Link DAVIS

Chanteur, saxophoniste, fiddler et harmoniciste Country US, né le 8 juillet 1914 à Wills Point (Texas). Link Davis s'intéressa au Western Swing et débuta dans les Crystal Springs Ramblers en 1937, puis il passe avec Cliff Bruner & the Texas Wanderers en 1940. Après la guerre, il enregistre pour les labels Goldstar, Imperial, Okeh, Columbia, Nucraft, Starday, Western, Bayou et Sarg Records. Jusqu'à sa mort le 5 février 1972, Link Davis enregistra aussi pour les labels: Allstar (58), Tanker (59), Paradise, Venus, All Boys, Kool, Stoneway, Crazy Cajun, Mercury (68) et Princess Records.
Link Davis was born in 1914 in Wills Point, Van Zandt County, TX, near Dallas. One of eight children, he formed a trio with two of his brothers during the late '20s, playing local dances. A natural musician, Davis started out playing the fiddle and later took up the saxophone. He gravitated toward Western swing music when he turned professional and one of his earliest known steady gigs was as a member of the Crystal Springs Ramblers, a Fort Worth-based outfit with which he cut his first record in 1937. It was after passing through several other local bands that Davis became a member of Cliff Bruner & the Texas Wanderers, playing fiddle or saxophone on a number of their records during the early '40s. He tried forming his own band — later known as the Blue Bonnet Playboys — in 1945, and cut his first solo sides in 1948. Davis moved to the Gold Star label the following year for one release, which included his version of "Good Rockin' Tonight," retitled "Have You Heard the News."
Davis spent the 1950s working under a variety of names, as well as backing various other musicians, including bandleader Benny Leaders, Floyd Tillman, and Smith Spadacene (working as "the Harmonica Kid") on fiddle or saxophone, occasionally singing with them, and making music in a variety of idioms and styles, ranging from country blues and Cajun music to rockabilly. He was equally capable in all of these areas — as far back as 1949, he'd cut a hot adaptation of "Good Rockin' Tonight" under the title "Have You Heard the News" — and could easily have been a competitor in the new field of rock & roll when it began breaking out in the middle of the decade. Some of the flavor of his stuff, such as "Grasshopper," was a little too southern to ever find favor outside of the region, but he was better suited in style to the new music than many other country music veterans who tried it on for size. Moving between the Starday, OKeh, Columbia, Nucraft, Sarg, and Allstar labels, and his own Western and Tanker labels, among many others, he left behind a significant legacy spread among all of those variant styles, which may be one reason Davis isn't better known. A fixture in the industry, he was too good at too many different kinds of sounds and not great enough in any one of them to make a deep impression with the public. He did earn a spot in the footnotes of rock & roll history by accompanying the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" and Johnny Preston on "Running Bear," but most of Davis' recognition would reside in the country field.
Even into the 1960s, he occasionally made a foray into rock & roll with songs like "Rice and Gravy," but he failed to make a lasting impression in the field. He continued to be a top session musician and cut records in Western swing, Cajun, and blues style throughout the decade for different labels, mostly based in Houston, TX, until he was sidelined by a stroke late in the decade. After that, Davis' activities were far more limited, until his death in 1972 at age 57. It's only in the 1990s, some 20 years after his death, with the deep reissues of music by Cliff Bruner and Floyd Tillman, that Davis' wide-ranging contributions to country music, Western swing, and rock & roll fully began to be acknowledged. His son, Link Davis Jr., also a multi-instrumentalist, has similarly worked in a multitude of musical idioms, including recordings with Asleep at the Wheel and one of the latter-day incarnations of the 13th Floor Elevators.Talents : Singer, Saxophone, Fiddle, Harmonica
Style musical : Cajun, Western Swing, Rockabilly, Rock 'n' Roll

DON'T BIG SHOT ME COCKROACH TRUCKER FROM TENNESSEE

Link Davis KWKH Louisiana Hayride

RECORDINGS:

Allstar
Rec. No.	Side	Song Title
7171	A	Bon-Ta-Ru-La (Let The Good Times Roll)
7171	B	Memories With You
7185	A	Ballad Of Jole Blon
7185	B	Visions
7203	A	Tee Mamou
7203	B	Little People
7305	A	Big Mamou
7305	B	Louisiana Waltz
Bayou
Rec. No.	Side	Song Title
3001	A	Broken Heart
3001	B	You Played Around
Columbia
Rec. No.	Side	Song Title
21350	A	Va Tchacher
21350	B	Kajalena
21431	A	Cajun Love
21431	B	Every Time I Pass Your Door
D
Rec. No.	Side	Song Title
1135	A	Big Coonie
1135	B	Waltz Of The Jambalaya
1191	A	Come Dance With Me
1191	B	Five Miles From Town
Imperial
Rec. No.	Side	Song Title
670	A	Have You Heard The News
670	B	Joe Turner
8004	A	My Pretty Blonde
8004	B	Born To Love You
8008	A	Tired Of Being Lonesome
8008	B	Why Did You Go Away
8009	A	I'm Tired
8009	B	I'm Waiting For You
8018	A	Rice And Gravy Blues
8018	B	Rice And Gravy Boogie
8025	A	You Loved Me Too Late
8025	B	I'm Grieving Over You
8030	A	Steel Guitar Jump
8030	B	You Low Down Conceited Dog
Nucraft
Rec. No.	Side	Song Title
2026	A	Grasshopper
2026	B	(Reverse By Floyd Tillman)

Davis, Link



Born 1914 in Van Zandt County, Texas. Died in 1972.

