued to be a top session musician and cut records in Western swing,
Cajun, and blues style throughout the decade for different labels, mostly based
in Houston, TX, until he was sidelined by a stroke late in the decade. After
that, Davis' activities were far more limited, until his death in 1972 at age
57. It's only in the 1990s, some 20 years after his death, with the deep
reissues of music by Cliff Bruner and
Floyd Tillman, that Davis' wide-ranging
contributions to country music, Western swing, and rock & roll fully began to be
acknowledged. His son, Link Davis Jr., also a multi-instrumentalist, has
similarly worked in a multitude of musical idioms, including recordings with
Asleep at the Wheel and one of the latter-day
incarnations of the 13th Floor Elevators.
Talents : Singer, Saxophone, Fiddle, Harmonica
Style musical : Cajun, Western Swing, Rockabilly, Rock 'n' Roll
DON'T BIG SHOT ME
 |
|
Années en activité :
| 1910 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 2000 |
DISCOGRAPHIE
78 t. & Singles
| 1947 ? | 78 t. IMPERIAL 670 (US) | Have You Heard The News / Joe Turner |
| 1948 ? | 78 t. IMPERIAL 8004 (US) | My Pretty Blonde / Born To Love You |
| 1948 ? | 78 t. IMPERIAL 8008 (US) | Tired Of Being Lonesome / Why Did You Go Away |
| 1948 ? | 78 t. IMPERIAL 8009 (US) | I'm Tired / I'm Waiting For You |
| 1948 | 78 t. IMPERIAL 8018 (US) | Link DAVIS & The BLUE BONNET PLAYBOYS - Rice And Gravy Blues / Rice And Gravy Boogie (instr.) |
| 1948 ? | 78 t. IMPERIAL 8025 (US) | You Loved Me Too Late / I'm Grieving Over You |
| 1948 ? | 78 t. IMPERIAL 8030 (US) | Steel Guitar Jump / You Low Down Conceited Dog |
| 1953 ? | 78 t. OKEH 18001 (US) | Big Mamou / Pretty Little Dedon |
| 1953 | 78 t. OKEH 18011 (US) | Lonely Heart / Time Will Tell |
| 1953 | 78 t. OKEH 18025 (US) | Mamou Waltz / Hey, Garcon ! |
| 1954 | 78 t. OKEH 18035 (US) | Falling For You / Gumbo Ya-Ya |
| 1955 ? | 78 t. OKEH 18048 (US) | The Crawfish Crawl / You're Little But You're Cute |
| 1955 ? | 78 t. OKEH 18057 (US) | Mama Say No / You Show Up Missing |
| 02/1955 | 78 t. COLUMBIA 21350 (US) | Va Tchacher / Kajalena |
| 07/1955 | SP NUCRAFT 2026 (US) | Grasshopper / Magnolia Garden Waltz (Floyd TILLMAN) |
| 08/1955 | 78 t. COLUMBIA 21431 (US) | Cajun Love / Every Time I Pass Your Door |
| 04/1956 | SP STARDAY 45-235 (US) | Sixteen Chicks / Deep In The Heart Of A Fool |
| 05/1956 | SP STARDAY 45-242 (US) |
Sixteen Chicks
/
Grasshopper Rock
|
| 08/1956 | SP STARDAY 45-255 (US) |
Don't Big Shot Me
/
Trucker From Tennessee
|
| 07/1956 | SP SARG 136-45 (US) |
Cockroach
/ Big Houston |
| 12/1956 | SP STARDAY 45-275 (US) | Bayou Buffalo / Would You Be Waiting |
| 05/1957 | SP STARDAY 45-293 (US) | Slippin' And Slidin' Sometimes / Allons A Lafayette |
| 11/1957 | SP STARDAY 45-331 (US) | Big Coonie / Waltz Of The Jambalaya |
| 10/1958 | SP ALLSTAR 7171-45 (US) |
Bon-Ta-Ru-La
/
Memories With You
|
| 05/1959 | SP ALLSTAR 7185-45 (US) |
Ballad Of Jole Blon
/
Visions
|
| 08/1959 | SP TANKER 715 (US) | Link DAVIS & The CAJUNS - Permit Blues / Airliner |
| 05/1960 | SP ALLSTAR 7203-45 (US) | Tee Mamou / Little People |
| 04/1960 | SP D 1135 (US) | Big Coonie / Waltz Of The Jambalaya |
