Sam Lay
Encyclopedia
Sam Lay is an American
drummer and vocalist, who has been performing since the late 1950s.
.
In the early 1960s, Lay began recording and performing with prominent blues musicians such as Willie Dixon
, Howlin' Wolf
, Eddie Taylor
, John Lee Hooker
, Jr. Wells, Bo Diddley
, Magic Sam
, Jimmy Rogers
, Earl Hooker
, and Muddy Waters
. The recordings Lay made during this time, along with Waters' Fathers and Sons
album recorded in the 1970s, are considered to be among the definitive works from the careers of Waters and Wolf.
In the mid 1960s, Lay joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band
and recorded and toured extensively with them. Bob Dylan
, with Lay as his drummer, was the first performer to introduce electric-rock at the Newport Folk Festival
in 1965. Lay also recorded with Dylan, most notably on the Highway 61 Revisited
album.
Lay's drumming can be heard on over 40 recordings for the Chess Records
label, with many notable blues performers. He has toured the major blues festivals around the US and Europe with the Chess Records All-Stars.
In 1980, Lay was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
in Memphis. He was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame in Los Angeles in 1993, and in 2007 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in Cleveland. He was nominated eight times for the Blues Music Award for Best Instrumentalist, most recently in 2005.
Lay has two recent recordings with his own band on Appaloosa Records and Evidence Records, and two recordings on Alligator Records
with the Siegel-Schwall Band
. His own 1969 release on Blue Thumb Records
, Sam Lay in Bluesland, was produced by Michael Bloomfield
and Nick Gravenites
. He was nominated in 2000 for a Grammy Award
for his performances on the Howlin' Wolf Tribute CD, and was honored by the Recording Academy in January 2002 with a Legends and Heroes Award for his significant musical contributions. He was prominently featured on a PBS-TV broadcast of seven episodes on the History of the Blues, produced by Academy Award winning director Martin Scorsese
.
Lay also shot many home movies of fellow blues performers in small Chicago venues of the late 1950s and 1960s. These home movies were seen in the PBS special History of the Blues.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
drummer and vocalist, who has been performing since the late 1950s.
Life and career
Lay began his career in 1957, as the drummer for the Original Thunderbirds, and soon after became the drummer for the harmonica player Little WalterLittle Walter
Little Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs , was an American blues harmonica player, whose revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, for innovation and impact on succeeding generations...
.
In the early 1960s, Lay began recording and performing with prominent blues musicians such as Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
, Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
, Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.-Biography:Born Edward Taylor in Benoit, Mississippi, United States, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing at venues around Leland, Mississippi, where he taught his friend Jimmy Reed to...
, John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
, Jr. Wells, Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
, Magic Sam
Magic Sam
Samuel "Magic Sam" Gene Maghett was an American Chicago blues musician. Maghett was born in Grenada, Mississippi, United States, and learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and Little Walter...
, Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
, Earl Hooker
Earl Hooker
Earl Hooker was an American Chicago blues guitarist, perhaps best known for his slide guitar playing. Considered a "musician's musician", Hooker performed with blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, and John Lee Hooker as well as fronting his own bands...
, and Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
. The recordings Lay made during this time, along with Waters' Fathers and Sons
Fathers and Sons (album)
Fathers and Sons is an album by American blues musician Muddy Waters, originally released as a double LP by Chess Records in August 1969....
album recorded in the 1970s, are considered to be among the definitive works from the careers of Waters and Wolf.
In the mid 1960s, Lay joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
and recorded and toured extensively with them. Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, with Lay as his drummer, was the first performer to introduce electric-rock at the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
in 1965. Lay also recorded with Dylan, most notably on the Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released in August 1965 by Columbia Records. On his previous album, Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan devoted Side One of the album to songs accompanied by an electric rock band, and Side Two to solo acoustic numbers...
album.
Lay's drumming can be heard on over 40 recordings for the Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
label, with many notable blues performers. He has toured the major blues festivals around the US and Europe with the Chess Records All-Stars.
In 1980, Lay was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
Blues Hall of Fame
The Blues Hall of Fame is a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1980 by the Blues Foundation, it honors those who have performed, recorded, or documented blues.-1980:*Big Bill Broonzy*Willie Dixon*John Lee Hooker...
in Memphis. He was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame in Los Angeles in 1993, and in 2007 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in Cleveland. He was nominated eight times for the Blues Music Award for Best Instrumentalist, most recently in 2005.
Lay has two recent recordings with his own band on Appaloosa Records and Evidence Records, and two recordings on Alligator Records
Alligator Records
Alligator Records is a Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971.Iglauer started the label with his own savings to record and produce his favorite band Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, whom his employer, Bob Koester of Delmark Records, declined to record...
with the Siegel-Schwall Band
Siegel-Schwall Band
The Siegel–Schwall Band is an American electric blues band from Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1964 by Corky Siegel and Jim Schwall , and still tours occasionally.-History:...
. His own 1969 release on Blue Thumb Records
Blue Thumb Records
Blue Thumb Records was an American record label founded in 1968 by Bob Krasnow, along with former A&M Records executives Tommy LiPuma and Don Graham. Krasnow had been in the record business for a number of years, working as a promotion man for King Records and also working for Buddah/Kama Sutra...
, Sam Lay in Bluesland, was produced by Michael Bloomfield
Mike Bloomfield
Michael Bernard "Mike" Bloomfield was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70...
and Nick Gravenites
Nick Gravenites
Nicholas George Gravenites , with stage names like Nick "The Greek" Gravenites and Gravy, is a blues, rock and folk singer–songwriter, and is best known for his work with Janis Joplin, Mike Bloomfield and several influential bands and names of the generation springing from the 1960s and 1970s...
. He was nominated in 2000 for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for his performances on the Howlin' Wolf Tribute CD, and was honored by the Recording Academy in January 2002 with a Legends and Heroes Award for his significant musical contributions. He was prominently featured on a PBS-TV broadcast of seven episodes on the History of the Blues, produced by Academy Award winning director Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
.
Lay also shot many home movies of fellow blues performers in small Chicago venues of the late 1950s and 1960s. These home movies were seen in the PBS special History of the Blues.