References:
Feature article and sessionography in issue 21 (1979) of New Kommotion.

Original Releases



Discography is not intended to be complete

Date & Source	Label & Number	V	Titles {& References to LP/CD List}	As By	Matrix Numbers
1955/July 16 Bb c&w rev.	Nucraft 2026		Grasshopper {g,k,l,m} Magnolia Garden Waltz	1 2	A 5117 B 5118
1956/Apr. 21 Bb c&w rev.	Starday 45-235		Sixteen Chicks {i} Deep In The Heart Of A Fool	1 1	2417 2418
1956/May 12 Bb c&w rev.	Starday 45-242		Sixteen Chicks {q,r} Grasshopper Rock {f,j,p,q,r}	1 1	2417 2441
1956/Aug. 4 Bb c&w rev.	Starday 45-255		Don't Big Shot Me {i,p,q,r} Trucker From Tennessee {a,c,e,n,o,q,r}	1 1	2440 2462
1956/July 27 (comp. files)	Sarg 136-45		Cockroach {d,g,h} Big Houston	1 1	no mx no mx
1958/Oct. 6 Bb pop rev.	Allstar 7171-45		Bon-Ta-Ru-La (Let The Good Times Roll) {g,k} Memories With You	1 1	J 8OW-7411 J 8OW-7412
1959/May 18 Bb pop rev.	Allstar 7185-45		Ballad Of Jole Blon Visions	1 1	A-1002 A-1003
1961/June (Bb est.)	D 1191		Come Dance With Me {b} Five Miles From Town	1 1	1470 1471
	Al's 1501		1 Rice & Gravy Ferry Ride [instr.]	1
	Al's 1503		Johnny Be Good My Last Good-Bye		1510 1511
1963/Nov. or later (Bb est.)	Kool 1026		Beatle Bug [instr.] {g,k} I Keep Wanting You More	3 1	M-4225 M-4226

References in "As By" Column:

1. as by Link Davis
   
2. by Floyd Tillman
   
3. as by Link Davis, Man With The Buzzin' Sax
   

Other Notes:

• Additional credits on label of Kool 1026: Joey Long, Guitar / Bobby Welborn, Trumpet / Sammy Jay, Bass / Link Davis Jr., Drums
  
• SEE ALSO: Medallions
  

Collector-Oriented Compilation LPs and CDs Containing Tracks

a.	Ace CH 17 (10-in. lp)	Rockabilly Party
b.	Ace CH 19 (10-in. lp)	Kings Of Rockabilly, Vol. 2
c.	Ace CDCHD 311 (cd)	Rarest Rockabilly & Hillbilly Boogie ; The Best Of Ace Rockabilly
d.	Ace CDCH 36 (cd)	Texas Rockabilly
e.	Ace 45 (lp)	The Best Of Ace Rockabilly
f.	Club PR PRLP- 003 (lp)	Pure Rockabilly, Vol. 3
g.	Collectables COL-CD- 5341 (cd)	Guys From Big Mamou-Joey Long & Link Davis
h.	Collector CLCD 4414 (cd)	Sarg Rockers, Vol. 2
i.	Gusto 5017X (lp)	Dixie Starday Rockabillys, Vol. 1
j.	Gusto 5031X (lp)	Dixie Starday Rockabilly's, Vol. 2
k.	Krazy Kat 06 (cd)	Let The Good Times Roll / Link Davis
l.	Legend 004 (lp)	Grand Daddy's Rockin', Vol. 3
m.	Legend 1004 (lp)	Grand Daddy's Rockin', Vol. 3
n.	Live Gold Productions LG 120012 (cd)	Elvis Mania 2
o.	Lucky CDLR 810 (cd)	Rockabilly Gold, Vol. 10
p.	Mustang MUST 2 (cd)	Rockabilly & Hillbilly Bop, Vol. 2: Goin' Down That Road
q.	SD 840 (lp)	Sixteen Chicks
r.	Texas Gold TG 931 (cd)	The Starday Story, Vol. 1

Link DAVIS (SIXTEEN CHICKS) 1956
pour STARDAY Records , Link au Saxophone
et Hal HARRIS à la Lead Guitar , enregistrement
à HOUSTON (TEXAS)