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EB Davis is not the typical blues singer. Yes, he was born in the Mississippi River Delta, and yes, he paid his dues singing in clubs from Memphis to New York City. But he eventually made his mark far from home, in Germany. His story \u2013 one that features some clandestine work for the U.S. government alongside his role as singer and band leader \u2013 is a tale worthy of a movie. And in fact there is one: How Berlin Got the Blues: The Secret Life of EB Davis.<\/i><\/p>\n
But today the warm and affable singer is out of the military, and his life is anything but a secret.
\nDavis was born in 1944 in the tiny town of Elaine, Arkansas some two miles west of the banks of the Mississippi River. \u201cIt\u2019s so small, you could call it a village,\u201d he says. Even today the town \u2013 with less than 700 residents \u2013 is more than 50 miles from the nearest Interstate highway. EB Davis\u2019 family moved 90 miles northeast to Memphis when he was nine; his youth would be marked by frequent trips back and forth. \u201cI grew up in Memphis, but I liked the farm life, too,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Music became a significant part of Davis\u2019 world even before he arrived in Memphis. \u201cWhen I was seven or eight years old, I was singing in the church,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThey would stand me up on a stool and let me act the clown.\u201d He emphasizes that his repertoire was confined to gospel. \u201cWe were not doing anything to do with blues,\u201d he explains. \u201cBlues was not allowed in the house,\u201d and certainly not in the house of the Lord.<\/p>\n
But a chance encounter set Davis\u2019 life on a different path. When he was on his way home from school one day, he saw an old man sitting on a home\u2019s front porch. \u201cHe was playing an old, beat-up, raggedy guitar,\u201d Davis says with a smile. \u201cAnd what he was playing, it didn\u2019t sound like gospel to me. He was singing about something<\/i>, but it wasn\u2019t about the Devil, God, church and all of that. He was singing about his woman, his car\u2026 stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naturally curious about this unfamiliar music, Davis approached the old man and asked what it was that he was playing. \u201cThis is called the blues,\u201d he was told. And young EB Davis immediately felt a connection with the music. \u201cI thought, \u2018This sounds more logical to me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis\u2019 family forbade him to go near the old man. \u201cBut I would sneak over there anyway,\u201d he admits. \u201cBecause I was fascinated by the music he was playing.\u201d His interest in the blues grew, but it was a furtive pursuit. His family \u201chad a problem with it,\u201d he says. \u201cThey came from the generation that considers the blues to be the Devil\u2019s music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luckily for Davis, he had a radio. \u201cThere was a radio station out of Nashville, Tennessee called WLAC,\u201d he recalls. \u201cLate at night they would play some of everything \u2013 soul, blues, rock and roll \u2013 but the guy concentrated on blues.\u201d Davis would attach the radio to a long extension cord, take the radio into bed and hide it under the covers. Today he says that he thinks his mother knew what he was up to. \u201cWhen she was walking through the house, she would see that long extension cord running to the bed!\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis eventually joined the school band, and found himself singing mostly soul music. \u201cWe were just imitating what we heard on the radio,\u201d he says. But then he took a detour from singing and joined the U.S. Army. \u201cI was a young tractor driver, one of the youngest tractor drivers who ever existed,\u201d he explains. \u201cAnd after driving that thing \u2013 with no power steering \u2013 all day long five days a week, I said, \u2018There has<\/i> to be something a little easier!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Employment opportunities were limited, so when some of Davis\u2019 friends told him they were joining the army, he decided that he would do the same. \u201cBut I was only 16,\u201d he admits. \u201cSo I had to do it with a little \u2018juggling of the papers,\u2019 if you know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eventually the brass discovered that Davis was too young to have enlisted. He explains what happened next. \u201cI had been a pretty decent soldier, so my company commander said, \u2018Here\u2019s what we can do: We can send you back home with a debt instead of punishing you. And when you\u2019re old enough, you have to come back and serve out your time.\u2019 Which I did, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, singing the blues remained Davis\u2019 primary passion. As he made his way toward adulthood, his love for it grew even deeper. By the time he was out of his teens, Davis knew that he wanted a life in music. \u201cAround Memphis, a lot of the older guys like Bobby Bland were playing in Handy Park every Saturday. There would be a big jam session, and I would be there every week.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was fascinated by what he witnessed there. \u201cJunior Parker had this big, long Cadillac; he would drive it up there and just pose by it,\u201d Davis recalls. He says he wasn\u2019t so interested in the cars the musicians drove; he was more taken in by \u201chow those guys carried themselves. They were always dressed nice and acting gentlemanly; it just took me away!\u201d He knew then and there that he wanted a life like theirs, as a singer. \u201cPlus,\u201d he hastens to add, \u201cI really liked the music<\/i>. It had a certain feel to to it that other music just didn\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis quickly developed a formidable range of vocal expression. He would become every bit as comfortable \u2013 and effective \u2013 as a blues shouter as he would playing the role of a crooner. And he honed his skills without any formal vocal training. He says that his musical education came in the form of \u201cwatching others, taking a little bit from this one and a little bit from that one.\u201d He cites Bland as a major influence. \u201cHe could do blues, he could do soul,\u201d Davis marvels. \u201cHe could do it all<\/i>.\u201d And he decided early on that Bobby Bland\u2019s sort of vocal variety should characterize his own style as well.<\/p>\n