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→‎Life and career: It was a little wordy to go "he recorded on this album - actually he only recorded on track on the album, someone else drummed on the rest of the album" and so I rewrote it as "he recorded on this one track." Also included his possible contribution of the siren whistle Dylan used.
→‎Life and career: Fixed ref error. Whoops!
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In the early 1960s, Lay 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]], [[Earl Hooker]], and [[Muddy Waters]].<ref name="LarkinBlues">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Blues]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1995|edition=Second|isbn=0-85112-673-1|page=230}}</ref> The recordings Lay made during this time, along with Waters's album ''[[Fathers and Sons (album)|Fathers and Sons]]'', recorded in 1969, are considered to be among the definitive works of Waters and Wolf.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}}
In the early 1960s, Lay 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]], [[Earl Hooker]], and [[Muddy Waters]].<ref name="LarkinBlues">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Blues]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1995|edition=Second|isbn=0-85112-673-1|page=230}}</ref> The recordings Lay made during this time, along with Waters's album ''[[Fathers and Sons (album)|Fathers and Sons]]'', recorded in 1969, are considered to be among the definitive works of Waters and Wolf.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}}


In the mid-1960s, Lay joined the [[Paul Butterfield|Paul Butterfield Blues Band]] and recorded and toured extensively with them.<ref name="LarkinBlues"/> [[Bob Dylan]] used Lay as his drummer when he introduced electric rock at the [[Newport Folk Festival]] in 1965. Lay also recorded with Dylan's track "[[Highway 61 Revisited (song)|Highway 61 Revisited]]" <ref name=AllmusicBio/>, and may have provided the [[slide whistle|siren whistle]] Dylan famously uses on the track.<ref>{{{{Cite AV media notes |title=[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert]]||first=Tony |last=Glover |others=[[The Beatles]] |date=1998 |type=booklet |publisher=[[Columbia Records]]}}
In the mid-1960s, Lay joined the [[Paul Butterfield|Paul Butterfield Blues Band]] and recorded and toured extensively with them.<ref name="LarkinBlues"/> [[Bob Dylan]] used Lay as his drummer when he introduced electric rock at the [[Newport Folk Festival]] in 1965. Lay also recorded with Dylan's track "[[Highway 61 Revisited (song)|Highway 61 Revisited]]" <ref name=AllmusicBio/>, and may have provided the [[slide whistle|siren whistle]] Dylan famously uses on the track.<ref>{{{{Cite AV media notes |title=[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert]]||first=Tony |last=Glover |others=[[Bob Dylan]] |date=1998 |type=booklet |publisher=[[Columbia Records]]}}</ref>


Lay's drumming can be heard on over 40 recordings for [[Chess Records]], with many notable blues performers.<ref name=AllmusicBio/> He toured the major blues festivals in the US and Europe with the Chess Records All-Stars.
Lay's drumming can be heard on over 40 recordings for [[Chess Records]], with many notable blues performers.<ref name=AllmusicBio/> He toured the major blues festivals in the US and Europe with the Chess Records All-Stars.

Revision as of 14:25, 10 June 2021

Sam Lay
Born (1935-03-20) March 20, 1935 (age 89)
Birmingham, Alabama, United States
GenresChicago blues, jazz, rock
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Drums, vocals
Years active1957–present

Sam Lay (born March 20, 1935, Birmingham, Alabama) is an American drummer and vocalist who has been performing since the late 1950s.[1][2][3][4] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

Life and career

Lay began his career in 1957, as the drummer for the Original Thunderbirds. He soon after became the drummer for the harmonica player Little Walter.[1]

In the early 1960s, Lay 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, Earl Hooker, and Muddy Waters.[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 the mid-1960s, 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 with Dylan's track "Highway 61 Revisited" [1], 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.[1] 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 Alligator Records with the Siegel-Schwall Band.[1] His own album, Sam Lay in Bluesland, released in 1969 by Blue Thumb Records, was produced by Nick Gravenites.[7]

He was nominated in 2000 for a Grammy Award for his performances on the CD Howlin' Wolf Tribute. He was honored by the Recording Academy in January 2002 with a Legends and Heroes Award for his significant musical contributions. He was prominently featured in the PBS television documentary History of the Blues, broadcast in seven episodes, produced by the Academy Award–winning director Martin Scorsese. Lay shot many home movies of fellow blues performers in small Chicago venues in the late 1950s and 1960s,[8] parts of which were included in History of the Blues and the WTTW television production Record Row, by the filmmaker Michael MacAlpin.

In 2009, Lay worked alongside Johnnie Marshall.[9] In 2014, filmmaker John Anderson made the feature film Sam Lay in Bluesland.,[10] a documentary detailing Lay's life.

Lay was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, in 2015.[11]

Discography

Solo

  • Sam Lay in Bluesland (Blue Thumb Records, 1969 [BTS 14])

As sideman

With Paul Butterfield

With Carey Bell

With Bob Dylan

With Lightnin' Hopkins

With Howlin' Wolf

With Magic Sam

With Muddy Waters

With the Siegel–Schwall Band

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Erlewine, Michael. Sam Lay biography at AllMusic
  2. ^ Sam Lay biography Archived 2011-03-10 at the Wayback Machine at All About Jazz
  3. ^ Sam Lay biography Archived 2011-02-28 at the Wayback Machine at chamberblues.com, official website of the Siegel-Schwall Band
  4. ^ Sam Lay biography Archived 2011-05-14 at the Wayback Machine at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame web site
  5. ^ a b Colin Larkin, ed. (1995). The Guinness Who's Who of Blues (Second ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 230. ISBN 0-85112-673-1.
  6. ^ {{Glover, Tony (1998). The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert (booklet). Bob Dylan. Columbia Records. {{cite AV media notes}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  7. ^ "Sam Lay – Sam Lay In Bluesland (1969, Vinyl)". Discogs.com. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  8. ^ Sam Lay Blues Collection Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine at Historic Films
  9. ^ Bob L. Eagle; Eric S. LeBlanc (May 2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. ABC-CLIO. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-313-34424-4.
  10. ^ "Sam Lay In Bluesland". Samlayinbluesland.com. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  11. ^ "The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Biography | The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum". Rockhall.com. 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2016-05-23.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Sam Lay.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sam Lay.
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