Sam Lay
Sam Lay | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Samuel Julian Lay |
Born | Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. | March 20, 1935
Died | January 29, 2022 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | (aged 86)
Genres |
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Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 1957–2022 |
Formerly of | The Paul Butterfield Blues Band |
Website | www |
Samuel Julian Lay (March 20, 1935 – January 29, 2022) was an American drummer and vocalist who performed from the late 1950s as a
Life and career
Samuel Julian Lay was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 20, 1935.[1][2][3] He began his career in 1957, as the drummer for the Original Thunderbirds. He soon after became the drummer for the harmonica player Little Walter.[4]
In 1960, he became the regular drummer for Muddy Waters, and remained in Waters's band until 1966.[4] In that time he also began recording and performing with prominent blues musicians, including Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Eddie Taylor, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells, Bo Diddley, Magic Sam, Jimmy Rogers, and Earl Hooker.[5] The recordings Lay made during this time, along with Waters's album Fathers and Sons, recorded in 1969, are considered to be among the definitive works of Waters and Wolf.[citation needed]
In 1963, Lay joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and recorded and toured extensively with them.[5] Bob Dylan used Lay as his drummer when he introduced electric rock at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. Lay also recorded on Dylan's track "Highway 61 Revisited",[4] and may have provided the siren whistle Dylan famously uses on the track.[6]
Lay's drumming can be heard on over 40 recordings for Chess Records, with many notable blues performers.[4] He toured the major blues festivals in the US and Europe with the Chess Records All-Stars.
In the late 1980s Lay was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, in Memphis. He has also been inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame, in Los Angeles, and the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, in Cleveland. He was nominated eight times for the coveted W. C. Handy Award for Best Instrumentalist, including a nomination in 2005.
Lay made two albums with his own band, released by Appaloosa Records and Evidence Records, and two recordings for
He was nominated in 2000 for a
In 2009, Lay worked alongside Johnnie Marshall.[2] In 2014, filmmaker John Anderson made the feature film Sam Lay in Bluesland,[9] a documentary detailing Lay's life.
Lay was inducted into the
Lay died at a nursing facility in Chicago on January 29, 2022, at the age of 86.[1][11]
Selected discography
As a band leader
- Sam Lay in Bluesland (Blue Thumb Records, 1969 [BTS 14])
With Paul Butterfield
- The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (Elektra, 1965)
- What's Shakin' (Elektra, 1966)
With Carey Bell
- Heartaches and Pain (Delmark, 1977 [1994])
With Bob Dylan
- Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia, 1965)
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 (Columbia [2015])
With Lightnin' Hopkins
- Live at Newport (Vanguard, 1965 [2002])
With Howlin' Wolf
- Howlin' Wolf (Chess, 1959–62 [1962])
- The Real Folk Blues (Chess, 1956–64 [1965])
With Magic Sam
- Magic Sam Live (Delmark, 1969 [1981])
With Muddy Waters
- Fathers and Sons (Chess, 1969)
With the Siegel–Schwall Band
- The Siegel–Schwall Reunion Concert (Alligator, 1988)
- Flash forward (Alligator, 2005)
References
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-34424-4.
- OCLC 67346197.
- ^ AllMusic
- ^ ISBN 0-85112-673-1.
- ^ Glover, Tony (1998). The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert (booklet). Bob Dylan. Columbia Records.
- ^ "Sam Lay – Sam Lay In Bluesland (1969, Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 1969. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- ^ Sam Lay Blues Collection Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine at Historic Films
- ^ "Sam Lay In Bluesland". Samlayinbluesland.com. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
- ^ "The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Biography | The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum". Rockhall.com. 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
- ^ O'Donnell, Maureen (January 31, 2022). "Legendary Drummer Sam Lay Dead at 86", Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 31, 2022
External links
- Official website
- Sam Lay discography at Discogs
- Sam Lay at IMDb