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- January 5, 1996
A tribute provided by OPENAIR-MARKET NET - The Maxwell Street Blues Home Sweet Home Page.
Chicago lost a legend this week with the passing of 'Maxwell Street' Jimmy Davis. The 70-year old blues singer and guitarist began performing at Chicago's famous Maxwell Street market in the 1960's. He went on to make many recordings and appeared at Blues festivals throughout the world.
- "His gleeful and fun-loving personality contrasted with the brooding vocals and intense guitar work of his brand of Delta blues." - Michael Frank, Earwig Music Co. (quoted from Heise, 1996).
Originally from Tippo, Mississippi, Mr. Davis (born C.W. Thompson), also lived in Detroit for some years before coming to Chicago. He danced with Silas Green and the Rabbit Foot Traveling Minstrel Show as a teen. At one time he owned the Maxwell Street restaurant "The Knotty Pine", and he frequently played outside the restaurant when the market was in progress. He also played in front of the Delta Fish Market in the Maxwell Street area and later in front of the Johnny Dollar food stand on Maxwell just east of Halsted.
Hear Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis on the CD: Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis, Chicago Blues Session Vol. 11. CD 120.857. This CD is available and can be obtained from Wolf Records, POBox 375, A-1120 Vienna, Austria. These sessions were recorded in the late 1980's.
From the insert notes:
"Wolf Records is very proud to present this important musician once more to a wider audience on this CD with long-time friend Kansas City Red and Timothy Taylor on Drums, and Lester Davenport on harmonica on some tracks. "
"One of the last Maxwell-Street blues singer guitarists...where the raw city blues found its origin..."
"Jimmy Davis's music is as original, raw, and fresh as ever."
From a Usenet posting by Eric LeBlanc <leblanc@DAO.NRC.CA>
Country Blues singer/guitarist MAXWELL STREET JIMMY DAVIS has died. Born Charles W. Thompson, on November 30, 1925, Tippo, MS., he died on Thursday, December 28, 1995, Chicago, IL.
"One of the finest and most expressive of blues performers who regularly work the steet is .... Maxwell Street Jimmy. In his dark, urgent, powerful singing and rhythmically incisive guitar playing are strong, pungent echoes of his yourth in the Mississippi delta, that spawning ground of so many great bluesmen. Jimmy is natural heir -- by way of John Lee Hooker and Tony Hollins -- to that tradition of stark, emotionally direct blues singing that goes all the way back to Charlie Patton and Willie Brown, among others; though it has been tempered to a degree by developments that have taken place in the blues over the last few decades, Jimmy's style of singing and playing has remained remarkably pure and faithful to the spirit of the older Mississippi blues bards." ~ Peter Welding, ELEKTRA 303 (1965).
First recorded on August 12, 1952, in Sam Phillips' Union studio, dubs were sent to Chess & Bullet Records, but so far no acetates have been reissued. Elektra Records would change all that in 1965, by issuing Elektra 303, an album featuring his interpretations, including blues by John Lee Hooker & Muddy Waters, two of him main influences. Other Norman Dayron recordings from this period were issued on Flyright, Roots, Sonet and Testament Records. In 1994, Hightone Records, in their massive reissue of Pete Welding's Testament label, reissued Testament 5009 which contained 4 tracks (2 unissued) from Drayon's recordings. MAXWELL STREET JIMMY DAVIS was a traditionalist and drew his lyrics & songs from other bluesmen. The 1989 Wolf CD is a good example of his music where he performs songs by Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Howlin' Wolf and Lightnin' Hopkins ; and with guest artists like Lester Davenport (hca) and Kansas City Red (drums), you also have the all important variety element. He was survived by two sons; three brothers; and a sister. Services were held on January 5/1996, in Leak & Sons Funeral Home, Chicago. - Eric LeBlanc with help from Dick Shurman, Tony Burke, David Silberberg, & Joel Slotnikoff of BLUES WORLD.
"Jimmy Davis had two names, the P.C. version, Maxwell Street
Jimmy, and what people on the street called him -- what was written
on his cap, "Jewtown Jimmy". Click on this picture 
to see a bigger version of this nice photo taken at Maxwell Street
by Dan Parker, a graduate student at DePaul University. You can
also see a picture of Mr. Davis, with his famous cap, on p. 39
in the October 1993 issue of Living Blues Magazine. I have
always felt the designation "Jewtown" was one of respect,
paying homage to the original founders of the Maxwell Street Market
area. I have seen the term "Jewtown" referring to other
geographical areas: a Jewish neighborhood in Bombay, India and
to the Lower East Side of New York
at the turn of the century (in a book by Jacob Riis). I was at
a party in 1994 held at the UIC Hillel House which is the official
Jewish student organization for the University of Illinois at
Chicago. Jewtown Jimmy was playing, wearing his "Jewtown
Jimmy" cap. Everyone enjoyed his music and his presence.
We will miss him." - Steve Balkin (Roosevelt University)
CD DISCOGRAPHY - provided by Eric LeBlanc <leblanc@DAO.NRC.CA>
BULLSEYE BLUES 9530 : VARIOUS - RARE CHICAGO BLUES 1962-1968 (1 cut)
TAKOMA CD 72822 : VARIOUS - TAKOMA BLUES (3 cuts)
TESTAMENT 5008 : VARIOUS - MODERN CHICAGO BLUES (4 cuts)
WOLF 120.857 : MAXWELL STREET JIMMY DAVIS - CHICAGO BLUES SESSION V. 11
Chicago Sun Times (1996). "Obituaries - Bluesman Jimmy Davis, Maxwell Street Regular." January 5, p. 46.
Heise, Kenan (1996). "Obituaries - 'Maxwell St. Jimmy' Davis; blues singer." Chicago Tribune. January 5. Sec. 2, p. 11.
Hyman, Laurence and Green, Stephen (1990). Going to Chicago- A Year on the Chicago Blues Scene. San Francisco: Woodford Publishing.
Sharp, Steven (1993). "The Maxwell Street Market: No More Fun in the Street?" Living Blues. October, pp. 33-39.
If you want to learn more about Maxwell Street see the Maxwell Street Cyber Trilogy.