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A phone interview with Boo Boo Davis about his new CD Name of the Game. Listen to the Podcast to hear his story and music.

Boo Boo Davis was born in the south on Nov. 4, 1943. He remembers Elmore James coming over to the house to play music with his father, Sylvester Sr. Davis. His father also played with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and others. Boo Boo said his father could play fiddle, guitar, bass, flute, horns and piano. Sylvester Sr. also danced on a show called The Rabbit Foot. Boo Boo started singing and playing harmonica in church and later he picked up guitar playing. His first encounter of touring the Delta came with the family band. His dad was the singer, older brother Sylvester Jr. (S.L.) on bass guitar, younger brother John on guitar, and sister Clara on vocals in the Lard Can Band. Boo Boo played the lard can as a drum. You laugh, but this band backed up a guy named B.B. King when he was unknown.
Finally Boo Boo and his brothers moved from their hometown of Drew, Mississippi to St. Louis, Missouri. This was in the early sixties when St. Louis was known as a blues town. Boo Boo has been living and playing there ever since. Well kind of, he does a lot of touring in the Delta as well as Europe. This year (2008) he has been to Europe three times already.

Boo Boo was heard on another St. Lousian’s CD called Harpin’ on It by Arthur Williams. As a result Boo Boo was asked to come to Amsterdam to perform and record a CD.
Now seven years later he has five CD out on Black & Tan Records.
2001 – East St. Louis
2002 – Can Man
2004 – The Snake
2006 – Drew, Mississippi
2008 – Name of the Game

Thanks to Joe Corner for permission to use this photo.

The new CD Name of the Game came out Sept. 8, 2008. The first song “Dirty Dog” is so good I played it three times before moving on. The vocals are solid, harp playing good, but the show is stolen by Jan Mittendorp’s wah-wah guitar. This is some of the best wah-wah guitar ever. No joking this is some industrial wah-wah guitar playing. Very powerful stuff that makes you wonder why no one has ever made their wah-wah sound like this. Every radio station should be playing “Dirty Dog” over and over again. Next is “I’m Comin Home” a slow hard stomp with good harp playing. The beat of the music almost makes you feel the steps he is taking going home to his baby. Boo Boo told me “Stay From The Casino” is about how so many people are losing there money in the casinos. “Want Nobody Tell Me How To Live My Life” may be one of the longest titles of a song I’ve seen in a long while. The song is a laid back shuffle that gives Boo Boo some room to blow harp.
The title track’s lyrics for “Name of the Game” pretty much came from a conversation he had with some friends about going hunting. “Who Stole the Booty” was one of the high points from his 2006 Drew, Mississippi CD. Here it has more of an industrial strength. I like the other versions but this one is even better, more powerful. “Why You Wanna Do It” is a heartfelt song about people doing things they know they should not have done. In this case leaving someone and breaking their heart. Followed by the blues’ song “Lonely All By Myself” again a heartfelt song that Boo Boo does some fine harp playing on. Then we go in to a fifties rocker called “It’s A Shame” which is a good change of pace. “Hot Foot” brings us back to the industrial wah-wah guitar with a strong groove. Boo Boo’s harp playing is really good although I wish there was more if it. The CD ends on a high note with a “St. Louis Woman”, a good blues rocker. This song Boo Boo probably plays the most harp on making it just a little more special.

Before hearing “Dirty Dog” I was not a Boo Boo Davis listener. The songs I’d heard didn’t do anything for me. Funny how one song can change the way you listen to other songs. “Dirty Dog” made me really listen to Boo Boo’s music with much more attention than I had given it before. Songs like “Drew, Mississippi” and “Standing In The Cottonfields” really impressed me. Then hearing more of the new songs like “Hot Foot”, “I’m Coming Home”, and the remake of “Who Stole The Booty” really showed me I’d been overlooking a very powerful blues artist. As you listen to the songs in the podcast you will hear a very powerful voice coming from a 64-year-old man. A man that saw and played with many of the pillars of today’s blues world. Below is a link to where you can buy Boo Boo Davis CD Name of the Game.

The band on Name of the Game is:
Jan on guitars, John on drums & Boo Boo Davis on vocals & harmonica,
give them a hand.

Songs in the podcast are:
Hot Foot
I’m Coming Home
St. Louis Woman
Who Stole The Booty
Dirty Dog

Boo Boo Davis live at BB’s on 9-12-08 premiering his new CD

Boo Boo Davis Website

Boo Boo Davis MySpace

Go to buy Boo Boo Davis CD Name of the Game at Black & Tan Records