| 05/1960 | SP ALLSTAR 7305-45 (US) | Big Mamou / Louisiana Waltz |
| 196? | SP CRAZY CAJUN 526 (US) | Cajun Honey / Big Mamou |
| 06/1961 | SP D 1191 (US) |
Come Dance With Me
/ Five Miles From Town |
| 1962 | SP VENUS 1447 (US) | Strolling / I Played That Song For You |
| 10/1962 | SP ALL BOY 45-8505 (US) | Little Red Boat / Forget-Me-Nots |
| 02/1963 | SP ALL BOY 45-8508 (US) | Guy From Big Mamou / Jole Blonde |
| 196? | SP AL'S 1501 (US) | 1 Rice & Gravy / Ferry Ride [instr.] |
| 196? | SP AL'S 1503 (US) | Johnny Be Good / My Last Good-Bye |
| 11/1963 | SP KOOL 1026 (US) | Beatle Bug [instr.] (Link DAVIS, Man With The Buzzin' Sax) / I Keep Wanting You More |
| 09/1964 | SP ALLSTAR 7305 (US) | Big Mamou / Louisiana Waltz |
| 19?? | SP BAYOU 3001 (US) | Broken Heart / You Played Around |
| 19?? | SP WESTERN 1073 (US) | Big Houston / + Floyd TILLMAN |
Albums
| 1969 | LP 12" MERCURY SR-61243 (US) |
 |
CAJUN CRAWDADDY - Pretty Little Dedon / Big Mamou / Strollin' / Big Houston / Hobo Blues / Doctor Knows His Business / Katalin / Going To Lafayette / I Played That Song For You / Cajun Honey / My Confession / Rice And Gravy Fever / Jolé Blon / Sugar Bee |
| 05/1996 | CD COLLECTABLES 5594 (US) |
 |
CAJUN BLUES - (Papa Link DAVIS) - Cajun Blues / Fou Foulet / Little Red Boat / Bon Tu Ru La / Cockroach / Big Houston / Rice And Gravy Blues / You Played Around / Permit Blues / Airliner / Big Mamou / Grasshopper / Beatle Bug / You Were Only Pulling My Leg / Whenever You Find Love / Forget Me Nots |
| 03/1997 | CD KRAZY KAT 6 (UK) |
 |
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL - Joe Turner / Have You Heard The News / Steel Guitar Jump / You Played Around / Baby I Just Want You (Floyd TILLMAN) / Save A Little For Me (Floyd TILLMAN) / O.P.S. Blues (102 RANCH BOYS/HARMONICA KID) / Coo-Coo-Coo (HARMONICA KID) / Blon (HARMONICA KID) / Grasshopper / I'll Keep On Crying (STRING BAND/HARMONICA KID) / All The World Is Lonely Now (Benny LEADERS & The WESTERN RANGERS) / Rice And Gravy Boogie / Rice And Gravy Blues / Bon-Ta-Ru-La (Let The Good Times Roll) / Permit Blues / Airliner / Rice And Gravy / Big Mamou / Beatle Bug |
| 05/1999 | CD EDSEL 914 (UK) |
 |
BIG MAMOU BOOGIE - (Papa Link DAVIS) - (Live With Me In) Big Mamou / Red Bandana / Let's Go To Big Houston / Let's Go Little Dee Don / Jolie Blonde / I Played That Song For You / Face In The Glass / Blues For Louisiana / Sugar Bee / Albuquerque / I Passed In Front Of Your Door |
| 05/2008 | CD REVOLA 252 (UK) |
 |
GUMBO YA-YA - THE BEST OF 1948-58 - Big Mamou / Pretty Little Dedon / Lonely Heart / Time Will Tell / Mamou Waltz / Hey, Garcon! / Falling For You / Gumbo Ya-Ya (Everybody Talks At Once) / Crawfish Crawl / You're Little But You're Cute / Mama Say No / You Show Up Missing / Every Time I Pass Your Door / Cajun Love / Kajalena / Va T'Cacher (Go Hide Yourself) / Joe Turner / Have You Heard The News / Grasshopper / Sixteen Chicks / Grasshopper Rock / Trucker From Tennessee / Don't Big Shot Me / Cockroach / Slippin' And Slidin' Sometimes / Bon-Ton-Ru-La (Let The Good Times Roll) / Rice & Gravy Blues / You Played Around / Rice & Gravy Boogie / San Antonio Blues |
© Rocky Productions 24/10/2008
